PREVIEW: Blue Jackets continue homestand by welcoming Panthers

They weren’t masterpieces, but the Blue Jackets racked up two key victories in a back-to-back Monday and Tuesday. 

Columbus lost a 4-0 third-period lead in New York City on Monday but rebounded to take a 5-4 overtime victory against the Rangers, then returned home and fought through heavy legs to earn a 3-2 win Tuesday against Nashville thanks to a third-period comeback. 

During a month of March that will feature 17 games in the last 30 days, the only thing that matters is adding points to the standings, and the Blue Jackets did just that to start off the week. It was even more impressive when you consider Norris Trophy candidate Zach Werenski missed both games with illness and captain Boone Jenner was out of the lineup Tuesday as well. 

“You enjoy the wins when they come,” defenseman Damon Severson said. “You enjoy the evening and then get ready for tomorrow. We have an off day (Wednesday) to regroup and get some rest and come back on Thursday and be ready to go again, Saturday again. The games aren’t stopping. They’re not slowing down.  

“We’re excited. This is a good challenge and we have some huge games. It doesn’t get easier, but the winning cures everything and the winning gets us in the playoffs. At the end of the day, we control our destiny with how much we win.” 

The victories moved the Blue Jackets to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, 8-1-2 in the last 11 home contests and 12-2-1 since the hiring of Rick Bowness, and Columbus enters action tonight three points behind Boston for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and five behind Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders for third in the Metropolitan Division.  

With just one quarter of the season to go and the trade deadline looming tomorrow, the games are taking on a playoff-style feel, and the Blue Jackets used some playoff-style hockey to get the tying and winning goals against the Predators. Both tallies came on good bounces as Charlie Coyle crashed the net, showing the old maxim that getting the puck to the net is sometimes the best strategy this time of year. 

“Sometimes that’s what it takes, yeah,” Fantilli said. “Obviously you want to try to manufacture offense and do the things that you can with over and over, but sometimes it’s just getting it to the net and getting a lucky bounce and just getting our nose dirty.”

Scratches: Boone Jenner, Jake Christiansen, Egor Zamula   

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

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets had a scheduled off day Wednesday, so we’ll have to see at the team’s morning skate if Werenski (illness) or Jenner (maintenance; lower body) will be able to return to action.  

This Day in CBJ History

March 3, 2013: One game after scoring the winning goal in overtime, Artem Anisimov clinches a 4-3 win at Edmonton with the deciding shootout goal. Mark Letestu also scores in the shootout, while Derek MacKenzie, Vinny Prospal and Jack Johnson score in regulation. 

March 5, 2014: Columbus trades forward Marian Gaborik to Los Angeles in exchange for forward Matt Frattin and a pair of draft picks. The Blue Jackets also add veteran defenseman Nick Schultz from Edmonton for a fifth-round pick. 

March 5, 2017: Sergei Bobrovsky earns his second shutout in a row, stopping 20 shots in a 3-0 victory at New Jersey. Sam Gagner and Oliver Bjorkstrand each have a goal and an assist while Boone Jenner also scores.  

March 5, 2022: Rick Nash becomes the first player in franchise history to have his number retired when his No. 61 is lifted to the rafters above Nationwide Arena prior to the team's game vs. Boston. A record crowd of 19,434 fans are in attendance, along with original club president and general manager Doug MacLean and former head coach Ken Hitchcock. Jakub Voracek thrills the crowd by tying the game at 4 with three seconds to play, but Boston would go on to win in a shootout. 

March 5, 2025: Forward Mathieu Olivier signs a six-year contract extension with the Blue Jackets.  

The Numbers Game

Despite missing the last two games, Zach Werenski is the only NHL defenseman with at least 20 goals (20) and 60 points (65) on the season, placing second among league blueliners in both categories. Werenski has a career-best nine-game point streak (2-11-13), and points in 22 of his last 24 games (11-24-35) as well as 33 of the last 38 (16-38-54). He leads NHL defensemen in multipoint games (21, 10th in NHL). … Kirill Marchenko (4-6-10) has points in seven of the last eight games and posted his fourth multigoal game of the season and the 13th of his career Monday against the Rangers. ... Charlie Coyle has 10 goals and 21 points in the past 16 games as well as a 6-10-16 line in the last 10 contests, tying him for seventh in the NHL in points in that span. ... Adam Fantilli has scored in four straight games to tie a career high as well as posted a 5-7-12 line in the last 10 games. ... Mason Marchment joins Werenski, Marcheno, Coyle and Fantilli in posting at least a point per game (5-5-10) in the last 10 contests, while Mathieu Olivier and Sean Monahan each have five goals in that span. ... Monahan has shorthanded goals in consecutive games, joining Rick Nash (twice), R.J. Umberger, Alexandre Texier and Cam Atkinson as the only players in CBJ history to accomplish that feat. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 44 goals this season, the most in the NHL. … Columbus has scored the first goal in 23 of the last 29 contests and lead the league by opening the scoring in 38 of 60 games overall. ... The Blue Jackets are 5-1 in shootouts this year. ... Miles Wood and Danton Heinen are each one goal away from 100 in their NHL careers, while Marchenko is three away. ... Boone Jenner has 203 career assists, one behind David Vyborny for third most in team history. ... Denton Mateychuk is set to play in his 99th career game.  

Know The Foe: Florida Panthers

Head coach: Paul Maurice (Fourth season)     

Team stats: Goals per game: 2.98 (19th) | Scoring defense: 3.34 (26th) | PP: 19.3 percent (21st) | PK: 82.4 percent (T-7th)      

The narrative: The Panthers laid it all on the line the past few seasons and achieved glory, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups the past two years and making it to the Final in 2022-23. But right now, it appears that the bill is due, as Florida is last in the Atlantic Division and 10 points out of a playoff spot with 21 games to go. All the hockey the team has played the past three years has added up, with long-term injuries to standouts Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk as evidence, and the Panthers may be sellers at the deadline and regroup for next season.  

Scoring leaders: There are still some big names to contend with on the roster, led by Sam Reinhart, who is on pace for a fifth straight 30-goal season with a team-best 28 goals and 57 points. Brad Marchand has missed 11 games but still has a 27-26-53 line in 50 contests, while Sam Bennett has 22 goals among 47 points on the year. Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe have matching 17-26-43 lines, while Tkachuk has five goals and 13 points in 14 games and recently won a gold medal. 

In net: Sergei Bobrovsky is in the last season of the seven-year deal he signed with Florida in 2019 after leaving Columbus, but it’s been a tough year for Bob, who is 22-19-1 with a 3.13 GAA and career-worst .873 save percentage. Fellow Novokuznetsk, Russia, native and former Blue Jacket Daniil Tarasov has played 20 games and is 8-9-2 with a 2.79 GAA and .903 SV%. 

What's new: The Panthers will be an interesting team to watch ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline, and some reports even have Bobrovsky as a potential target given his expiring contract. Tkachuk and Barkov – who has not played this season – aren't the only big names to miss time, as Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen were out for stretches and Seth Jones is currently on injured reserve. Florida hoped to salvage its season coming out of the break, but the Panthers have won just one of four games and are 2-8-0 in the last 10 contests while allowing at least five goals in five of them.  

Trending: Florida rallied to win the first game of the season series Dec. 6 in Sunrise, taking a wild 7-6 affair in overtime. It was the Panthers’ ninth straight win in the series, and the Blue Jackets are just 3-14-4 in the last 21 meetings.  

Former CBJ: It's quite an exhaustive list, including Bobrovsky and Tarasov in net as well as Jones – who leads Florida defensemen with six goals and 24 points on the year – going from Columbus mainstays to South Florida residents over the years. Luke Kunin, who played in 12 games down the stretch for the Blue Jackets last year, has a 2-2-4 line in 44 games.