TuneIn_16x9_STATIC (0-00-09-09)_1

BLUE JACKETS (24-19-7) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (31-15-5), 10 PM, T-MOBILE ARENA

COLUMBUS, 4th in Metropolitan
VEGAS, 2nd in Pacific

After Saturday’s win over Los Angeles, the Blue Jackets had something that has been in short supply this season in the NHL.

Time off.

The marathon that is the league schedule has felt like a sprint at times this season, including when the Blue Jackets played 13 times in the first 23 days of December leading into the holiday break.

So when the team looked at the schedule and saw four full days off after its last game, head coach Dean Evason saw it as the perfect chance for a mental and physical reset before tonight’s game at Vegas.

“It’s not just that we’re off the ice and resting our legs and our bodies, it’s forgetting about the game for a little bit,” Evason said. “You get recharged and go do something else. We believe 100 percent that the mental end of it is as important as the physical end of it. You have that attitude that you’re fresh and mentally positive, then you’ll give yourself a good opportunity to compete and have success.”

The Blue Jackets didn’t practice either Sunday or Monday, giving the players two days away from the ice to recharge both the minds and the legs. So what did the players do with the time off? Some spent it with families if they’re around, while others got caught up on the life things that often fall through the cracks in the midst of a hectic season.

For wing Zach Aston-Reese, that meant picking up his dry cleaning and shopping for curtains for his home in New Jersey.

“I was doing adult stuff,” he said with a laugh after Tuesday’s practice. “It’s been good. It’s definitely nice to get away from the rink a little bit, just reset. We had a really good practice today. I think everyone was flying out there.”

The two practice days ahead of Wednesday’s flight that kicks off a four-game road trip allowed Columbus to home in on just about everything on the ice, from 5-on-5 structure to the power play and penalty kill to specialty areas like 3-on-3 overtime and a team shootout competition won by Luca Del Bel Belluz.

“We haven’t had a practice like this today with fresh bodies and all the bodies, so we want to work on everything,” Evason said Tuesday. “We’ll try to touch everything up. We’re doing video as well to refresh our memory of how we want to play the game structurally, so it’s been a nice little break as well as the practice time used in the right direction.”

Know The Foe: Vegas Golden Knights

Head coach: Bruce Cassidy (Third season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.39 (4th) | Scoring defense: 2.76 (9th) | PP: 28.3 percent (2nd) | PK: 78.2 percent (20th)

The narrative: The 2023 Stanley Cup champs are seemingly in the mix for a championship every year, making the playoffs six of their first seven seasons and on pace to do so yet again. The Golden Knights failed to repeat a season ago, losing in the first round to Dallas, but should be in the mix yet again with a veteran coach and an experienced roster – of the team’s top 14 scorers, 13 are age 26 or older – that knows how to win in the postseason.

Team leaders: Jack Eichel might be having the best season of his decorated career, as the now-28-year-old center is eighth in the NHL in scoring with a 16-48-64 line as well as a plus-27 rating on the season. Mark Stone adds 13 goals and 46 points in 37 games, while Shea Theodore is fourth among NHL blueliners with 44 points (six goals, 38 assists). Pavel Dorofeyev has a team-best 22 goals and eight in the last nine games, while Tomas Hertl has 19 on the year and also has scored eight times in the last nine. Brayden McNabb’s plus-29 rating ties Kirill Marchenko for the NHL lead.

Adin Hill leads the charge in net and is 19-9-4 with a 2.65 GAA and .901 save percentage, while Ilya Samsonov has a 2.78 GAA and .898 save percentage while going 12-6-1.

What's new: The Golden Knights were a certified wagon through 40 games, posting a 28-9-3 record and leading the NHL in points percentage. But the last three weeks have been a struggle, with Vegas just 3-6-2 in the last 11 games. The good news for the Golden Knights? For a change this time of year, everyone is healthy outside of former Blue Jackets forward William Karlsson (more on him in a second).

Trending: This is the first meeting of the season between the two teams, with the Jackets and Knights having split the 12 all-time meetings with six wins apiece. Columbus is just 2-4-0 in Vegas.

Former CBJ: Karlsson has a 7-11-18 line in 38 games on the season but was placed on injured reserve last week with a lower body injury.

Projected CBJ Lineup (Subject to change)

LW 10 Dmitri Voronkov
C 19 Adam Fantilli
RW 86 Kirill Marchenko
LW 21 James van Riemsdyk
C 4 Cole Sillinger
RW 91 Kent Johnson
LW 27 Zach Aston-Reese
C 65 Luca Del Bel Belluz
RW 24 Mathieu Olivier
LW 82 Mikael Pyyhtia
C 7 Sean Kuraly
RW 17 Justin Danforth
LD 8 Zach Werenski
RD 15 Dante Fabbro
G 90 Elvis Merzlikins (starter)
LD 5 Denton Mateychuk
RD 9 Ivan Provorov
G 40 Daniil Tarasov
LD 2 Jake Christiansen
RD 78 Damon Severson

Scratches: Kevin Labanc, Jordan Harris, Jack Johnson

Injured reserve, Injured/Non-Roster list: Sean Monahan (upper body), Yegor Chinakhov (upper body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Boone Jenner (upper body)

Roster Report: Sillinger practiced the past few days and is expected to return to the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury, while Jenner is on the trip as he continues to work his way back.

The Numbers Game

CBJ center Adam Fantilli is set to play in his 100th NHL game with a 26-29-55 line so far in his career. ... Since Dec. 19, the Blue Jackets are tied for fourth in the NHL in wins (12), tied for third in points percentage (.722), tied for second in goals per game (3.44) and second in power-play percentage (33.3). ... Elvis Merzlikins is 9-2-1 in his last 12 starts and has posted a 1.80 GAA and .934 save percentage in his last five games. … Zach Werenski has a 13-31-44 line in the last 35 games and has 22 points (5-17-22) in the past 16. His average ice time of 26:47 leads all NHL players, and he’s second among league defensemen in goals (16) and tied for third in points (54) on the season. He is three points shy of the CBJ single-season record of 57 points by a defenseman, set by Seth Jones in 2017-18 and equaled by Werenski a season ago. ... With his 20th goal of the season Saturday, Kirill Marchenko became the first CBJ player ever to reach that mark in each of his first three NHL seasons. He has a 10-16-26 line in the last 21 games and 37 points in the last 31 (14-23-37). He is tied for the NHL lead with a plus-29 rating. ... Dmitri Voronkov has 21 points (11-10-21) in the last 20 games. ... Fantilli has a 7-6-13 line in the last 12 games, while James van Riemsdyk has notched a 6-6-12 line in that span. ... Kent Johnson has seven points (3-4-7) in the past six games as well as a four-game point streak. … Luca Del Bel Belluz has eight points (3-5-8) in his first 10 career NHL games, second-most in CBJ history (Werenski, 10 in 2015-16). … Mathieu Olivier is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals, 60 penalty minutes and 100 hits this season. ... Columbus is first in the NHL with 116 goals at 5-on-5, and their 3.30 goals per game are seventh in the league. In addition, the Blue Jackets have scored at least six goals 10 times in 51 games this season, one shy of a franchise record (2018-19). ... Columbus has scored on 17 of 57 power plays (29.8 percent) in the last 23 games and is now 11th in the NHL for the season in power-play percentage at 22.6. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have 32 goals this season, most in the NHL. ... Cole Sillinger is three points from 100 in his NHL career while Ivan Provorov is three assists from 100.

This Day in CBJ History

Jan. 30, 2009: Steve Mason makes 17 saves in the seventh shutout of his rookie career as the Blue Jackets earn a 1-0 victory vs. Ottawa at Nationwide Arena. Jakub Voracek scores for Columbus in just the fourth 1-0 win in franchise history.

Jan. 30, 2010: Kris Russell scores 1:32 into overtime to push the Blue Jackets to a 3-2 victory at St. Louis.

Jan. 30, 2024: Elvis Merzlikins stops 21 shots to earn the 10th shutout of his career and Dmitri Voronkov scores the only goal of the game as the Blue Jackets take a 1-0 win at St. Louis.

2025-26 Ticket Plans are on sale now! Choose the games you want with flexible payment options and savings of up to 40%. PLUS, score bonus tickets for family & friends!

Interested in learning more about 2025-26 Ticket Plans? Please fill out the form below and a Blue Jackets representative will reach out with more information!