More history on the horizon?
On Tuesday, we wrote about Kirill Marchenko needing one more goal to tie the Columbus Blue Jackets rookie franchise mark for goals in an individual season. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored 20 as a rookie in 2017-18 and Marchenko was on the cusp of joining him.
The 22-year-old rookie did just that.
Marchenko scored his 20th goal of the season on Tuesday to tie the rookie mark with his first-period power-play goal in the loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
And he did it in just 50 games.
Marchenko is one goal off the pace for the rookie goal-scoring lead as Wyatt Johnston and Matty Beniers are both 1-2. Alongside Marchenko, Shane Pinto also has 20 goals.
Marchenko from Roslovic and Gaudreau. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/4Bo5ZxRHf3
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) March 28, 2023
In that same game on Tuesday, on the same scoring play, another milestone came to light.
With an assist on the goal at 11:45, Gaudreau became the fourth player in Blue Jackets history to record at least 50 assists in a season.
Currently fifth on the franchise list for assists in an individual season, Gaudreau trails Ray Whitney (52, 2002-03), Jake Voracek (56, 2021-22), and Artemi Panarin (55, 2017-18 and 59 in 2018-19).
Johnny Gaudreau is just the fourth player in #CBJ history to top 50 assists in a season, joining Artemi Panarin (twice), Ray Whitney and Jakub Voracek.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) March 28, 2023
With eight games left, how many more assists can Gaudreau stack up?
He's 25 off the pace of the career high he set last season when he recorded 75 helpers for the Calgary Flames. Gaudreau has 449 for his career which is ninth in the entire league since entering the NHL in 2013-14.
This season marks the fourth time in Gaudreau's 10-year career that he has at least 50 assists in a season, and it's the second time since 2018-19 when he recorded 63 with the Flames.
And of course, Gaudreau was shortchanged with 2019-20 being a truncated 70-game season where he finished with 40, and in the 2020-21 56-game season when he had 30. He still comes in 10th among all players since 2019-20 with 195 assists. Andy Fox has 195 in two fewer games over that span.
Unsurprisingly, Gaudreau leads the Blue Jackets with 0.96 points per game—Patrik Laine is second (0.95)—and is 52nd in the league, tied with a bunch of players, for the same point-per-game pace.
In addition to his 50 assists, Gaudreau leads the club with 69 points and is fourth with 19 goals.
Definitely not a bad season for the star who is on the worst team of his career.
In addition to the franchise assists mark, Gaudreau currently finds himself tied with Cam Atkinson (2018-19) and Rick Nash (2007-08) for the seventh most points in a season on the franchise list. He can pass Ryan Johansen (71, 2014-15) and Nick Foligno (73, 2014-15) for sixth and fifth respectively. Ray Whitney is fourth (76, 2002-03), Nash is third (79, 2008-09), and Panarin is both first (87, 2018-19) and second (82, 2017-18).
With eight games left, we'll see how much more Gaudreau can inch up the franchise record lists. He and the Blue Jackets battle the Florida Panthers on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.
