PREVIEW: Blue Jackets face another key division game in Philadelphia

Just 1:25 into Sunday’s game, Bo Horvat got behind the Blue Jackets defense and beat Jet Greaves on a wrist shot to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. 

Little did anyone know that 58 minutes and 35 seconds later, that would stand as the only goal as New York snapped the Jackets’ 12-game point streak, marking just the third time Columbus was shut out this season and the team's first 1-0 setback in regulation since 2023. 

“You never would have guessed that a minute and a half into the game, one shot goes in and that’s the last goal that was scored for the game,” head coach Rick Bowness said.  

It was just that kind of battle, though, on Long Island. A desperate Islanders team that had lost two in a row – including a 7-3 setback the night before in Montreal – was at its lockdown defensive best, and the Blue Jackets matched the home team almost step-for-step defensively but for the early tally. 

Columbus pushed for the equalizing goal in the third period, but Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin made a number of difficult stops down the stretch, leaving Bowness simply to tip his hat. His mantra is that as long as the Blue Jackets play the right way, he’ll accept with the result, and that’s how he felt after the game Sunday. 

“We did enough good things to win the game,” Bowness said. “At the end of the game, you lose 1-0, you say, ‘Did we do enough good things to give ourselves a chance to win the game?’ And we did, so you just live with that. One of those nights the puck didn’t go in.” 

There might be similar contests down the stretch, too, starting tonight in Philadelphia. The Blue Jackets and Flyers met 10 days ago in a game that started fairly open but became a defensive slugfest by the end, with Columbus taking a 2-1 shootout victory. 

It’s the time of year where teams are fighting for every point, with the Blue Jackets holding third place in the Metropolitan Division by virtue of having a game in hand on the Islanders, who also have 85 points. Three teams – Boston, Montreal and Pittsburgh – are a point ahead of Columbus, while Detroit is just a point back in ninth in the East heading into tonight’s action. 

After the setback vs. the Islanders, defenseman Damon Severson said the Blue Jackets can take a lot from the tight-checking, hard-nosed experience of playing in that game. 

“Just a playoff atmosphere for sure,” Severson said. “Little things. Every detail matters in the game – pucks getting chipped in, pucks getting chipped out, no turnovers, crashing the net, ugly goals. You have to capitalize on your chances for sure when you get them. 

“You take your lessons in every game you lose, and you apply them to the upcoming games.”

Scratches: Dmitri Voronkov, Miles Wood, 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 were off Monday after the back-to-back, so any potential changes will come at the team’s morning skate ahead of the game Tuesday. 

This Day in CBJ History

March 24, 2001: Espen Knutsen becomes the first player in CBJ history to notch five assists and five points in a game, doing so in a 6-4 win vs. Calgary at Nationwide Arena. It’s a pair of franchise records that have been tied but never topped.   

March 24, 2002: The Blue Jackets host the Seventh Annual Willie O’Ree All-Star Weekend, which features kids ages 10-12 who are participants in the NHL Diversity Task Force program. The game draws a record crowd in excess of 4,000 fans at Nationwide Arena.  

March 24, 2004: Marc Denis stops 20 shots to collect his fifth shutout of the season in a 2-0 win vs. Minnesota at Nationwide Arena. Aaron Johnson and Rick Nash score the two CBJ goals in the second period.   

March 24, 2015: Scott Hartnell collects his first CBJ hat trick, scoring three goals in a 5-3 win vs. Anaheim at Nationwide Arena.   

March 24, 2019: In a key win, Sergei Bobrovsky stops all 21 shots against as the Blue Jackets – who entered the game four points out of a playoff spot – earn a 5-0 shutout victory at Vancouver. At the end of a road trip that started with three straight losses, the struggling Blue Jackets staged a key team meeting before the game in an effort to right the ship, and they’d go on to win seven of the last eight starting in Vancouver to clinch a postseason bid.   

March 24, 2023: Boone Jenner scores on the power play 40 seconds into overtime – the first extra-time tally of his career – to give the Blue Jackets a 5-4 home win over the Islanders. Hunter McKown notches an assist in his first career NHL game while Kent Johnson scores the first-ever “Michigan” goal in franchise history.   

The Numbers Game

Columbus is 19-3-4 since Jan. 11 and leads the NHL in points percentage (.808) in that span. ... Zach Werenski has moved into sixth place in CBJ single-season annals with 75 points this year. With 20 goals and 55 assists – four short of tying the franchise record – he is tied for third among NHL defensemen in goals and places second in points. Werenski has points in 27 of his last 33 games (11-34-45) as well as 38 of the last 47 (16-48-64). He leads NHL defensemen in multipoint games (24, tied for ninth overall in NHL) and is one shy of Artemi Panarin’s team record set in 2018-19. ... Adam Fantilli has eight goals in the last 14 games and posted a 9-13-22 line in the last 20 games. He saw a six-game point streak (3-5-8) end Sunday. ... Kirill Marchenko is one assist from 100 in his NHL career and one point from 200. He has a 7-10-17 line in the last 18 games, is second in the NHL with six shootout goals and has scored on 10 of 15 career shootout attempts, the best mark among all active NHLers and second best in league history (minimum 10 attempts). ... Charlie Coyle has 11 goals and 30 points in the past 26 games as well as a 7-18-25 line in the last 21 contests, placing him eighth in the NHL in points in that span. ... Jet Greaves is 11-1-2 in his last 15 appearances with a 2.25 GAA, while Elvis Merzlikins is 8-2-2 in his last 13 with a 2.50 GAA. ... Mathieu Olivier has 10 goals in the last 19 games. … Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 52 goals this season, the most in the NHL and a new franchise record. … Columbus has scored first in 43 of 70 games overall, tied with Washington for the most in the NHL. ...  The Blue Jackets are 6-1 in shootouts this year. ... Boone Jenner has 209 career goals, four behind Cam Atkinson for second in team history.  

Know The Foe: Philadelphia Flyers

Head coach: Rick Tocchet (First season)  

Team stats: Goals per game: 2.80 (25th) | Scoring defense: 3.00 (13th) | PP: 14.9 percent (32nd) | PK: 77.9 percent (22nd)  

The narrative: The Flyers have missed the playoffs five straight seasons and parted ways with head coach John Tortorella at the end of last season, bringing in Tocchet – the 2023-24 Jack Adams Award winner and an 11-year Flyer as a player – to take over. Not many pundits expected the team to return to the postseason entering the year, but the Flyers are trying to hang in there in the Eastern Conference, sitting five points behind the Blue Jackets and four behind Detroit for the last wild card spot.  

Scoring leaders: The perennially consistent Travis Konecny leads the way with a 25-35-60 line thanks to 11 goals in his last 20 games, and Konecny has 20 goals and 38 points in 32 career games vs. Columbus. Trevor Zegras had back-to-back 60-point seasons in Anaheim but had struggled to find that form the past two years, resulting in him being traded this offseason to the Flyers; it’s been Philly’s gain, as the 24-year-old is next with 22 goals and 55 points. Owen Tippett has 24 goals among 42 points, while Travis Sanheim (8-23-31) is the top-scoring defenseman.  

In net: Goaltending has been a perennial trouble spot for the Flyers, but the addition of Dan Vladař has helped stabilize things, as he has posted a 23-11-7 record, 2.41 GAA and .908 save percentage. Samuel Ersson is 11-10-5 with a 3.28 GAA and .864 SV%.  

What's new: The Flyers struggled through the start of 2026, winning just five of 16 games going into the Olympic break, but the team won’t go away. Philadelphia is 9-1-2 in its last 12 games and is coming off of a California trip that included three straight victories over Anaheim (3-2 in overtime), Los Angeles (4-3 in a shootout) and San Jose (4-1 in regulation). Defense has led the way, as Philly has allowed just 26 goals in that span (2.17 per game); injuries are piling up among the forward ranks, as Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey and Luke Glendening missed the last game in San Jose.  

Trending: The Blue Jackets have won both previous meetings this season, taking a 5-3 victory Jan. 28 in Nationwide Arena then the 2-1 shootout win just 10 days ago in Philadelphia. Columbus has won four in a row in the series and is 3-0-1 in its last four visits to the City of Brotherly Love. 

Former CBJ: The only former Blue Jacket to see action for the Flyers this season is Lane Pederson, a forward who has played in five games without a point. Philadelphia did acquire 2022 CBJ first-round pick David Jiricek in a deal at the trade deadline, but he remains with the team’s AHL squad.