Thursday, February 29, 2024 – 7:00 PM ET
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Hulu/ESPN+ – Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Canes Country
Carolina Hurricanes (35-18-6, 76 points, 2nd Metro, 4th East)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (19-29-10, 48 points, 8th Metro, 16th East)
After a successful California road trip and splitting a home-and-home with the league-leading Rangers, the Jackets are back in action to face the Carolina Hurricanes. The Jackets have been alternating wins and losses for over two weeks now, why not keep the pattern going one more game before breaking it Saturday?
Player to Watch
Zach Werenski
Idk, we’re reaching that point in the season where there’s nothing left to play for and I’m running out of things to talk about. Werenski’s my favorite player. I like him. He put up a 3-2-5 statline in the first five games out of the All Star break, but has gone pointless in the past three games. He’ll score again eventually. We still have 23 games to go.
Season Series
12/26/2023 – CBJ 2 at CAR 3
2/29/2024 – Carolina at Columbus
4/7/2024 – Columbus at Carolina
4/16/2024 – Carolina at Columbus
Game Notes
This will be Boone Jenner’s 701st game with the club (we missed his 700th yesterday, whoopsie) … The Blue Jackets are 1-1 on Leap Day all time, earning a 3-2 OTW in Vancouver in 2008 and suffering a 2-1 loss to the Rangers in 2016. … The Hurricanes are without both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta, which is part of why the claimed Spencer Martin from us off waivers last month. No word on if Martin starts tonight. … Carolina’s dominant in all phases of the game; 1st in both Fenwick and Corsi at 5v5, and top 4 on both the PK and Powerplay. … Tonight’s Military Appreciation Night, so thanks to all the active duty and veterans amongst you. … 366 days until the Stadium Series.
Stats
| Carolina | Columbus | |
| 3.27 (13) | GPG | 2.91 (22) |
| 2.73 (7) | GAPG | 3.67 (31) |
| 27.2% (4) | PP% | 14.5% (29) |
| 84.6% (3) | PK% | 76.5% (25) |
| 58.9% (1) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 48.2% (22) |
| 58.1% (1) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 48.4% (21) |
| 8.0% (25) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.2% (9) |
| .911 (15) | 5v5 Save % | .910 (17) |
| Sebastian Aho, 22 | G Leader | Boone Jenner, 18 |
| Sebastian Aho, 39 | A Leader | Johnny Gaudreau, 34 |
| Sebastian Aho, 61 | P Leader | Johnny Gaudreau, 42 |
| Michael Bunting, 51 | PIM Leader | Erik Gudbranson, 57 |
| 16-11-2 | Home/Road | 10-15-4 |
| 7-2-1 | Last 10 | 4-6-0 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Johnny Gaudreau | Boone Jenner | Jack Roslovic |
| Yegor Chinakhov | Dmitri Voronkov | Kirill Marchenko |
| Kent Johnson | Cole Sillinger | Alex Nylander |
| Justin Danforth | Sean Kuraly | Mathieu Olivier |
| Zach Werenski | Adam Boqvist |
| Ivan Provorov | Damon Severson |
| Jake Bean | Erik Gudbranson |
| Daniil Tarasov |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
Carolina Hurricanes
| Andrei Svechnikov | Sebastian Aho | Teuvo Teravainen |
| Michael Bunting | Jack Drury | Martin Necas |
| Jordan Martinook | Jordan Staal | Seth Jarvis |
| Stefan Noesen | Jesperi Kotkaniemi | Jesper Fast |
| Jaccob Slavin | Brent Burns |
| Brady Skjei | Brett Pesce |
| Dmitry Orlov | Jalen Chatfield |
| Pyotr Kochetkov |
| Spencer Martin |