2019–20 Columbus Blue Jackets season

2019–20 Columbus Blue Jackets
Division	6th Metropolitan
Conference	9th Eastern
2019–20 record	33–22–15
Home record	20–12–4
Road record	13–10–11
Goals for	180
Goals against	187
Team information
General Manager	Jarmo Kekalainen
Coach	John Tortorella
Captain	Nick Foligno
Alternate captains	Cam Atkinson Boone Jenner Seth Jones
Arena	Nationwide Arena
Average attendance	16,898
Minor league affiliations	Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Oliver Bjorkstrand (21)
Assists	Pierre-Luc Dubois (31)
Points	Pierre-Luc Dubois (49)
Penalties in minutes	Nick Foligno (62)
Plus/minus	Seth Jones Eric Robinson (+10)
Wins	Joonas Korpisalo (19)
Goals against average	Elvis Merzlikins (2.35)
<2018–19	2020–21>

The 2019–20 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the 20th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997.

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled.

The Blue Jackets advanced to the playoffs and defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the qualifying round, but were defeated in the first round by the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 18, 2019. The September 29 game between the Blue Jackets and the St. Louis Blues was cancelled due to issues with the team's flight.

2019 preseason game log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 17	Buffalo	1–4	Columbus		Kivlenieks	—	1–0–0
2	September 19	Columbus	1–4	Pittsburgh		Vehvilainen	15,649	1–1–0
3	September 21	Pittsburgh	1–3	Columbus		Korpisalo	13,637	2–1–0
4	September 22	Columbus	3–5	St. Louis		Merzlikins	16,672	2–2–0
5	September 25	Columbus	3–4	Buffalo	OT	Merzlikins	15,788	2–2–1
6	September 27	New Jersey	2–0	Columbus		Korpisalo	12,347	2–3–1
7	September 29	St. Louis	–	Columbus	Game cancelled due to a mechanical issue with St. Louis' aircraft.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.

2019–20 game log
October: 5–5–2 (Home: 3–3–1 ; Road: 2–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 4 Toronto 4–1 Columbus Korpisalo 18,776 0–1–0 0 2 October 5 Columbus 2–7 Pittsburgh Merzlikins 18,595 0–2–0 0 3 October 7 Buffalo 3–4 Columbus OT Korpisalo 14,518 1–2–0 2 4 October 11 Anaheim 2–1 Columbus Korpisalo 15,368 1–3–0 2 5 October 12 Columbus 3–2 Carolina Korpisalo 16,224 2–3–0 4 6 October 16 Dallas 2–3 Columbus Korpisalo 14,683 3–3–0 6 7 October 18 Columbus 2–3 Chicago OT Merzlikins 21,518 3–3–1 7 8 October 19 NY Islanders 3–2 Columbus OT Korpisalo 15,276 3–3–2 8 9 October 21 Columbus 4–3 Toronto OT Korpisalo 18,898 4–3–2 10 10 October 24 Carolina 3–4 Columbus OT Korpisalo 15,398 5–3–2 12 11 October 26 Columbus 4–7 Philadelphia Korpisalo 17,840 5–4–2 12 12 October 30 Edmonton 4–1 Columbus Korpisalo 14,193 5–5–2 12
November: 6–6–2 (Home: 5–3–0 ; Road: 1–3–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 13 November 1 Columbus 3–4 St. Louis OT Merzlikins 18,096 5–5–3 13 14 November 2 Calgary 3–0 Columbus Korpisalo 13,618 5–6–3 13 15 November 5 Vegas 2–1 Columbus Korpisalo 15,435 5–7–3 13 16 November 7 Columbus 3–2 Arizona Korpisalo 12,115 6–7–3 15 17 November 9 Columbus 2–4 Colorado Korpisalo 18,070 6–8–3 15 18 November 12 Columbus 2–3 Montreal SO Merzlikins 20,758 6–8–4 16 19 November 15 St. Louis 2–3 Columbus OT Korpisalo 18,505 7–8–4 18 20 November 19 Montreal 2–5 Columbus Korpisalo 14,118 8–8–4 20 21 November 21 Detroit 4–5 Columbus Korpisalo 14,417 9–8–4 22 22 November 23 Columbus 3–4 Winnipeg Merzlikins 15,325 9–9–4 22 23 November 25 Ottawa 0–1 Columbus Korpisalo 14,730 10–9–4 24 24 November 27 Philadelphia 3–2 Columbus Korpisalo 14,975 10–10–4 24 25 November 29 Pittsburgh 2–5 Columbus Korpisalo 17,402 11–10–4 26 26 November 30 Columbus 0–2 NY Islanders Merzlikins 13,433 11–11–4 26
December: 7–3–4 (Home: 4–2–1 ; Road: 3–1–3) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 27 December 3 Arizona 4–2 Columbus Korpisalo 14,455 11–12–4 26 28 December 5 NY Rangers 3–2 Columbus Korpisalo 15,785 11–13–4 26 29 December 7 Columbus 1–4 Florida Merzlikins 11,640 11–14–4 26 30 December 9 Columbus 5–2 Washington Korpisalo 18,573 12–14–4 28 31 December 12 Columbus 0–1 Pittsburgh OT Korpisalo 18,415 12–14–5 29 32 December 14 Columbus 3–4 Ottawa OT Korpisalo 11,020 12–14–6 30 33 December 16 Washington 0–3 Columbus Korpisalo 16,602 13–14–6 32 34 December 17 Columbus 5–3 Detroit Korpisalo 17,639 14–14–6 34 35 December 19 Los Angeles 2–3 Columbus OT Korpisalo 17,117 15–14–6 36 36 December 21 New Jersey 1–5 Columbus Korpisalo 17,188 16–14–6 38 37 December 23 Columbus 3–2 NY Islanders Korpisalo 13,917 17–14–6 40 38 December 27 Columbus 1–2 Washington OT Korpisalo 18,573 17–14–7 41 39 December 29 Chicago 3–2 Columbus SO Merzlikins 18,544 17–14–8 42 40 December 31 Florida 1–4 Columbus Merzlikins 18,977 18–14–8 44
January: 9–2–0 (Home: 4–1–0 ; Road: 5–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 41 January 2 Columbus 2–1 Boston OT Merzlikins 17,850 19–14–8 46 42 January 4 San Jose 3–2 Columbus Merzlikins 18,874 19–15–8 46 43 January 6 Columbus 4–2 Los Angeles Merzlikins 14,964 20–15–8 48 44 January 7 Columbus 4–3 Anaheim Merzlikins 16,153 21–15–8 50 45 January 9 Columbus 1–3 San Jose Merzlikins 17,085 21–16–8 50 46 January 11 Columbus 3–0 Vegas Merzlikins 18,400 22–16–8 52 47 January 14 Boston 0–3 Columbus Merzlikins 17,349 23–16–8 54 48 January 16 Carolina 2–3 Columbus Merzlikins 17,900 24–16–8 56 49 January 18 New Jersey 0–5 Columbus Merzlikins 18,680 25–16–8 58 50 January 19 Columbus 2–1 NY Rangers Kivlenieks 17,423 26–16–8 60 51 January 22 Winnipeg 3–4 Columbus Merzlikins 18,425 27–16–8 62
February: 4–5–6 (Home: 3–3–2 ; Road: 1–2–4) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 February 1 Columbus 1–2 Buffalo OT Kivlenieks 17,650 27–16–9 63 53 February 2 Columbus 4–3 Montreal Merzlikins 21,302 28–16–9 65 54 February 4 Florida 0–1 Columbus OT Merzlikins 17,811 29–16–9 67 55 February 7 Detroit 0–2 Columbus Merzlikins 18,978 30–16–9 69 56 February 8 Colorado 2–1 Columbus Merzlikins 19,022 30–17–9 69 57 February 10 Tampa Bay 2–1 Columbus OT Merzlikins 17,131 30–17–10 70 58 February 13 Columbus 3–4 Buffalo OT Kivlenieks 16,923 30–17–11 71 59 February 14 NY Rangers 3–1 Columbus Merzlikins 18,888 30–18–11 71 60 February 16 Columbus 3–4 New Jersey SO Merzlikins 16,514 30–18–12 72 61 February 18 Columbus 1–5 Philadelphia Merzlikins 18,273 30–19–12 72 62 February 20 Philadelphia 4–3 Columbus OT Merzlikins 18,365 30–19–13 73 63 February 22 Columbus 3–4 Nashville SO Merzlikins 17,549 30–19–14 74 64 February 24 Ottawa 3–4 Columbus OT Korpisalo 17,518 31–19–14 76 65 February 25 Columbus 4–5 Minnesota Kivlenieks 17,057 31–20–14 76 66 February 28 Minnesota 5–0 Columbus Korpisalo 18,955 31–21–14 76
March: 2–1–1 (Home: 1–0–0 ; Road: 1–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 67 March 1 Vancouver 3–5 Columbus Korpisalo 18,378 32–21–14 78 68 March 4 Columbus 2–3 Calgary OT Korpisalo 18,696 32–21–15 79 69 March 7 Columbus 1–4 Edmonton Korpisalo 17,085 32–22–15 79 70 March 8 Columbus 2–1 Vancouver Merzlikins 18,871 33–22–15 81
Cancelled games # Date Visitor Home 71 March 12 Pittsburgh Columbus 72 March 14 Nashville Columbus 73 March 16 Columbus Boston 74 March 19 Washington Columbus 75 March 21 Columbus Toronto 76 March 23 Columbus New Jersey 77 March 24 Columbus NY Rangers 78 March 27 Columbus Tampa Bay 79 March 28 Columbus Dallas 80 March 30 NY Islanders Columbus 81 April 2 Tampa Bay Columbus 82 April 3 Columbus Carolina
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Blue Jackets defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the qualifying round in five games.

The Blue Jackets faced the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, and lost in five games.

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Pierre-Luc Dubois	70	18	31	49	−2	49
Gustav Nyquist	70	15	27	42	4	16
Zach Werenski	63	20	21	41	9	10
Oliver Bjorkstrand	49	21	15	36	8	12
Nick Foligno	67	10	21	31	−3	62
Seth Jones	56	6	24	30	10	20
Cam Atkinson	44	12	14	26	2	6
Boone Jenner	70	11	13	24	−14	36
Alexander Wennberg	57	5	17	22	−5	16
Emil Bemstrom	56	10	10	20	−10	8
Vladislav Gavrikov	69	5	13	18	1	18
Sonny Milano‡	46	5	13	18	−5	22
Riley Nash	64	5	9	14	6	10
Alexandre Texier	36	6	7	13	3	10
Eric Robinson	50	7	5	12	10	12
David Savard	68	0	11	11	−3	35
Kevin Stenlund	32	6	4	10	2	8
Nathan Gerbe	30	4	6	10	−7	22
Markus Nutivaara	37	3	6	9	2	4
Ryan Murray	27	2	7	9	−9	4
Scott Harrington	39	1	7	8	−3	16
Jakob Lilja	37	2	3	5	5	2
Dean Kukan	33	1	4	5	−9	12
Josh Anderson	26	1	3	4	−8	17
Stefan Matteau	9	2	1	3	0	5
Andrew Peeke	22	1	2	3	1	4
Devin Shore†	6	1	1	2	−2	0
Ryan MacInnis	10	0	1	1	1	0
Liam Foudy	2	0	1	1	1	0
Calvin Thurkauf	3	0	0	0	0	0
Gabriel Carlsson	6	0	0	0	−1	2
Kole Sherwood	3	0	0	0	0	2
Marko Dano	3	0	0	0	−1	2

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Pierre-Luc Dubois	10	4	6	10	3	4
Cam Atkinson	8	3	5	8	3	4
Nick Foligno	10	2	4	6	1	10
Alexander Wennberg	10	3	2	5	5	2
Seth Jones	10	1	3	4	2	4
Alexandre Texier	10	0	4	4	0	2
Oliver Bjorkstrand	10	3	0	3	−5	0
Zach Werenski	10	1	2	3	1	4
Vladislav Gavrikov	10	1	2	3	−4	6
David Savard	10	0	3	3	−4	2
Riley Nash	10	1	1	2	−4	0
Liam Foudy	10	1	1	2	−1	0
Gustav Nyquist	10	0	2	2	0	4
Kevin Stenlund	2	1	0	1	1	0
Boone Jenner	10	1	0	1	−3	4
Eric Robinson	10	1	0	1	0	0
Ryan Murray	9	1	0	1	0	2
Dean Kukan	9	0	1	1	2	7
Emil Bemstrom	5	0	0	0	−1	2
Nathan Gerbe	2	0	0	0	0	0
Devin Shore	2	0	0	0	−1	0
Markus Nutivaara	2	0	0	0	−1	0
Scott Harrington	1	0	0	0	−1	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Joonas Korpisalo	37	35	2,125:54	19	12	5	92	2.60	1,030	.911	2	0	1	0
Elvis Merzlikins	33	31	1,815:08	13	9	8	71	2.35	919	.923	5	0	0	0
Matīss Kivlenieks	6	4	284:50	1	1	2	14	2.95	137	.898	0	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Joonas Korpisalo	9	9	599:00	3	5	19	1.90	320	.941	2	0	0	0
Elvis Merzlikins	2	1	122:45	1	1	4	1.96	74	.946	0	0	1	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Blue Jackets. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.