Thursday, February 6, 2025 – 7:00 PM
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio
TV: FDSNOH; Radio: 93.3 FM
Utah Hockey Club (22-22-9; 53 points; 5th Central; 10th West)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (26-21-7; 59 points; 4th Metro; 10th East)
After playing on the road in 8 of the last 9 games, the Blue Jackets finally return to the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena for two home games before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
This game is Margaritaville Night, featuring a giveaway shirt designed by our own Burkus Circus. Any Parrotheads out there in the comment section? Feel free to share your favorite Jimmy Buffett song that isn’t “Margaritaville.” I’m not a big fan, but I’ll throw out “Fins” to get this started.
Player to Watch
Dylan Guenther
One of the savviest moves made by Utah GM Bill Armstrong (while in Arizona) was trading Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland for a package which included the #9 pick in 2021 that was used to select Dylan Guenther. After splitting his rookie year between the WHL and NHL, and then last year between the AHL and NHL, this first year in Utah has seen Guenther finally become an NHL record and has already exceeded his previous highs at this level. He leads the team with 18 goals and also has career highs of 19 assists and 37 points, with plenty of season left to go.
Jackets Notes
Dylan Gambrell was called up prior to the Buffalo game as an insurance policy, but yesterday was sent back to the Cleveland Monsters … Zach Werenski was listed as day-to-day with the injury he suffered in Sunday’s game in Dallas, so we’ll find out at some point today whether he’ll dress tonight or not … Yesterday at Ohio Stadium, the NHL held a press conference where NHL president of Content & Events Steve Mayer took questions about the outdoor game which is rapidly approaching:
The Other Bench
The CBJ’s OT victory last Friday was part of a 5 game losing streak for the Mammoth/Outlaws/Hockey Club. They snapped the streak with an overtime win at home over the Flyers on Tuesday.
Season Series
01/31/2025 CBJ 3 @ UTA 2 (OT)
02/06/2025 UTA @ CBJ
Stats
| Utah | Columbus | |
| 2.77 (24) | GPG | 3.24 (8) |
| 2.92 (14) | GAPG | 3.30 (26) |
| 21.8 (15) | PP% | 21.4 (17) |
| 82.3 (6) | PK% | 74.8 (26) |
| 52.1 (6) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 47.7 (29) |
| 52.8 (6) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 48.2 (23) |
| 8.3 (25) | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.0 (3) |
| 91.4 (15) | 5v5 Save % | 90.6 (22) |
| C. Keller, D. Guenther, 18 | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko, 21 |
| Clayton Keller, 39 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 40 |
| Clayton Keller, 57 | P Leader | Zach Werenski, 57 |
| Michael Kesselring, 58 | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier, 97 |
| 13-10-3 | Home/Road | 17-5-3 |
| 4-4-2 | Last 10 | 5-4-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Dmitri Voronkov | Adam Fantilli | Cole Sillinger |
| James van Riemsdyk | Luca Del Bel Belluz | Kent Johnson |
| Zach Aston-Reese | Justin Danforth | Mathieu Olivier |
| Mikael Pyyhtia | Sean Kuraly | Kevin Labanc |
| Zach Werenski | Ivan Provorov |
| Denton Mateychuk | Damon Severson |
| Jake Christiansen | Jordan Harris |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Daniil Tarasov |
Utah Hockey Club
| Clayton Keller | Alex Kerfoot | Nick Schmaltz |
| Dylan Guenther | Barrett Hayton | Michael Carcone |
| Matias Maccelli | Jack McBain | Josh Doan |
| Liam O’Brien | Kevin Stenlund | Nick Bjugstad |
| Mikhail Sergachev | John Marino |
| Ian Cole | Michael Kesselring |
| Olli Maatta | Nick Desimone |
| Karel Vejmelka |
| Connor Ingram |