Monday, December 22, 2025 – 10:00 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena (lol, I can’t believe it’s still called that) – Los Angeles, California
TV: FDSNOH; Radio: 97.1 FM
Columbus Blue Jackets (14-15-6, 34 points, 8th Metro, 16th East)
at
Los Angeles Kings (15-10-9, 39 points, 4th Pacific, 7th West)
It’s safe to say that we could all use a break right about now. Certainly the Blue Jackets can. They just need to get through tonight, then they can enjoy Christmas with their families and not play again until Sunday at home against the Islanders.
The big question will be whether Zach Werenski will play. He left Saturday night’s game after blocking a shot with his ankle. Fortunately x-rays were negative for a fracture, but he is still considered day-to-day. Although this team is much worse without him, I think I’d err on the side of caution and let him get the full week of rest.
With Darcy Kuemper on IR, we could see our old friend Anton Forsberg in net!
Stats
| Los Angeles | Columbus | |
| 2.56 (29) | GPG | 2.89 (21) |
| 2.50 (2) | GAPG | 3.51 (32) |
| 14.6 (30) | PP% | 18.8 (17) |
| 79.8 (19) | PK% | 72.9 (30) |
| 52.2 (6) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 50.4 (15) |
| 51.3 (10) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 49.2 (19) |
| 7.5 (30) | 5v5 Shooting % | 8.8 (20) |
| 92.7 (4) | 5v5 Save % | 90.5 (17) |
| Adrian Kempe (13) | G Leader | Zach Werenski (14) |
| Adrian Kempe (17) | A Leader | Zach Werenski (26) |
| Adrian Kempe (30) | P Leader | Zach Werenski (40) |
| Adrian Kempe (28) | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier (44) |
| 4-6-4 | Home/Road | 7-9-3 |
| 4-4-2 | Last 10 | 3-6-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Kent Johnson | Adam Fantilli | Mason Marchment |
| Boone Jenner | Charlie Coyle | Kirill Marchenko |
| Dmitri Voronkov | Sean Monahan | Cole Sillinger |
| Isac Lundestrom | Luca Del Bel Belluz | Yegor Chinakhov |
| Zach Werenski | Denton Mateychuk |
| Ivan Provorov | Damon Severson |
| Brendan Smith | Dante Fabbro |
| Jet Greaves |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
Los Angeles Kings
| Trevor Moore | Anze Kopitar | Adrian Kempe |
| Alex Laferriere | Quinton Byfield | Kevin Fiala |
| Warren Foegele | Alex Turcotte | Andrei Kuzmenko |
| Joel Armia | Samuel Helenius | Corey Perry |
| Mikey Anderson | Drew Doughty |
| Joel Edmundson | Brandt Clarke |
| Brian Dumoulin | Cody Ceci |
| Anton Forsberg |
| Pheonix Copley |