Scratches: Zach Aston-Reese, Erik Gudbranson
Injured reserve/Non-Roster: None
Roster Report: Christiansen went into the lineup after Gudbranson felt an injury during warmups Tuesday, so he could stay in depending how the latter is feeling. Wood made his return in place of Aston-Reese after missing five games with an upper-body injury, while Merzlikins should get the net in the second half of the back-to-back.
This Day in CBJ History
Oct. 29, 2020: The Blue Jackets sign center Ryan MacInnis to a one-year, two-way contract extension.
The Numbers Game
Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko each have points in seven of nine games this year and have matching 5-4-9 lines. … Wood’s two-goal game Tuesday was the ninth of his 11-year NHL career, while the OT winner was the first of his career in the regular season. He is the second player in CBJ history to score a game-tying goal in the third period as well as the overtime winner in the same game, joining David Vyborny, who did it twice. … Yegor Chinakhov had a goal and an assist vs. Buffalo for his 15th career multipoint game and first of the year. … The Blue Jackets have outscored opponents 20-14 at 5-on-5 thus far, and they’re tied for second in the NHL in the fewest goals given up at 5-on-5. … Sean Monahan is one point from 600 in his career. He would become the third player from his 2013 draft class to reach the mark following Nathan MacKinnon, Aleksander Barkov and Elias Lindholm. … Charlie Coyle is one assist shy of 300 in his NHL career.
Know The Foe: Toronto Maple Leafs
Head coach: Craig Berube (Second season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 3.50 (T-9th) | Scoring defense: 3.60 (27th) | PP: 14.8 percent (27th) | PK: 88.2 percent (7th)
The narrative: Finally, the “Core Four” run ended a season ago with the Maple Leafs falling to Florida in the second round of the playoffs. Toronto pushed the Panthers to their limit, going seven games with the eventual champs, but the 6-1 loss to Florida in Game 7 marked the end of an era. Longtime standout Mitch Marner left this offseason for Vegas, leading to a bit of a summer retooling and new vibes for a franchise that hasn’t made it to a conference final since 2002.
Scoring leaders: Marner may have left, but there’s still a lot of offensive firepower in the lineup. William Nylander has become a bona fide star with four straight seasons of 80-plus points, and so far this year he’s tied for sixth in the NHL with 15 points and tied for second with 12 assists. John Tavares (5-8-13), Matthew Knies (4-9-13) and Auston Matthews (5-3-8) follow.
In net: With No. 1 goalie Joseph Woll tending to a personal matter to start the season, Anthony Stolarz (3-4-1, 3.27 GAA, .886 save percentage) has carried the mail with eight starts on the year. He played in last night’s win over Calgary, so Cayden Primeau (2-0-0, 3.46, .875) will likely get the start in Columbus.
What’s new: With Marner out of the fold, Toronto tried to bolster its forward group with the additions of Nicolas Roy, Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua as well as the promotion of 2023 first-round pick Easton Cowan to the NHL, but those four have combined for five goals and eight assists to this point. They’re also a bit banged up with Scott Laughton and Chris Tanev missing time in addition to Woll, but the Leafs have won two in a row after a three-game losing skid.
Trending: The Blue Jackets won two of three matchups a year ago, including a 5-1 final Jan. 22 in the only matchup of the season at Nationwide Arena. Columbus is 4-2-0 in the series the past two seasons, but all-time, it’s nearly exactly even (CBJ is 21-20-1).
Former CBJ: Now in his third season in Toronto, center Max Domi has three goals in 10 games on the season, including two last night
