PREVIEW: Blue Jackets salute the fans, look for a big win vs. Bruins

The Blue Jackets delivered one of their best performances of the year Saturday night in Montreal, never trailing on the way to a 5-2 victory against the Canadiens. 

Now they have to do it again tonight to keep pace in the playoff race. 

Columbus returns to Nationwide Arena to host Boston in what feels like another must-win game, and the Blue Jackets will try to replicate the same effort that led the team to victory in Montreal.  

“That’s probably one of the best games we’ve played all year,” head coach Rick Bowness said. “That’s how we want to play. We were solid defensively, we spent a lot of time in their zone, created a lot of good scoring chances off the forecheck. That’s what we did (Thursday) in Buffalo, we just didn’t get rewarded. Tonight, the puck went in the net for us.” 

The penultimate game of the year will be a big one in the standings, and the path to the postseason has now become clear. The Blue Jackets enter play tonight two points behind Philadelphia for third in the Metropolitan Division, and if they can win both games and the Flyers drop one, Columbus holds the tiebreaker for the position. 

There are ways the Blue Jackets could lose one of the last two and still make it in, but the easiest way to try to snap the team’s five-year playoff drought is to win tonight against the Bruins and Tuesday vs. Washington and hope they can catch the Flyers.  

Given the level of desperation at hand, the Blue Jackets did what they had to do north of the border Saturday night, opening a 2-0 lead in the first six minutes, playing a dominating second period to increase the edge to 4-1 and then finishing things off in the third despite a disallowed goal that could have turned momentum.

“I think because our backs are against the wall and we can’t afford to come out slow and dip our toe in,” Charlie Coyle said when asked why the team was so ready to go from the opening faceoff. “I think everybody knows what’s at stake, where we’re at in the season and what we need right now. … Tonight was a great step with that. We have to watch some video and stuff, but that was pretty textbook of how we want to play. We have to do it again tomorrow. That’s what we’re looking forward to doing.” 

Eleven different players notched points against the Canadiens, with Coyle scoring a pair of goals, Kirill Marchenko posting a goal and an assist, and Adam Fantilli assisting on a pair of tallies as well. The Blue Jackets were positively dominant at times – they had a 27-5 edge in shot attempts at 5-on-5 in the second period – and played a complete game, and that’s what they’ll be looking for again tonight. 

“That was probably our best 60 since the last time we were here a couple weeks ago,” captain Boone Jenner said. “We needed to get back to it in order to get the result tonight, and throughout the whole lineup, special teams, everybody was chipping in. It was a huge team effort. We know what’s at stake, so big effort for us, and we have to keep it going tomorrow.”

Scratches: Zach Aston-Reese, Luca Del Bel Belluz, Mathieu Olivier (upper body injury), Dmitri Voronkov (upper body injury), Damon Severson (shoulder surgery, out for season), Egor Zamula 

Injured Reserve: D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as of Jan. 8)      

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets won't have a morning skate with the back-to-back, so we'll find out pregame if there are any lineup changes.  

This Day in CBJ History  

April 12, 2002: Jaroslav Spacek scores the fifth overtime goal in franchise history just 29 seconds into the extra frame to push the Blue Jackets to a 5-4 win over Atlanta at Nationwide Arena in the Jackets’ season finale. Trashers forward Tony Hrkac notches the first-ever penalty shot goal against the CBJ in regulation during the third period. 

April 12, 2018: Artemi Panarin scores at 6:02 of overtime to give Columbus a 4-3 win and a 1-0 lead in its opening-round playoff series against Washington. Seth Jones’ power-play goal with 4:26 left pushes the game to OT, while Alexander Wennberg and Thomas Vanek score to help the Jackets overturn an early 2-0 deficit.   

April 12, 2019: Columbus pushes its opening-round series lead to 2-0 on Presidents’ Trophy winners Tampa Bay, never trailing on the way to a 5-1 victory over the Lightning in Game 2. Matt Duchene has a four-point night (1-3-4) while Panarin, Cam Atkinson, Zach Werenski and Riley Nash also score. 

April 12, 2025: Jet Greaves posts his first career shutout with 22 saves and Columbus romps to a 7-0 victory vs. Washington at Nationwide Arena. Columbus leads 3-0 after the first and 6-0 after the second, with Adam Fantilli scoring a pair of goals. In the third period, Dmitri Voronkov humorously is called for a penalty for playing after receiving a misconduct penalty.  

The Numbers Game  

Zach Werenski has moved into fourth place in CBJ single-season annals with 81 points this year. With 22 goals and 59 assists – tied for the franchise record – he is tied for third among NHL defensemen in goals and second in points. He is just the third American-born defensemen to have consecutive 80-point seasons, joining Hall of Famers Brian Leetch and Phil Housley, and just the second active NHL blueliner (Cale Makar) to reach 80 points in back-to-back years. He leads NHL defensemen with a CBJ-record 26 multipoint games. ... With 13 goals, Denton Mateychuk is sixth all-time among CBJ defensemen in a single season. He is just the third CBJ D to reach that mark (Werenski, four times; Seth Jones, once). ... Adam Fantilli has posted an 11-17-28 line in the last 30 contests. He has set a new career high in points with 58. ... Kirill Marchenko is second in the NHL with six shootout goals and has eight points in the last seven games (2-6-8). He is the fifth CBJ player with consecutive 25-goal seasons. ... Charlie Coyle has 14 goals and 33 points in the past 36 games, while Mason Marchment has seven points in his last six contests (1-6-7). ... Jet Greaves is 14-5-3 in his last 23 appearances with a 2.42 GAA, as well as a .913 save percentage in his last 12 games. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 58 goals this season, the most in the NHL and a new franchise record. … Columbus has scored first in 48 of 80 games overall, tied for second behind Washington for the most in the NHL. ... Jenner has 211 career goals, two behind Cam Atkinson for second in team history. ... Coyle (fourth, 409) and Provorov (seventh, 373) are both in the top 10 among active NHLers in consecutive games played. Provorov is set to play in his 245th consecutive game with the Blue Jackets, second in franchise history. ... Miles Wood is one goal from 100 and four points from 200 in his NHL career. 

Know The Foe: Boston Bruins  

Head coach: Marco Sturm (First season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.26 (12th) | Scoring defense: 3.06 (17th) | PP: 23.4 percent (9th) | PK: 76.6 percent (25th)   

The narrative: Boston had made eight straight playoff appearances and qualified 15 of 17 seasons before falling to a last-place finish in the Atlantic Division a year ago. It seemed like saying goodbye to such legendary Bruins as Tuukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Brad Marchand over the previous few years meant Boston would be entering a rebuilding cycle, but the Bruins have found their game in the second half of the season and clinched a playoff spot yesterday.  

Scoring leaders: Some of those familiar names are gone, but it helps the Bruins still have David Pastrnak, and the Czech star leads the team and is tied for fifth in the NHL with 99 points, including 29 goals and 70 assists. The emergence of Morgan Geekie at age 27 into one of the league’s top goal scorers has been a big reason for the team’s success, as his 38 tallies tie him for 13th in the league. Pavel Zacha has been on a tear with seven goals and 13 points in the last nine games, giving him 30 goals and 34 assists on the year, while gold medalist Charlie McAvoy leads the defense with an 11-50-61 line.  

In net: The Bruins sent both goalies to the Olympics in U.S. gold-medal winner Jeremy Swayman and former Blue Jacket Joonas Korpisalo, a bronze medalist with Finland. Swayman is 30-18-4 to tie for fourth in the NHL in wins while posting a 2.76 GAA and .906 save percentage, while Korpisalo is 13-9-6 with a 3.19 GAA and .892 save percentage. 

What's new: After a red-hot January that included an 11-2-1 record, the Bruins have solidified their playoff spot down the stretch by winning six of seven to close March, but Boston has since lost five straight games. The Bruins have scored exactly one goal in four of those five contests, and the penalty kill has struggled of late, as Boston has killed just 68.6 percent of opposing power plays over the last 12 games. Pastrnak has been red hot, notching points in 16 of the last 19 with a 7-20-17 line. With Boston having clinched a playoff spot, Sunday could mark the NHL debut of forward James Hagens, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2025 draft who was an All-American this season with Boston College.  

Trending: Boston has won both games this year between the squads, earning a 4-2 victory at home Feb. 26 and rallying to down the Blue Jackets by a 4-3 score in a shootout March 29. Columbus went 2-1-0 in the series a year ago but has struggled a bit in the series since 2021-22, posting a 3-7-4 record.  

Former CBJ: Korpisalo is just one of four former Columbus players in The Hub, as center Sean Kuraly (5-12-17) and defenseman Andrew Peeke (5-9-14) are regulars with the squad and blueliner Jordan Harris has played just seven games while dealing with injury.