The Columbus Blue Jackets get the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena on Friday night, and for Blue Jackets fans, that usually means one thing: Sidney Crosby is coming to town.
That’s been the story far too often since Crosby entered the league. Columbus has gone 18-28-9 against Pittsburgh in that span, and 20-30-11 overall. The playoff meetings haven’t gone any better for the Blue Jackets, who are 3-8 in two postseason series against the Penguins.
Crosby’s numbers against Columbus tell the rest of the story. In regular-season play, he has piled up 25 goals and 46 assists for 71 points, along with a +13 rating. He’s added 40 penalty minutes, 4 power-play goals, 16 power-play assists, 7 game-winning goals, 2 overtime goals and 143 shots.
In the playoffs, he has been just as hard to handle. Crosby has played 11 games against the Blue Jackets and produced 2 goals and 11 assists for 13 points.
He’s posted a -4 rating, picked up 2 penalty minutes, scored 1 power-play goal, added 5 power-play assists and taken 35 shots. He’s also won 52.2% of his faceoffs in those games.
Since the teams moved into the Metro Division in 2013-14, Crosby’s best night against Columbus came in 2022-23, when he put up 10 points in 4 games. His quietest season against the Blue Jackets was 2015-16, when he managed just 2 points in 3 games.
Blue Jackets fans may not enjoy seeing Crosby in a Penguins sweater, but there’s no denying what he’s meant to these matchups. He has beaten Columbus, tormented Columbus and helped end Columbus seasons. And even with all of that, he’s still the kind of player hockey fans want to watch while they can.
For Columbus, the task on Friday is simple: win the game and keep No. 87 from taking over it.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Need More From Dmitri Voronkov Than They're Getting
Dmitri Voronkov arrived with the kind of size and tools that make him look like the sort of winger who should be a problem every shift, and the Blue Jackets have spent enough time around him to know the upside is real. During the teams break, which has functioned like a second training camp, the conversation around him has centered less on what he can become and more on how quickly he can turn that promise into steadier nightly impact.
So far, the early season has not given Columbus much to build on, especially when stacked against the kind of forward production they would like to see from a player with his experience in the NHL. The staffs challenge is figuring out how to unlock more from him without overcomplicating things, because the Blue Jackets need a version of Voronkov who is more consistently involved and more of a factor than he has been in the opening stretch. [Read more 🡒]