Game #42 Preview: Kraken sail into Nationwide

Thursday, January 9, 2025 – 7:00 PM EST
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio
TV: FDSNOH; Radio: 93.3 FM
Opponent’s Site: Davy Jones’ Locker Room

Seattle Kraken (17-21-3, 37 points, 7th Pacific, 13th West)

at

Columbus Blue Jackets (18-17-6, 42 points, 4th Metro, 8th East)

We are past the halfway point, and the Jackets currently sit in the second wild-card spot. They control their destiny from here on out.

Tonight feels like a trap game. In town are the struggling Kraken, who have only won 2 of their last 10 games. The Jackets have been very good at home and have a good chance to win this game, but they can’t let their recent success get to their heads.

Player to Watch

Adam Fantilli

The assumption is that Fantilli will play between Marchenko and Voronkov in Monahan’s absence. He played the part well to close out the Pittsburgh game, but can he put together a complete game with the weight of expectation?

Jackets Notes

As of this morning, there’s little word on Monahan. Waddell told Jeff Marek yesterday that Monahan would miss “some time, hopefully not a long time.” Hopefully, that means it won’t be more than a week or two.

Luca Del Bel Belluz gets the call-up from Cleveland due to the Monahan injury. LDBB leads the entire AHL with 37 points in 34 games. The 2023 2nd round pick has taken a big step forward this season. He looks like a legitimate middle-six center prospect.

The Other Bench

The Kraken are missing both Yanni Gourde and Jordan Eberle. In addition, their young centers aren’t where they’d like them to be. Beniers, in particular, only has 22 points in 41 games. That’s not bad for a 22-year-old, but expectations are high after his stellar rookie season.

Season Series

11/12/2024 CBJ 2 @ SEA 5
01/09/2025 SEA @ CBJ

Stats

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets

Seattle Kraken