Game Preview: Blue Jackets Wrap Up West Coast Road Trip With Saturday Showdown Against Oliver Bjorkstrand And The Kraken

SEATTLE KRAKEN

28-14-5 (61 points; .635%) ROSTER / SCHEDULE

9:30 P.M. – SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA  SEATTLE, WA

TELEVISION: Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ (Out of Market)

It won't be the first time that the Columbus Blue Jackets have went up against a former friend.

But this one may be a little more bittersweet than most others.

The Blue Jackets conclude a four-game road trip Saturday night when they face Oliver Bjorkstrand and the Seattle Kraken. 

Bjorkstrand played the first seven seasons of his career in Columbus, scoring 111 goals and adding 123 assists. He was a significant part of the Blue Jackets' only series victory in postseason history, scoring what would end up as the game-winning goal in the deciding fourth game of the series. He was a fan favorite and even after the trade, Bjorkstrand sweaters remain commonplace in Nationwide Arena. 

Here's what to know when Columbus visits Seattle for just the second time ever:

TALKING POINTS: SEA

• In their second year, the Seattle Kraken are far exceeding expectations. They've been particularly hot in January, posting a record of 10-2-1. Saturday's game will be their last before the All-Star break, and their last home game until February 16th — so expect an especially loud crowd at the Climate Pledge Arena. 
   
• There is no juggernaut in the Kraken lineup; they bring an offense that runs three really solid lines deep — and the proof is in the stat sheet. Six Kraken skaters are within seven points of each other for the team lead in points. They're one of the rare teams where the goals leader, assists leader, and points leader are different players. In this case, it's actually four different players, because Jordan Eberle and Vince Dunn are tied for the team lead in assists (27), and two different players lead the team in goals (Jared McCann, 23) and points (Andre Burakovsky). A rarity this late in the season, and...
   
• ...that doesn't include Bjorkstrand, who has 24 points on the season but has come up strong in recent weeks. He had an assist in Friday's loss to the Flames and had two goals in Seattle's victory over Vancouver earlier in the week. Bjorkstrand has more goals in January (5) than he had in the 2022 portion of this season (4). 

TALKING POINTS: CBJ

• Seattle is good, but they're not without flaws. One of those flaws is the penalty kill. Their 71.8% kill rate is 30th in the league and just one-tenth of a percentage away from being 31st. In Friday's loss to the Vancouver Canucks, the Blue Jackets Kirill Marchenko had two power play goals. Columbus has converted four of ten opportunities on the road trip and adding one or two more in the final leg of the trip would be huge for the special teams unit moving forward. 
   
• The loss snapped a three-game point streak by Columbus, which was their second-longest of the year. Saturday will be a litmus test for the resiliency of the young team.
   
• Johnny Gaudreau, booed relentlessly on the road trip, added an assist Friday to bring his total to 48 points in 49 games. Staying healthy would put him on pace for 80 points this season. Not quite the record-breaking 87 put up by Artemi Panarin several seasons ago, but within the ballpark and everything that the Blue Jackets would have hoped for.

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Updated: 7:05 a.m. // Subject to Change