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Game 48 Preview: Blue Jackets look to solve road woes in Toronto

Wednesday, January 22, 2025 – 7:30 PM ET
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON
TV: FDSNOH – Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Pension Plan Puppets

Columbus Blue Jackets (22-18-7, 51 points, 4th Metropolitan, 9th East)
at
Toronto Maple Leaves (30-16-2, 62 points, 1st Atlantic, 2nd East)

Following a pair of loses in the Big Apple that featured a total of one goal for (thanks, Kent Johnson!), the Blue Jackets continue their roadtrip in the Big Maple, Toronto. They face a Leaves team that is having a dominant regular season, as always, including a three-game winning streak over the Senators, Canadiens, and Lightning.

Player to Watch

Mitch Marner

After two seasons on the doorstep of 100 points followed by a disappointing 85-point performance last year, the homegrown winger has been cruising at a 114-point pace this year, putting up 15 goals and 67 points through 48 games. That includes eight points in his last four games and a three-point performance Monday vs Tampa. He’s good at this hockey thing. But not only is he putting up elite offensive numbers, he routinely puts up some of the best defensive numbers in the league as well, despite playing wing. If he was a center, he would’ve won a Selke by now; he’s really good at this hockey thing. And he’s a pending UFA, with Columbus literally having $40M in cap space next season and… suddenly needing a top-line wing. Just saying.

Jackets Notes

Justin Danforth returned vs the Islanders Monday, playing ten shifts for 7:26 of ice time. … This is game three of a brutal nine-game stretch with eight road games. The Jackets fell to 0-1-1 with one goal for, and are now looking from the outside in on the playoffs. … They have a 6-13-4 record away from NWA on the season, which is suboptimal. … The club had an off day Tuesday so nothing much else to report.

The Other Bench

Toronto has had a weird January so far. Five game win streak starting New Year’s Eve, followed by a three game losing streak, followed by a three game winning streak. Sure! … They’ve had trouble down the middle, though, as Auston Matthews was out for a long stretch early in the season, and now John Tavares is out for the past few games. … The Leaves own the second best home record in the NHL. … That bottom six is what experts call “suboptimal.”

Season Series

10/22/2024 – TML 2 at CBJ 6
1/22/2025 – CBJ at TML
4/5/2025 – CBJ at TML

Stats

TorontoColumbus
3.17 (11)GPG3.26 (8)
2.85 (12)GAPG3.34 (27)
22.2% (13)PP%23.1% (11)
81.0% (12)PK%74.2% (26)
49.3% (18)5v5 Shot Attempt %48.6% (22)
49.6% (18)5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt %49.3% (20)
9.0% (13)5v5 Shooting %9.7% (5)
.925 (4)5v5 Save %.905 (23)
William Nylander, 28G LeaderKirill Marchenko, 18
Mitch Marner, 52A LeaderZach Werenski, 36
Mitch Marner, 67P LeaderZach Werenski, 51
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, 34PIM LeaderMatthieu Olivier, 83
19-9-0Home/Road6-13-4
7-3-0Last 107-2-1

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets

Dmitri VoronkovAdam FantilliKirill Marchenko
James van RiemsdykCole SillingerKent Johnson
Zach Aston-ReeseLuca Del Bel BelluzMattieu Olivier
Mikael PyyhtiaSean KuralyJustin Danforth
Zach WerenskiDante Fabbro
Denton MateychukIvan Provorov
Jake ChristiansenDamon Severson
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov

Toronto Maple Leaves

Matthew KniesAuston MatthewsMitch Marner
Bobby McMannPontus HolmbergWilliam Nylander
Max DomiFraser MintenNick Robertson
Steven LorentzDavid KampfConnor Dewar
Morgan RiellyJake McCabe
Oliver Ekman-LarssonChris Tanev
Simon BenoitConnor Timmins
Joseph Woll
Dennis Hildeby

Talking Points