The Columbus Blue Jackets are back in action after their Christmas break when they host the New York Islanders on Sunday evening at Nationwide Arena. It marks the first game for the Blue Jackets since Monday’s 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
With five days off, the Blue Jackets got the opportunity to enjoy much needed R&R during the break. But at the same time, they come back to action facing a tall task.
Not only are the Blue Jackets in last place in the Eastern Conference, they’re in last by three points entering play on Sunday. That has them positioned in 27th place in the NHL standings with a 15-15-6 record.
There is a tiny silver lining to this. The Blue Jackets trail the second wildcard spot in the East by only six points. With 46 games remaining, there is time. However, their challenge will be trying to jump over several teams.
For the Blue Jackets, the objective is simple. It’s “go time” if they want to make the 2025-26 season matter.
No Messing Around
The Blue Jackets will play three games in four nights starting with Sunday against the Islanders. They travel to Ottawa for a quick turnaround on Monday. After an off day Tuesday, the Blue Jackets will wrap the 2025 part of their schedule up with a New Year’s Eve tilt with the New Jersey Devils.
To state these upcoming three games are of utmost important is quite obvious. The Blue Jackets have a chance to jump right back in the thick of the race.
Conversely, if the Blue Jackets can’t find consistency and don’t take advantage of these games, an already tall task gets even taller. They will have to do this without their best player to start.
Zach Werenski, whom coach Dean Evason deemed doubtful on Saturday, will not play on Sunday against the Islanders. Evason said the hope is that Werenski is back “sooner rather than later.” The Blue Jackets placed Werenski on injured reserve Sunday retro to 12/20 to allow Mathieu Olivier to be activated from injured reserve.
Werenski is considered day-to-day according to the Blue Jackets. He can be activated off injured reserve anytime since it has been more than seven calendar days since 12/20. It is unclear if he will be available for Monday’s game in Ottawa or Wednesday’s game against the Devils.
Isac Lundestrom suffered a lower-body injury at practice on Saturday and will not play on Sunday. Brendan Gaunce will enter the lineup for Lundestrom.
No matter who’s in or out for the Blue Jackets, the objective remains the same. They need wins and lots of them to stay within striking distance in the Eastern Conference.
Fabbro’s Thoughts
When there’s injury, there’s opportunity. With Werenski out of the lineup, Dante Fabbro is on the top pair with Ivan Provorov.
Fabbro was much more physical in the game Monday against the Kings including a hard hit on Quinton Byfield that sent him to the ice. They hope to continue this trend Sunday.
“I think obviously it was a little bit more physical and trying to end plays a little bit faster,” Fabbro said of Monday’s game. “So yeah, just continuing with that and trying to be kind of a menace out there. When the games get physical, I feel comfortable out there.”
What does it mean to Fabbro to be more of a menace out there?
“Just a little more bite, I think. I think last game I was trying to throw my weight around a bit more. Some of it was on the receiving end and some of it was good. I think anytime you can be physical and kind of set the tone that way is big for the team. It’s good for momentum too.”
Leading up to the break, the Blue Jackets have struggled with holding leads especially in the third period. A couple of better results in that department would make their situation not as desperate. Still, Fabbro says they can learn from those mistakes moving forward.
“I think just learning how to play with leads and things like that,” Fabbro said of the lessons learned. “I think we can score goals. But being disciplined in our defensive structure and just not getting too far ahead of yourselves or looking past what the task is each and every night. So I think for the most part, just being sound defensively and not panicking when we don’t need to.”
The Blue Jackets know what’s at stake. They cannot waste these opportunities for points. Fabbro believes their best is yet to come.
“We’ve definitely got to get going here. It was a big step getting that win before the break and had a couple days of a reset here. (You) should expect our best coming down the last half of the year.”
Projected Blue Jackets Lines
- Mason Marchment-Adam Fantilli-Kirill Marchenko
- Dmitri Voronkov-Sean Monahan-Kent Johnson
- Boone Jenner-Charlie Coyle-Mathieu Olivier
- Miles Wood-Brendan Gaunce-Cole Sillinger
- Ivan Provorov-Dante Fabbro
- Denton Mateychuk-Damon Severson
- Jake Christiansen-Brendan Smith
- Jet Greaves starts. Elvis Merzlikins backs up.
