Tuesday, January 23, 2024 9:00 PM ET
Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB
TV: Bally Sports Ohio; Radio: 105.7 FM
Columbus Blue Jackets (14-22-9, 37 points, 8th Metro, 15th East)
at
Edmonton Oilers (26-15-1, 53 points, 3rd Pacific, 6th West)
There’s a joke going around that the Blue Jackets are near locks to win tonight’s game, but this isn’t the same Oilers team from the beginning of the season. They’ve won 13 games in a row and have done so convincingly. More on that later.
The Jackets will need to play a near-perfect game tonight, something they’ve been able to do only a couple of times this season.
Player to Watch
Connor McDavid
After a “slow” start to the season, McDavid has been on a tear. He’s recorded points in 26 of his last 29 games, scoring a ridiculous 14-35-49. The scary part? He has 32 even strength points in that same stretch.
Jackets Notes
Werenski could return to the lineup as soon as Thursday, and Laine could return by the end of this five-game road trip … Boqvist missed practice yesterday due to illness, but he’s still expected to play tonight … Blankenburg was taken off of IR and sent to Cleveland.
The Other Bench
I think it’s safe to say that Edmonton’s coaching change was the right move. What was once an awful team defensively is now one of the best. Take notes, Columbus.
Season Series
01/23/24 CBJ @ EDM
03/07/24 EDM @ CBJ
Stats
| Edmonton | Columbus | |
| 3.50 (4) | GPG | 2.96 (21) |
| 2.90 (12) | GAPG | 3.73 (31) |
| 25.4 (6) | PP% | 14.8 (25) |
| 82.2 (10) | PK% | 79.8 (18) |
| 55.69 (4) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 47.50 (24) |
| 55.76 (3) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 47.76 (24) |
| 8.5 (16) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.6 (8) |
| 90.73 (22) | 5v5 Save % | 90.42 (26) |
| Zach Hyman, 28 | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko, 14 |
| Connor McDavid, 43 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 24 |
| Connor McDavid, 59 | P Leader | Johnny Gaudreau, 29 |
| Evander Kane, 54 | PIM Leader | Erik Gudbranson, 51 |
| 13-6-1 | Home/Road | 5-9-5 |
| 10-0-0 | Last 10 | 3-4-3 |
Projected Lines
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Johnny Gaudreau | Cole Sillinger | Yegor Chinakhov |
| Adam Fantilli | Boone Jenner | Jack Roslovic |
| Kent Johnson | Dmitri Voronkov | Kirill Marchenko |
| Alexandre Texier | Sean Kuraly | Justin Danforth |
| Damon Severson | Adam Boqvist |
| Ivan Provorov | Andrew Peeke |
| Jake Bean | Erik Gudbranson |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Daniil Tarasov |
Edmonton Oilers
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Connor McDavid | Zach Hyman |
| Evander Kane | Leon Draisaitl | Warren Foegele |
| Mattias Janmark | Ryan McLeod | Derek Ryan |
| Sam Gagner | James Hamblin | Connor Brown |
| Darnell Nurse | Cody Ceci |
| Mattias Ekholm | Evan Bouchard |
| Brett Kulak | Vincent Desharnais |
| Calvin Pickard |
| Stuart Skinner |