The Columbus Blue Jackets didn’t play the prettiest game tonight, but they put the pressure on when they needed to and overcame too many penalties to beat the host Boston Bruins 5-1.
After a lackluster game in Montreal on Saturday, head coach Dean Evason shuffled the lines a lot. Mikael Pyyhtia and Jordan Harris were scratched while James Van Riemsdyk and David Jiricek returned to the lineup.
First Period
The Jackets started strong in the early minutes. Boston attempted to swing momentum when Jeffrey Viel initiated a fight, which Mathieu Olivier was all too happy to oblige. You know I don’t like fighting in hockey, but I respect how good Olivier is at it. He’s usually not one to start something, but he’ll answer the call and he’ll finish the job. He’s not a tall player but he’s so strong and he gets good leverage to be able to take down bigger opponents.
It’s important to get on the scoreboard first, and Dmitri Voronkov accomplished that on a breakaway goal. He was both hooked and slashed and would have drawn a penalty (or penalty shot) but the puck got knocked in after his shot, and just before the net was knocked out of position.
Dmitri Voronkov opens the scoring in Boston WHILE FALLING 🚨
— NHL (Bot) (@notnhl.bsky.social) November 18, 2024 at 8:05 PM
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While killing a Zach Werenski hooking penalty, Olivier and Adam Fantilli were able to create a shorthanded opportunity late in the kill. Fantilli smartly skated back onsides as Olivier entered the zone, and Ollie was able to take the puck all the way to the net.
Not only does this expand Olivier’s career high in goals, it also ties him with Kirill Marchenko for the team lead this season. Just as we all expected!
Boston picked up the pressure in the back half of the period, but Elvis Merzlikins kept stepping up with huge saves. Guest analyst John Davidson said that just in the first period, Elvis had at least four “10 bell” saves.
In the final minute, Fantilli made a cross ice pass to Werenski, who fired a shot towards the goal while Van Riemsdyk and Kevin Labanc shielded Jeremy Swayman. JVR got the deflection to make it 3-0.
Boston led the expected goal battle 1.42-0.62 while the Jackets led the actual goal battle 3-0. We didn’t deserve to lead that much at that point, but I’m not complaining. In so many games this season the Jackets have had chances but couldn’t get the bounces. They got those goals back tonight.
As a sign of how the fan mood has changed since last season:
Financially, I miss Pascal Vincent. A year ago Boston ML bet with #CBJ up 3-0 would be lucrative.
— Howard (@unionblue1789.bsky.social) November 18, 2024 at 8:13 PM
Second Period
The theme of this period was “HOLY CRAP PLEASE STAY OUT OF THE BOX.” There were only 11 minutes of 5v5 action, as the Bruins took 2 penalties and the Jackets took 4.
It wasn’t until the fourth Bruins power play of the night that they finally got on the board. It wasn’t the Pastrnak/Marchand unit, but instead their second unit. Former Ohio State Buckeye Mason Lohrei dumped the puck behind the net, where Justin Brazeau passed to Charlie Coyle right in front of the net.
You can’t take that many penalties and expect to stop them all, even as bad as Boston’s PP has been this season.
In all situations, shot attempts in the period were 26-5 in favor of the Bruins. That’s horrible. The Jackets were lucky to only give up one goal.
Third Period
Despite starting the period with a power play, the Jackets quickly found themselves shorthanded again after an interference penalty on Olivier. Cole Sillinger made a great play to steal the puck and race down ice, where he found Justin Danforth for the team’s second shorthanded goal of the night.
After this point, the Jackets woke up and kept up sustained pressure for the rest of the game. It was reminiscent of the third period against Pittsburgh, where they kept being aggressive with the puck rather than sitting back and letting the opponent get back into the game.
They added one more insurance goal with a great feed from Sean Monahan behind the goal line to Yegor Chinakhov.
Final Thoughts
This was my first time hearing John Davidson filling in for Jody Shelley as the game analyst. It was great to hear his insight on the game. I love Jody, but I wouldn’t mind having some new voices brought in from time to time to mix things up, even if it’s as a three-man booth with Jody and play-by-play man Steve Mears. One thing I notice about JD in this role is that he has clearly put in the work. He mentioned talking to Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik recently, to get insight on the two Buckeyes on the Boston roster (Lohrei and Georgii Merkulov). He talked about how Sergei Bobrovsky improved when he worked on keeping his shoulders up when dropping to his knees. Stuff like this adds a ton to the broadcast.
Elvis Merzlikins was fantastic again. He kept this team in the game when the offense and defense were struggling. He allowed a single goal on 3.25 expected goals against.
Mathieu Olivier is Actually Good now. He has always been reliable for his defense and for his physical play, but he clearly put in work over the summer to add to his offensive game. He is a true 200 foot threat now. It is also obvious that he is a popular figure in the locker room, and when he plays well it gets his teammates amped up to follow his lead. He’s earning national attention, too, including from former All-Star MVP John Scott:
In less happy news, David Jiricek played a team-low 8:13 and was only on ice for one shot attempt for, versus 17 shot attempts allowed. He had one nice block, but mostly was either invisible or noticeably out of position. It may be time to send him back to Cleveland. I would have liked to have seen him get more game reps by this point, but it’s hard to argue that he had done anything to earn that.
Up Next
The Jackets get a chance to get some practices in before starting a four game homestand on Thursday, when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kent Johnson may be able to return from injury as soon as that game.