NEWS

Despite Emotional Loss, The Blue Jackets Must Stay LevelheadedLast night, the Blue Jackets lost a game to the New York Islanders by giving up two goals in 29 seconds with right around a minute to play, and there was no coming back from it. 

The CBJ are on a five-game road trip that will take them to Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, and then Seattle. This trip usually does not end well for Columbus. Below is a breakdown of how they've done historically on the Western Canada trip. In a very crowded Eastern Conference, these next four games are crucial. 

Overreacting To And Overanalyzing The Metro Standings As Of 11/03Devils dominate, Penguins surge, while surprising Blue Jackets climb. See where every Metro team truly stands early this season.

We are now, four weeks into the 2025-26 NHL season, and no one many could have predicted how this season is going. Looking around the NHL, teams that were supposed to be good are bad, and bad teams are good.

For the Columbus Blue Jackets, they have turned around a slow start and now are winnings of four of their last five. But where do the rest of the Metro Division sit?

Can The CBJ Goalie Tandem Keep Up Their Great Play All Year?Since Sergei Bobrovsky bolted Ohio for sunny Florida, the Columbus Blue Jackets have struggled to find consistency with their goaltending position. It's been bad, like, really bad. 

Since Sergei Bobrovsky bolted Ohio for sunny Florida, the Columbus Blue Jackets have struggled to find consistency with their goaltending position. It's been bad, like, really bad. 

The only consistent thing about the goalies has been Elvis Merzļikins, and that's been a hot topic on its own, and a different discussion. 

From THN's Archive: Brassard Craves Attention The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.

Brassard sustained his second shoulder separation during the Quebec League pre-season of 2006-07. Both he and the Blue Jackets agreed surgery was the best course of action. After racking up 44 goals and 116 points in 58 games in 2005-06, Brassard played only 14 regular season games last year and still managed six goals and 25 points. He added nine goals and 24 points during a 12-game playoff stint.

An Early Look At The Blues Jackets' Unrestricted Free AgentsThe NHL season is now more than a month in, and the Columbus Blue Jackets are off to a very good start. They currently sit in fifth in their Division with a 7-5-0 record. This looks like the season that they are going to push their way into the playoffs and bring playoff hockey back to Columbus for the first time since 2019-20.

They need to make decisions that can drastically change the outcome of the season. First, there will be trades close to and at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline in March. After that, there will be the difficult decision to re-sign some of their unrestricted free agents.

Blue Jackets Recall Luca Del Bel Belluz; Erik Gudbranson To IRThe Columbus Blue Jackets have announced a pair of roster moves today. 

The team has recalled forward Luca Del Bel Belluz from the Cleveland Monsters. Del Bel Belluz has three goals and six assists and nine points with a +3 plus/minus rating in 16 NHL games with the Jackets, including 2-6-8, +2 in 15 outings last season. He leads the Monsters in goals and points in 2025-26 with 3-2-5 in seven games. 

They also put defenseman Erik Gudbranson on IR with a hip injury. He has missed the last 5 games. 

Former Blue Jackets Forward Is Playing Very Well With New TeamRoslovic thrives in Edmonton, could beat his career-high in points and finding a comfortable top-six role. Can he secure his future?

The Columbus, Ohio native has three goals and five assists for eight points in just 13 games. That puts him on pace for around 50 points over a full season, which would set a new career-high and surpass his previous best of 45 points from the 2021-22 campaign with the Blue Jackets.

It's Time For The Blue Jackets To Make Two ChangesThe Jackets have been playing well behind solid goaltending and defense, but now it's time for the offense to step up.

1. Promote Adam Fantilli to the first line center role.  

Fantilli hasn't started the season the way he wanted to, I'm sure. In 13 games played, he's scored just two goals and has totaled 6 points. He's also a minus-6 and has 28 shots on goal. Last season, through 13 games, Fantilli had 3 goals and 7 points. So, there's still time.

From THN's Archive: Beauty And The EastRealignment boosts the Wings and Jackets, who cut their teeth in the superior West, and grounds the Jets, who had it easy in the East

On the flip side, the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets have to be thrilled. They’ll be playing the majority of their games in their own time zone and padding their record by beating up on patsies. Yes, we said that about the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the numbers back us up. Over the five seasons prior to 2012-13, the Blue Jackets have racked up an impressive record of 44-26-12 against the Eastern Conference teams. 

Blue Jackets Lead NHL In Goals By Defensemen Surprising offensive production from Columbus's defensemen fuels their league-leading goal count, adding a potent weapon to their attack.

According to Statmuse, they sit first with 11 goals from their back end. Behind them, the Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, and Minnesota Wild are all tied with nine. Altogether, Columbus defensemen have combined for 26 points, 11 of which are goals.  

GAME PREVIEWS & RECAPS

Rookie Matthew Schaefer Has Two Goals; Jackets Falter LateThe Columbus Blue Jackets allowed two goals in 29 seconds to drop their first game since October 24th.

Columbus allowed two goals in 29 seconds to lose. 

The game was absolutely dominated by the New York Islanders, but Elvis Merzlikins was the singular reason this game was even close down the stretch. He made some huge saves throughout the game to frustrate NYI. 

Columbus Blue Jackets (14 pts) vs. Calgary Flames (8 pts) Game Preview Columbus is 36-25-0-8 all-time, and 15-15-0-4 on the road vs. Calgary.

Blue Jackets Roasted By Flames; Lose Sean Monahan To Injury<b>Kirill Marchenko</b>(6-SHG) scored the only goal for Columbus, and Jet Greaves would give up four goals, including two in the first&nbsp;1:32 of the game to seal it for Calgary.&nbsp;

Kirill Marchenko(6-SHG) scored the only goal for Columbus, and Jet Greaves would give up four goals, including two in the first 1:32 of the game to seal it for Calgary. 

The Jackets didn't play too bad after the initial onslaught by Calgary but couldn't overcome those two goals. The Jackets would fall to the Flames in Calgary.

Columbus Blue Jackets (14 pts) vs. Vancouver Canucks (14 pts) Game PreviewColumbus is 26-32-2-9 all-time, and 11-17-0-6 on the road vs. Vancouver.

Blue Jackets Lose Third Straight In Vancouver<b>Kirill Marchenko</b>(7,8) and&nbsp;<b>Dmitri Voronkov</b>(6) scored the goals for Columbus, while Elvis Merzlikins 21 of 25 Vancouver shots in the loss.&nbsp;&nbsp;

This wasn't the best outing for Merzlikins, who gave up the game-winner with five minutes left. The goal was one he will definitely want back. 

The first line of Dmitri Vorokov, Adam Fantilli, and Kirill Marchenko was the only noticeable line on the ice for the Blue Jackets. Between the three of them, they combined for 8 points, 14 shots, and were a plus-3. 

Up Next: Columbus takes on the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, Nov. 10th. They will wrap up their Western swing with a matchup against the Seattle Kraken.  

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