The Columbus Blue Jackets welcome Hockey Halloween to the Nationwide Arena in their first meeting of four of the 2024/25 season. This is the first meeting of two on home ice for the Jackets, with the final meeting at home being April 17, the final game of the regular season.

The New York Islanders take the middle two games to Queens on January 20 and March 24.

This is the Islanders’ first full season under head coach Patrick Roy. Roy had multiple cup runs with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. He also won a Memorial Cup in 2023 with QMJHL Quebec Ramparts.

The Islanders’ only major roster move this summer was the signing of former Blue Jackets’ winger Anthony Duclair. The Duke was injured a few games ago, so we may not see him until the January contest. Other depth moves were former Blue Jackets’ first rounder Liam Foudy and veteran Fredrik Karlstrom. Defender Sebastian Aho went to Pittsburgh and defender Robert Bortuzzo signed with Utah.

The goaltender duel is Semyon Varlamov and Elvis Merzlikins.

Keys to Victory

1. Score! The Isles are one of the lowest scoring teams in the league. They sit 30th of 32 at 2.33 goals for per game. Columbus sits 4th and 4.13
2. Penalty Killed — the New York Islanders are 31st on the penalty kill at 62.5%. Get the man advantage and score.
3. Restless Road Team — they just played last night against the Ducks at home, get the points that are available. Columbus is 3-2-0 at home, and need to avoid the middle of the road in front of the home crowd.

Projected Lineups

New York Islanders

Simon Holmstrom—Bo Horvat—Matt Barzal
Maxim Tsyplakov—Brock Nelson—Kyle Palmieri
Andres Lee—Jean-Gabriel Pageau—Casey Cizkas
Matt Martin—Kyle McLean—Hudson Fasching

Adam Pelech—Ryan Pulock
Mike Reilly—Noah Dobson
Dennis Chokowski—Scott Mayfield

Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin

Scratched: Pierre Engvall, Oliver Wahlstrom

Injured: Anthony Duclair, Alexander Romanov

Columbus Blue Jackets

Yegor Chinakov—Sean Monahan—Kirill Marchenko
Cole Sillinger—Adam Fantilli—Mikkael Pyyhita
James van Riemsdyk—Sean Kuraly—Kevin Labanc
Zach Aston-Reese—Justin Danforth—Mathieu Olivier

Zach Werenski—Ivan Provorov
Jake Christiansen—Damon Severson
Jack Johnson—Jordan Harris

Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov

Scratched — David Jiricek
Injured — Boone Jenner, Gavin Brindley, Erik Gudbranson, Dmitry Voronkov, Jordan Dumais


Players to Watch

New York Islanders — Kyle Palmieri — currently leads the team in points with 7 in 9 games. 3 goals in his last 5 games on the sheet.

Columbus — Mathieu Olivier — one goal from tying his career high. He has 4 in his last 5 games played.

Predicted Final Score

CBJ - 5

NYI - 3

The Poverty Franchise?

According to Sportico, Columbus is estimated to be the least valuable franchise at $1.06B billion dollars in 2024. That is last of the 32 teams. It is a step down from last year as Arizona was last. The Coyotes are no longer as the Utah HC are here.

Living in the city and being around the team, this is not a 32nd place club for value. That has been shown recently in the wake of Johnny Gaudreau, and their upcoming hosting of the 2025 Outdoor Stadium Series against Detroit from Buckeye Stadium on March 1. They have also hosted the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and the 2015 NHL All Star Game. Despite one playoff series victory in 24 years, Columbus is a true small hockey market, but not last place.

What say you? More is coming…

Obituaries

https://www.danjolell.com/obituary/john-michael-gaudreau/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYM9fikwQbNkPlcwmTBaP2udJZw1oMBCmyXjp-GyttBpDhIoWnqY8lxQSQ_aem_zW3gpaArqsSO7D5ZI-Pdog

https://www.danjolell.com/obituary/matthew-ryan-gaudreau/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZ33XNOJYMaSDfXxs3NcH7AY99EWfo9ObneKgMrpds4HwrC3U6Gkj0igr0_aem_qqWUcGWcBFf0sebC0an4RQ

Want to support the Gaudreau family? Here’s several ways how:


https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-madeline-and-baby-tripp-after-tragedy - Donate to Gaudreau Family Fund. At the time of writing it is at $691K

https://youtu.be/7ax8zyd8nk0?si=xoI63iohdyn2vVvD - View Johnny B Goode Tribute - personal touch. Loved this slowed down clip by the voice of Calgary. Skip to the 25 second mark.


https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/giving - Nationwide Children's Hospital (Johnny's widow, Meredith's workplace) support the children today.

https://foundation.ohiohealth.com/ - Ohio Health Foundation (where donations from a joint mental health charity drive from Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine went) Johnny joined the mission after Laine attended the NHLPA assistance club last season

https://www.childrenshospital.ab.ca/ways-to-help/donate/ - Alberta Children's Hospital for those in need and touched by the loss

https://kidsportcanada.ca/donate/ - Donate to the Youth Sporting Charity in Canada (Johnny Gaudreau donated for money each goal he scored to the Calgary chapter)

https://sniderhockey.org/support-snider/ - the Philadelphia Youth Hockey Charity (where Johnny and Matthew are from and started their youth hockey)

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