Game Preview: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Pittsburgh Penguins 1/7/2025

The Pens are looking for a regulation win in a game with major Wild Card implications.

Who: Columbus Blue Jackets (17-17-6, 40 points, 5th place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (17-17-7, 41 points, 4th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh and FDSNOH for the local markets, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: Tonight marks the first game of a week-long homestead that will bring the Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Seattle Kraken to PPG Paints Arena. The next matchup takes place on Thursday when Connor McDavid and the Oilers swing through town.

Opponent Track: The Jackets have alternated wins and losses for the last five games, most recently riding a late go-ahead goal from Brayden Schenn to a 6-4 Saturday victory over the visiting St. Louis Blues.

Season Series: The Pens were outplayed in a 6-2 loss to the Jackets during a Nov. 5 road game. The season series will wrap up when the Blue Jackets return to Pittsburgh on March 21.

Hidden Stat: The Pens have a 3-7-2 record against division opponents so far this season.

Getting to know the Blue Jackets

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Dmitri Voronkov - Sean Monahan - Kirill Marchenko

James van Riemsdyk - Cole Sillinger - Kent Johnson

Zach Aston-Reese - Adam Fantilli - Mathieu Olivier

Mikael Pyyhtia - Sean Kuraly - Kevin Labanc

DEFENSEMEN

Zach Werenski / Dante Fabbro

Denton Mateychuk / Ivan Provorov

Jack Johnson / Jake Christiansen

Goalies: Elvis Merzlikins, Daniil Tarasov

Potential Scratches: Jordan Harris, Damon Severson

IR: Justin Danforth, Yegor Chinakhov, Erik Gudbranson, Boone Jenner

• Former Penguin check-in: Since being claimed off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights in October, Zach Aston-Reese has collected 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 39 games. Jack Johnson is skating under 13 minutes per night on the third pairing. Erik Gudbranson played just three games this season before undergoing shoulder surgery that left him indefinitely sidelined.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• The Blue Jackets are actually one of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL with 3.38 goals scored per game heading into Friday. The top line of Voronkov, Marchenko and Monahan has been the central driver of that success.

• The problem for the Blue Jackets is they are allowing 3.63 goals against per game, good for 31st in the NHL, despite some strong performances from Elvis Merzlikins.

The Wild Card race gets crowded

Tonight is not the time for another overtime decision.

The Pens and Blue Jackets are two of the four teams within two points of the two Wild Card spots available in the East.

Winning in regulation would be a significant boost to the Pens’ chances of ending the season in one of those highly-contested spots.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Cody Glass

Drew O’Connor - Kevin Hayes - Anthony Beauvillier

Matt Nieto - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Marcus Pettersson / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Owen Pickering / P.O. Joseph

Goalies: Tristan Jarry, Alex Nedeljkovic

Potential Scratches: Jesse Puljujarvi, Ryan Shea, Ryan Graves

IR: Philip Tomasino

• The Pens haven’t lost to the Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena since 2015, per Penguins PR.
• Sidney Crosby needs just four face-off wins to set a record for the most in NHL history, also per Pens PR. That should be manageable given that the captain is averaging almost 13 wins at the dot per game.