Saturday, December 23, 2023 – 7:00 PM ET
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Bally Sports Ohio – Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Bay Street Blues
Toronto Maple Leafs (16-8-6, 38 points, 2nd Atlantic, 6th East)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (11-17-6, 28 points, 8th Metro, 15th East)
It’s the last game before the Christmas break! Will the Jackets play like they did in the first 40 minutes against Toronto last week, or the last 20 minutes?
Player to Watch
Per Jeff Svoboda, Damon Severson is poised to return, with Jake Bean exiting the lineup.
Severson has missed just over a month of action, after suffering an oblique injury in a loss to Philadelphia, the team’s ninth straight. Even though the team has won more often in December than in November, the defensive play has clearly declined (see below for the current goals allowed rate). Severson leads Columbus defensemen (minimum 100 minutes played at 5v5) in on-ice shot attempt share and expected goals percentage.
Jackets Notes
Svoboda is also reporting that Jake Bean is the one slated to come out of the lineup. This despite Bean and partner David Jiricek having great on-ice numbers against Washington on Thursday. Do the coaches even look at any advanced stats? Or is this all just ~*~vibes~*~ ?
Speaking of coaches, it’s good to see that Steve McCarthy has recovered from his concussion after getting struck by a puck, and is back on the job.
The Other Bench
Weird run for Toronto since losing in OT to the Jackets:
7-0 win over the Penguins
5-2 loss to the Rangers
9-3 loss in Buffalo (to the Sabres team that had just given up 9 to the Jackets
Also weird: our 3 games this season against the Leafs are occurring in a span of 15 days
Season Series
12/14/2023 CBJ 6 @ TOR 5 (OT)
12/23/2023 TOR @ CBJ
12/29/2023 TOR @ CBJ
Stats
| Toronto | Columbus | |
| 3.57 (4) | GPG | 3.15 (15) |
| 3.43 (26) | GAPG | 3.62 (31) |
| 25.8 (5) | PP% | 16.0 (25) |
| 78.3 (21) | PK% | 82.1 (11) |
| 49.1 (19) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 47.0 (26) |
| 48.6 (22) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 47.5 (24) |
| 9.3 (11) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.9 (6) |
| 90.7 (19) | 5v5 Save % | 90.5 (23) |
| Auston Matthews, 26 | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko, Boone Jenner, 13 |
| William Nylander, 27 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 24 |
| William Nylander, 42 | P Leader | Zach Werenski, 25 |
| Max Domi, 50 | PIM Leader | Erik Gudbranson, 44 |
| 7-3-4 | Home/Road | 7-9-3 |
| 5-2-3 | Last 10 | 4-4-2 |
Projected Lines
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Johnny Gaudreau | Adam Fantilli | Justin Danforth |
| Yegor Chinakhov | Dmitri Voronkov | Kirill Marchenko |
| Emil Bemstrom | Cole Sillinger | Kent Johnson |
| Alexandre Texier | Sean Kuraly | Brendan Gaunce |
| Zach Werenski | David Jiricek |
| Ivan Provorov | Damon Severson |
| Andrew Peeke | Erik Gudbranson |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Daniil Tarasov/Spencer Martin |
Toronto Maple Leafs
| Matthew Knies | Auston Matthews | Mitch Marner |
| Tyler Bertuzzi | John Tavares | William Nylander |
| Nicholas Robertson | Max Domi | Calle Jarnkrok |
| Bobby McMann | David Kampf | Noah Gregor |
| Morgan Reilly | T.J. Brodie |
| Jake McCabe | Timothy Liljegren |
| Simon Benoit | William Lagesson |
| Ilya Samsonov |
| Martin Jones |