Wednesday, November 29, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Bally Sports Ohio – Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s site: Eyes on the Prize
Montreal Canadiens (9-10-2, 20 points, 7th Atlantic, 14th East)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (7-12-4, 18 points, 8th Metro, 15th East)
Don’t forget, you have until December 8th to order a Cannon hockey jersey.
It’s the fourth game in six days for the Blue Jackets, against a team that hasn’t played since Saturday. Fun!
Player to Watch
Yegor Chinakhov
For the franchise that just can’t get out of its own way, just as l’affair Voronkov appears to have reached a favorable resolution, now comes a report from Brian Hedger at The Columbus Dispatch that fellow Russian Chinakhov is unhappy with the Blue Jackets, and could be considering a trade. Per Hedger, “Babaev [Chinakhov’s agent] said he expressed Chinakhov’s concerns to Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen about 10 days ago, but no trade request has been made yet.”
10 days ago would fall right after the Arizona game, in which Chinakhov played a season-low 10:40. Understandable that he would be upset about that usage. Hopefully Monday’s game has improved his mood, however. He scored a goal and assist and was on the ice for 3 Blue Jackets goals. He seemed happy when meeting with the media after the game. Perhaps uniting Voronkov and Chinakhov can make everyone happy (and also help Cole Sillinger’s offensive production come along, to match his improved defense).
Jackets Notes
The first 10,000 fans will receive a Boone Jenner bobblehead … This is the second of three straight home games against Atlantic Division opponents … In case you missed it yesterday, some Blue Jackets prospects are having a strong start to the season.
The Other Bench
The Habs ended their California trip with a shutout loss to the Los Angeles Kings … Our old friend Josh Anderson has yet to score a goal this season, and yesterday Nathan Ni over at Eyes on the Prize examined the drought and broke down the other ways in which Anderson is having a negative impact on the ice … Carey Price is still out.
Season Series
10/26/2023 CBJ 3 @ MTL 4 (OT)
11/29/2023 MTL @ CBJ
03/12/2024 CBJ @ MTL
Stats
| Montreal | Columbus | |
| 2.71 (28) | GPG | 2.91 (23) |
| 3.48 (25) | GAPG | 3.39 (21) |
| 18.0 (23) | PP% | 11.1 (28) |
| 73.5 (27) | PK% | 89.2 (2) |
| 45.9 (29) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 47.2 (26) |
| 45.4 (29) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 47.2 (26) |
| 8.4 (20) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.6 (9) |
| 93.1 (5) | 5v5 Save % | 90.6 (18) |
| Alex Newhook, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Sean Monahan, 6 | G Leader | Boone Jenner, 11 |
| Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, 11 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 14 |
| Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, 17 | P Leader | Boone Jenner, 16 |
| Arber Xhekaj, 47 | PIM Leader | Sean Kuraly, 20 |
| 4-4-2 | Home/Road | 5-6-1 |
| 4-6-0 | Last 10 | 3-6-1 |
Projected Lines
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Patrik Laine | Adam Fantilli | Alexandre Texier |
| Johnny Gaudreau | Boone Jenner | Kirill Marchenko |
| Dmitri Voronkov | Cole Sillinger | Yegor Chinakhov |
| Eric Robinson | Sean Kuraly | Justin Danforth |
| Zach Werenski | Adam Boqvist |
| Ivan Provorov | David Jiricek |
| Jake Bean | Erik Gudbranson |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Spencer Martin |
Montreal Canadiens
| Alex Newhook | Nick Suzuki | Brendan Gallagher |
| Cole Caufield | Christian Dvorak | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| Tanner Pearson | Sean Monahan | Josh Anderson |
| Jesse Ylonen | Jake Evans | Michael Pezzetta |
| Michael Matheson | Justin Barron |
| Kaiden Guhle | Gustav Lindstrom |
| Jayden Struble | Johnathan Kovacevic |
| Jake Allen |
| Samuel Montembeault |