Tuesday, March 31, 2026 – 7:30 PM ET
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio
TV: ESPN+/hulu; Radio: 97.1 FM
Carolina Hurricanes (46-21-6, 98 points, 1st Metro, 1st East)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (38-24-12, 88 points, 4th Metro, 8th East)
Notes
Let’s start with the bad news: The Blue Jackets are just 1-3-1 over their last 5 games, and three teams (OTT, DET, PHI) sit just two points behind – each with a game in hand.
Worse news: Damon Severson and Dimitri Voronkov are out “week to week” and Mathieu Olivier joined the injured ranks on Sunday (his status is still undetermined)
Now, for some good news: despite the recent trouble, the Jackets still sit in a playoff position. They have some control over their destiny…even if it may require winning 6 of the last 8 to feel safe (and even that 100 point mark may just be the wild card cutoff)
With the rash of injuries, the Jackets recalled Luca Del Bel Belluz from Cleveland. The 22-year-old only recorded one assist in 13 games in Columbus this season, but he is 22/35/57 in 53 games with the Cleveland Monsters. Hopefully he can bring an offensive spark to a team that has scored just 9 goals in the last 5 games.
Playoff Race
All of these start at 7 PM ET
- Stars at Bruins (Go Stars)
- Islanders at Sabres (Go Sabres)
- Senators at Panthers (ugh, Go Cats)
- Red Wings at Penguins (actually, it’s likely better that Pittsburgh wins this one to keep Detroit from catching us. But in regulation, please)
- Flyers at Capitals (Go Caps)
We can’t catch Boston tonight but we can move ahead of the Islanders with a win by us and loss by them.
Stats
| Carolina | Columbus | |
| 3.47 (5) | GPG | 3.12 (15) |
| 2.92 (8) | GAPG | 3.03 (13) |
| 23.7 (9) | PP% | 20.2 (18) |
| 80.2 (12) | PK% | 77.3 (24) |
| 59.3 (1) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 51.0 (11) |
| 59.0 (1) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 50.6 (13) |
| 8.6 (26) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.4 (16) |
| 89.4 (28) | 5v5 Save % | 91.3 (9) |
| Seth Jarvis (30) | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko (25) |
| Sebastian Aho (49) | A Leader | Zach Werenski (56) |
| Sebastian Aho (74) | P Leader | Zach Werenski (77) |
| Andrei Svechnikov (58) | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier (101) |
| 20-11-4 | Home/Road | 20-9-8 |
| 6-4-0 | Last 10 | 5-3-2 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Mason Marchment | Adam Fantilli | Kirill Marchenko |
| Kent Johnson | Sean Monahan | Conor Garland |
| Cole Sillinger | Charlie Coyle | Danton Heinen |
| Isac Lundestrom | Boone Jenner | Luca Del Bel Belluz |
| Zach Werenski | Dante Fabbro |
| Ivan Provorov | Denton Mateychuk |
| Egor Zamula | Erik Gudbranson |
| Jet Greaves |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
Carolina Hurricanes
| Andrei Svechnikov | Sebastian Aho | Seth Jarvis |
| Taylor Hall | Logan Stankoven | Jackson Blake |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | Jordan Staal | Jordan Martinook |
| William Carrier | Mark Jankowski | Eric Robinson |
| Jaccob Slavin | Jalen Chatfield |
| K’Andre Miller | Sean Walker |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | Alexander Nikishin |
| Brandon Bussi |
| Frederik Andersen |