Game Preview: Conor Garland Makes His Columbus Debut And Zach Werenski Is Back In The Lineup As Blue Jackets Face Mammoth Saturday Night

The trade deadline has passed, the moves have been made, and the Columbus Blue Jackets (32-21-8) are all in as they make a push for their first postseason appearance since the 2019-20 season. 

Now, they shift their focus to a potential fourth straight victory when they face the Utah Mammoth (33-25-4) at Nationwide Arena on Saturday night.

The Blue Jackets enter the day one point behind the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and just three points shy of second place in the Metropolitan Division.

Meanwhile, the Mammoth are in the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, in but six points but with very little room to move up: they trail the third-place Minnesota Wild in the Central Division by 14 points.

Here are five things to know before the 7:00 p.m. puck-drop:

• Utah has really turned it on since the calendar has flipped, going 15-6-2 in 2026. They've started their current five-game road trip 2-0, with wins over the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers to help create some separation in the Metro Division. ... The Mammoth haven't named a starter as of early Saturday afternoon, but look for it to be Karel Vejmelka. He leads the league with 48 starts, and has a 29-16-2 record with a .900 save percentage and 2.61 goals against average. ... Utah has won 13 games this season when trailing. Given the Blue Jackets penchant for struggling with a lead, this is definitely a "no lead is safe" game.
   
• Conor Garland will make his Blue Jackets debut on the second line, opposite of Kent Johnson and centered by Sean Monahan. For those unfamiliar with his game, prepare to quickly take to his never-say-die engine and strong two-way game. There is a lot to like about Garland's game.
   
• Zach Werenski makes his return to the lineup Saturday. He'll have a chance to make it a career-high, ten-game point streak. This is already his second nine-game point streak of the season, and this time around he has two goals and 11 assists for a total of 13 points.
   
• Elvis Merzlikins gets the nod in net, his first since giving up four goals in the third period of Monday's 5-4 overtime win over the New York Rangers. At least a couple of those goals were not on the goaltender, though, with the Blue Jackets playing an extremely sloppy final 20 minutes. Merzlikins did briefly see action Tuesday when Jet Greaves left the game to be evaluated for a concussion, and made two saves on two shots in just over eight minutes. Overall, Merzlikins has won four of his last five starts.
   
• Mason Marchment and Dante Fabbro left Thursday's 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers with injuries, but avoided anything serious and are day-to-day. As of Saturday morning's skate, it looks like Marchment will be in the lineup and Fabbro will be out. Dmitri Voronkov split time with Marchment, so if Marchment is a late scratch, look for The Big Boss to take his spot. Here are the complete lineup projections: