Saturday, January 11, 2024 – 7:00 PM ET
Enterprise Center – St. Louis, Missouri
TV: ABC6, FDSNOH – Radio: 97.1 FM
Columbus Blue Jackets (19-17-6, 44 points, 4th Metropolitan, 8th East)
at
St. Louis Blues (20-19-4, 44 points, 5th Central, 10th East)
For the second time in eight days, the Columbus Blue Jackets are facing off against their old Central Division rivals, the St. Louis Blues. Since their last game, a back-and-forth 6-4 win for the Jackets, Columbus has earned wins over Pittsburgh and Seattle, while the Blues split their games, losing in Minnesota before beating the Ducks Tuesday.
Player to Watch
Goaltending
There’s been major improvement up and down the roster this season, but despite some progress goaltending remains a key issue in Columbus. Elvis Merzlikins has put up an .889 save percentage and a 3.12 GAA, which is a slight improvement but still underperforming. Daniil Tarasov, however, has been unplayable, rocking an .857 and 4.23 in those stats, which are fourth worst and second worst in the league respectively among goalies who’ve played more than two games. After rotating three goalies for a bit, the Jackets have recalled Jet Greaves to split duties with Elvis. Jet has an .890 and 3.48 in four games with Columbus so far, but is rocking a .913 and 2.78 in Cleveland, both near tops of the American Hockey League. Regardless of who starts tonight, we’ll see how they react to the new competition for the starter’s crease.
Jackets Notes
Sean Monahan was injured Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Most recent update is that it appears to be a wrist sprain, no fractures. Depending on severity, he’s expected to miss a week or two. … This is the first game with Fantilli and Sillinger serving as top two centers this season, so the bottom six may be scrambled a bit to compensate. … Don’t look now, but Columbus currently has a top ten powerplay in the League. When’s the last time that was a thing? … A win tonight would be the Jackets’ fourth straight, their first four-game winning streak since February of 2022.
Season Series
1/4/2024 – STL 4 at CBJ 6
1/11/2024 – CBJ at STL
Stats
| St. Louis | Columbus | |
| 2.86 (21) | GPG | 3.43 (5) |
| 3.05 (15) | GAPG | 3.57 (31) |
| 17.9% (25) | PP% | 23.6% (10) |
| 73.8% (27) | PK% | 73.6% (28) |
| 48.6% (24) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 49.0% (20) |
| 48.2% (27) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 49.5% (17) |
| 9.2% (11) | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.2% (4) |
| .912 (16) | 5v5 Save % | .899 (27) |
| Jordan Kyrou, 19 | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko, 18 |
| Robert Thomas, 22 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 35 |
| Jordan Kyrou, 38 | P Leader | Zach Werenski, 48 |
| Brayden Schenn, 37 | PIM Leader | Matthieu Olivier, 79 |
| 9-9-1 | Home/Road | 5-12-3 |
| 5-4-1 | Last 10 | 7-2-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Dmitri Voronkov | Adam Fantilli | Kirill Marchenko |
| James van Riemsdyk | Cole Sillinger | Kent Johnson |
| Zach Aston-Reese | Luca Del Bel Belluz | Mattieu Olivier |
| Mikael Pyyhtia | Sean Kuraly | Kevin Labanc |
| Zach Werenski | Dante Fabbro |
| Denton Mateychuk | Ivan Provorov |
| Jake Christiansen | Damon Severson |
| Jet Greaves |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
St. Louis Blues
| Brandon Saad | Robert Thomas | Pavel Buchnevich |
| Dylan Holloway | Brayden Schenn | Jordan Kyrou |
| Jake Neighbors | Oskar Sundqvist | Zack Bolduc |
| Alexey Toropchenko | Radek Faksa | Nathan Walker |
| Cam Fowler | Colton Parayko |
| Philip Broberg | Justin Faulk |
| Ryan Suter | Tyler Tucker |
| Jordan Binnington |
| Joel Hofer |