Thursday, January 16, 2025 – 7:00 PM
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio
TV: FDSNOH – Radio: 97.1 FM
San Jose Sharks (14-26-6, 34 points, 8th Pacific, 15th West)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (21-17-6, 48 points, 4th Metropolitan, 8th East)
Columbus puts their (NHL leading) 5 game winning streak on the line tonight. The streak has not given them as much separation in the wild card standings as could be hoped for with Montreal and Detroit both winning 7 of their last 10. Every game is important now, but with 8 of the next 9 on the road, and considering the quality of opponent, this needs to be a win.
Player to Watch
Adam Fantilli
On to game three with no Sean Monahan and a matchup against another high end draft pick. Fantilli has been good so far between Marchenko and Voronkov, how will he fare matched up against maybe the best young player in the NHL?
Jackets Notes
Portzline today with some injury updates: Boone Jenner could be back around the Four Nations Faceoff in February, Gudbranson is targeting an April return, Monahan avoided a fracture in his wrist but swollen ligaments will have him out until at least late January, and Danforth is expected to travel with the team this weekend, boding well for a return soon.
Rumors abound that the stadium series jerseys will be announced today.
The Other Bench
The Sharks have the honor of being the fun bad team this year. Macklin Celebrini has been outstanding in his rookie season and veteran acquisitions like Walman, Wennberg, and Toffoli make them feisty most nights. The recent trade of Blackwood for Georgiev in net has led to a significant drop in their goaltending performance, however. If the Jackets draw Georgiev instead of Askarov, expect goals.
Season Series
11/5/2024 – CBJ 1 at SJS 2 (OT)
1/16/2025 – SJS at CBJ
Stats
San Jose | Columbus | |
2.61 (28) | GPG | 3.36 (5) |
3.41 (28) | GAPG | 3.48 (31) |
18.5% (24) | PP% | 23.9% (10) |
78.6% (19) | PK% | 73.8% (27) |
44.68% (32) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 48.88% (19) |
44.01% (32) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 49.33% (19) |
8.24% (26) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.99% (4) |
.908 (21) | 5v5 Save % | .901 (25) |
Tyler Toffoli, 16 | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko, 18 |
Jake Walman, 26 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 35 |
Mikael Granlund, 37 | P Leader | Zach Werenski, 50 |
Barclay Goodrow, 36 | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier, 83 |
6-12-5 | Home/Road | 15-5-3 |
3-7-0 | Last 10 | 8-2-0 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dmitri Voronkov | Adam Fantilli | Kirill Marchenko |
James van Riemsdyk | Luca Del Bel Belluz | Kent Johnson |
Zach Aston-Reese | Cole Sillinger | Mattieu Olivier |
Mikael Pyyhtia | Sean Kuraly | Kevin Labanc |
Zach Werenski | Dante Fabbro |
Denton Mateychuk | Ivan Provorov |
Jake Christiansen | Damon Severson |
Elvis Merzlikins |
Daniil Tarasov |
San Jose Sharks
Collin Graf | Mikael Granlund | Fabian Zetterlund |
William Eklund | Macklin Celebrini | Tyler Toffoli |
Luke Kunin | Alex Wennberg | Will Smith |
Barclay Goodrow | Nico Sturm | Ty Dellandrea |
Jake Walman | Cody Ceci |
Mario Ferraro | Timothy Liljegren |
Marc-Edouard Vlasic | Jan Rutta |
Alexander Georgiev |
Yaroslav Askarov |