2025-26 Regular Season, Game 29 Preview: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes failed to carry the momentum from Saturday's win into Sunday's battle with the San Jose Sharks. Macklin Celebrini made his presence felt immediately, setting up Collin Graf for a tap-in 33 seconds into the game, welcoming Pyotr Kochetkov back to the lineup in a rude way. The Canes got it back at the end of the first. Jordan Staal redirected Shayne Gostisbehere's shot from the point, keeping his stick just below the bar to deflect it past Alex Nedeljkovic. Celebrini was at it again early in the second, finding John Klingberg in the slot for a one-timer to give San Jose the lead for good. Late in the period, Alexander Wennberg was perfectly positioned to knock home a rebound on the power play after Kochetkov kicked out the initial chance. To close it out, Celebrini scored into the empty net, completing a three-point game and a 4-1 victory for the Sharks at the Lenovo Center. Kochetkov made 18 stops to keep his team in the game, but the offense was nowhere to be seen.

Injury Report

Jaccob Slavin: With his return to practice in a full capacity, the clock is ticking before we finally see him back in the lineup, though I believe Thursday or this weekend feels likelier than tonight.

The Opponent: Columbus Blue Jackets (13-10-6, 32 Points; 8th in the Metropolitan Division)

Last Season's Meetings: All four contests took place over two months a season ago, with the Hurricanes and the Blue Jackets splitting their battles. The first encounter came just before Thanksgiving in Columbus. The teams alternated goals for the first period and a half before Sebastian Aho and Jackson Blake scored less than three minutes apart to give the Canes a 4-3 lead after 40. With 1:06 left in regulation, Kirill Marchenko scored to force overtime by banking it off a Hurricane in front of the net. Pyotr Kochetkov exited the game in overtime after a collision of his own creation with Zach Werenski. Spencer Martin took over as the game went to a shootout. Sean Monahan opened the scoring, and he was the only shooter to score, securing a 5-4 win for the Blue Jackets. The Canes got it back when the Jackets visited Raleigh in mid-December. The effort was largely all Carolina. Aho scored short-handed in the first period, William Carrier and Jordan Martinook made the third line's presence felt, and Dustin Tokarski made 27 stops in his Hurricanes debut in a 4-1 victory.

The second encounter in Columbus on New Year's Eve followed an eerily similar outline to the first. The Blue Jackets led 2-1 after the first period. The Hurricanes scored twice in the second to take the lead. The Blue Jackets scored in the third to tie it and force overtime, and won it, 4-3, in a shootout. The final battle in late January at the Lenovo Center was a wild one. Columbus took a 2-0 lead into the second period, but the Canes rattled off five unanswered goals from five different Hurricanes. Columbus fought back to within a goal before the end of the period, but the Canes struck twice more in the third to win it 7-4 behind a four-point performance by Seth Jarvis. During the season series, both Marchenko (5G, 1A) and Aho (3G, 5A) recorded a point in all four games.

Since We Last Met: The Blue Jackets were an easy team to root for last season, outside of the four times they faced the Hurricanes. From an unspeakable tragedy came an inspiring season for the group. While it ended with Columbus missing out on the final playoff spot in the East by just two points, there was nothing to be ashamed of. Zach Werenski finished 2nd for the Norris Trophy, leading the team with 59 assists in 82 points. Kirill Marchenko broke out for 31 goals and 74 points. They were a fun team with one of the best offenses in the league. They opted not to shake things up too much, adding Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood from Colorado and extending Ivan Provorov for seven years. Their standing in the Metropolitan Division feels misleading. While they sit in 8th right now, they're still very much in the fight. Werenski is still a point-per-game player (30 points in 29 games). Adam Fantili leads the group with 11 goals, while Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov are right behind him with 10. They're still a good offensive team, but their Achilles' heel continues to be goaltending. Elvis Merzlikins has been one of the worst goalies in the league, forcing 24-year-old Jet Greaves into action 17 times this season. He has been good. Certainly, better than his 7-5-5 record reflects. Columbus is playing tonight without their captain, Boone Jenner, who didn't travel with the team for their road trip, which concludes tonight. This is going to be a very interesting matchup between two teams who need the points for very different reasons.

Stories to Watch

1. Finishing the homestand above .500

This hasn't been a very good stretch for the Hurricanes. They've had some good moments, like their wins over Winnipeg, Calgary, and Nashville, but they've also had some very flat performances, like against Toronto and San Jose. This feels unusual for the Canes, who've historically been very good at home. It's not as if they've been playing a ton of great teams. Winnipeg is good, but they started a goalie making his NHL debut. Calgary and Nashville are at the bottom of the standings. Toronto has a ton of firepower, though this was another case of the Canes coming out flat. San Jose is in the early stages of being competitive again. The Canes have to win this game. .500 of worse is not acceptable for a team of their caliber on home ice.

2. Columbus's results pattern

Since November 11, the Blue Jackets have alternated two extra-time games and one regulation game. During this stretch, Columbus is 6-3-6, so while they've earned at least one point in 12 of their last 15 games, they've also left plenty of points on the table over the last month. If this pattern is to be taken seriously, their last game was a regulation loss to the Washington Capitals, meaning we could be in for an overtime affair to close the homestand.