PREVIEW: Blue Jackets host Arizona on Hockey Fights Cancer Night

It’s a glass half full vs. a glass half empty situation.

The Blue Jackets have lost six in a row, which clearly isn’t ideal, but Columbus hasn’t been far away from winning games. Four of the six losses have been by one goal, two of which came in overtime, and a fifth was an empty-net goal away from being another one-score game. More than that, the Blue Jackets have held the lead in the last five of those losses, twice taking the advantage into the final minute of play.

That’s reason to be optimistic considering how close the Jackets have been to getting over the hump, but we also know pro sports isn’t about moral victories. In the bottom line of the standings, earning just two points in that six-game span when you could have had more is a tough pill to swallow.

So the Blue Jackets have to toe the line of taking the positives from those games while also addressing the negatives that keep popping up.

“We have to just learn from it and move on,” Alexandre Texier said in the locker room after Tuesday night’s loss to Pittsburgh. “It’s a tough one. I think we did some pretty good stuff, but not enough to win a hockey game. We’ll get back tomorrow and work harder and fix the small details of the game.”

That’s what the Blue Jackets did Wednesday, staging a short but fast-paced practice session that featured a lot of puck touches and a small-area game. The goal was to focus on execution, as head coach Pascal Vincent hasn’t seen structural deficiencies in his team in the recent games as much as he has noticed execution errors at the wrong times.

“The reality is we were in a position to win all of those six games, and we look back and we didn’t,” Vincent said. “Why? When you look at the systematics, you look at different areas of the game, it just comes down to little tweaks here and there in how we manage the game.”

After the game, alternate captain Zach Werenski noted that there is a lot of season left, so the Blue Jackets have to just keep their nose to the grindstone and keep working for wins.

“It’s tough right now,” Werenski said. “It’s frustrating, I think, for all of us. We can’t say we’re not working hard because we are, but it's just playing for a full 60 minutes and finding ways to win.”

Know The Foe: Arizona Coyotes

Head coach: André Tourigny (Third season)

2023-24 Stats: Goals per game: 3.33 (12th) | Scoring defense: 3.07 (12th) | PP: 29.8 percent (5th) | PK: 75.4 percent (23rd)

The narrative: Arizona has been lost in the desert for the past decade, last qualifying for the last 16 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2011-12, but the team’s long-term rebuild is starting to bear fruit. The Coyotes have a young, fast, deep team that is holding its own so far this season, and the squad could deliver playoff hockey to Mullett Arena sooner rather than later if it stays on its current trajectory.

2023-24 leaders: When you talk about depth, Arizona has nine players with at least nine points, including some standouts at the top in Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. Keller has long been one of the game’s underrated players but has taken another step this season with a team-best 16 points (seven goals, nine assists), while Schmaltz has a 4-9-13 line. Sean Durzi was an excellent pickup from Los Angeles with a 5-6-11 line from the blue line, while Matias Maccelli (2-9-11) and standout rookie Logan Cooley (1-10-11) each have 11 points as well.

In net, the Coyotes have split the work between Connor Ingram (5-1-0, 2.87 GAA, .911 save percentage) and Karel Vejmelka (2-5-2, 3.08 GAA, .906 save percentage).

What's new: Cooley and Maccelli are two of the blossoming young players leading the way, but Arizona was also aggressive in the offseason to add such pieces as Durzi and fellow veterans Nick Bjugstad, Alexander Kerfoot, Jason Zucker, Mathew Dumba, Troy Stecher and Travis Dermott. The Coyotes are finding their way, posting a 4-2-2 record in the last eight contests and averaging 3.9 goals per game in that span.

Trending: Columbus went winless (0-1-1) in the series a year ago, the first time that’s happened against the Coyotes since 2014-15. From 2015-16 to 2021-22, the Blue Jackets boasted a 10-2-0 record against Arizona.

Former CBJ: None

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Dmitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko
Yegor Chinakhov – Boone Jenner – Patrik Laine
Johnny Gaudreau – Cole Sillinger – Trey Fix-Wolansky
Alexandre Texier – Sean Kuraly – Justin Danforth
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Zach Werenski – Erik Gudbranson
Jake Bean – David Jiricek
Elvis Merzlikins
Spencer Martin

Scratches: Mathieu Olivier, Adam Boqvist, Andrew Peeke

Injured reserve/Injured Non-Roster: Jack Roslovic (fractured ankle, out four to six weeks as of Nov. 13); Daniil Tarasov (knee, week to week)

Roster Report: Fix-Wolansky likely goes into the lineup after being recalled Thursday with Emil Bemstrom headed to Cleveland after clearing waivers.

3 Stats to Know

• With 673 games played, captain Boone Jenner is set to tie Rick Nash for the franchise record tonight. He has moved into third place this season in franchise annals in both goals (177) and points (338).
• For the first time in his 13-year NHL career, Erik Gudbranson has posted seven points in a seven-game stretch with a 1-6-7 line.
• Milestone watch: With 174 career assists, Zach Werenski passed Seth Jones for most career assists by a defenseman in franchise history on Tuesday night. … Andrew Peeke is one game away from 200 in his career. … Johnny Gaudreau is two games from 700 for his NHL career.

Who’s Hot

Dmitri Voronkov has a 2-5-7 line in his first 10 games, becoming just one of three CBJ players in franchise history to have at least seven points in their first 10 career NHL contests along with Werenski (2-8-10) and Jakub Voracek (3-4-7). … Alexandre Texier has a 3-2-5 line in the last five games. … Kirill Marchenko has a 4-2-6 line in the past seven contests. … Sean Kuraly has scored in three of the last five games, while Adam Fantilli has two goals in the last three games. … Fantilli is tied for fourth among NHL rookies in goals (four) and points (nine). … Columbus ranks first in the NHL penalty kill percentage since Oct. 20, killing off 34 of 36 (94.4 percent) power-play chances over the last 13 games. The Blue Jackets have not given up a power-play goal in 22 chances in the last nine contests, and it’s tied for the second longest streak of games in franchise history.

This Day in CBJ History

Nov. 16, 2000: The Blue Jackets post a 5-1 win at Nashville to earn their fourth straight win, tying the NHL record for consecutive wins by an expansion team. Kevyn Adams and Kevin Dineen each post a goal and an assist, while Geoff Sanderson, Espen Knutsen and Tyler Wright also scored.