Thursday, January 30, 2025 – 10:00 PM
T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
TV: FDSNOH – Radio: 97.1FM
Columbus Blue Jackets (24-19-7, 55 points, 4th Metropolitan, 9th East)
at
Vegas Golden Knights (31-15-5, 67 points, 2nd Pacific, 3rd West)
Aside from a quick pit stop at NWA, the Blue Jackets are returning from one four-game road trip to start another four-game road trip. They went 1-2-1 on the previous attempt, so here’s to hoping they turn their fortunes around in Vegas.
Players to Watch
The Bottom Six
With Boone Jenner’s return imminent, and Yegor Chinakhov progressing as well, two players from the bottom six are about to find themselves in the press box. I would guess Mattieu Olivier is safe, as is Sean Kuraly due to leadership purposes. Kevin Labanc has seemingly been banished to the shadow realm. But that leaves Justin Danforth, Zach Aston-Reese and Mikael Pyyhtia at risk of demotion, fighting for the final spot. My money’s on Danforth to stay in, but I’d especially watch ZAR in his efforts to stay in the top 12.
Jackets Notes
After their win Saturday over the Los Angeles Kings, the Jackets got two days off before two days of practice prior to tonight’s game. Nice to have a little half-break during this critical eight-in-nine stretch. … The Jackets have fallen out of the wildcard due to a games played tiebreaker. … Boone Jenner has fully returned to practice, and reports are that he’ll return as a center, uh, somehow. We have four centers playing really well, though Monahan is injured for the next six weeks or more. … Yegor Chinakhov had also returned to practice, but left yesterday’s early as a precaution. … Zach Werenski broke in his 4 Nations Faceoff gloves at practice.
The Other Bench
After leading the West for a while this season, the Golden Knights have fallen back a bit. They’ve gone 3-6-2 since January 9th. … Mark Stone got into some controversy after a collision with Miro Heiskanen Tuesday. Vegas fans are pointing out that Stone was tripped by another Star right before. Everyone else is saying Stone dove intentionally. I think it was pretty obviously an accident, but that’s hockey twitter for ya. … Alex Pietrangelo became the first player to withdraw from the 4 Nations Faceoff for non-injury reasons. Well, he cited an injury, but he’s still playing. … Tonight’s Asian American and Pacific Islander night in Vegas, cool to see that get its own game.
Season Series
1/20/2025 – CBJ at VGK
3/13/2025 – VGK at CBJ
Stats
Vegas | Columbus | |
3.39 (4) | GPG | 3.30 (7) |
2.76 (9) | GAPG | 3.34 (27) |
28.3% (3) | PP% | 22.6% (12) |
78.2% (19) | PK% | 74.8% (26) |
50.7% (12) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 47.8% (28) |
51.1% (9) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 28.5% (22) |
9.0% (11) | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.0% (3) |
.908 (20) | 5v5 Save % | .906 (23) |
Pavel Dorofeyev, 22 | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko, 20 |
Jack Eichel, 48 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 38 |
Jack Eichel, 64 | P Leader | Zach Werenski, 54 |
Nicolas Roy, 37 | PIM Leader | Matthieu Olivier, 90 |
19-6-2 | Home/Road | 7-14-4 |
3-5-2 | Last 10 | 7-2-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dmitri Voronkov | Adam Fantilli | Kirill Marchenko |
James van Riemsdyk | Cole Sillinger | Kent Johnson |
Zach Aston-Reese | Luca Del Bel Belluz | Mattieu Olivier |
Mikael Pyyhtia | Sean Kuraly | Justin Danforth |
Zach Werenski | Dante Fabbro |
Denton Mateychuk | Ivan Provorov |
Jake Christiansen | Damon Severson |
Elvis Merzlikins |
Daniil Tarasov |
Vegas Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev | Jack Eichel | Mark Stone |
Victor Olofsson | Tomas Hertl | Pavel Dorofeyev |
Tanner Pearson | Nicolas Roy | Keegan Kolesar |
Jonas Rondbjerg | Brett Howden | Raphael Lavoie |
Noah Hanifin | Alex Pietrangelo |
Brayden McNabb | Shea Theodore |
Nicolas Hague | Zach Whitecloud |
Ilya Samsonov |
Adin Hill |