Coming off of a disappointing loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Blue Jackets looked to rebound with a win over the New York Rangers. They do it with a new look lineup, with Kent Johnson, Liam Foudy, Adam Boqvist, Mattieu Olivier (back from injury), and David Jiricek (recalled from the AHL) subbing in for Andrew Peeke, Emil Bemstrom, Jack Roslovic, Zach Werenski (injured), and Eric Robinson (placed on waivers). Here’s what happened!
First Period
The Blue Jackets had a good first shift, with Adam Fantilli nearly earning his first goal as a Blue Jacket, before the Rangers actually scored. Eric Gustafsson threw a puck in from the point, and it went in off Liam Foudy. An unfortunate start to the game.
RANGERS GOAL – Eric Gustafsson from Adam Fox and Jimmy Vessey – 0:50 1st Period
The game shifted to a high-speed, back-and-forth affair, but the Blue Jackets struggled to turn their rushes into shot attempts. Sean Kuraly laid a big hit in the corner (that probably should’ve been boarding) to get the crowd fired up, but the Jackets would spend the middle eight minutes of the period without a shot on goal. The Rangers, on the other hand, were quite successful off the rush, and appeared to make it 2-0, but a challenge showed that Alex Laferriere was offsides.
Around the midpoint of the period, Captain Jenner would tie up the game by cleaning up a rebound. Kirill Marchenko intercepted a pass on the half wall, passed it to Johnny Gaudreau, and Boone smacked it in
BLUE JACKETS GOAL – Boone Jenner from Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko – 9:36 1st Period
Shortly after, yet another Rangers goal was overturned with an offsides challenge, negating a horrific turnover by Erik Gudbransson. And as if things couldn’t get any weirder, Patrik Laine would also have a goal taken off the board. Jacob Trouba made an outstanding effort the keep the tricking puck out of the net, with millimeters and a goal review to spare. For those keeping track at home, that’s five goals scored in a two-goal game.
Next, something almost as rare as a hat trick (foreshadowing…) – a Blue Jackets Power Play goal! Boone Jenner tipped a Gaudreau shot into the net for his second of the night and the first PPG of the season for the CBJ.
BLUE JACKETS POWER PLAY GOAL – Boone Jenner (2) from Johnny Gaudreau and Ivan Provorov – 17:45 1st Period
Mattieu Olivier would be called for a hooking penalty with 1:22 left in the period, but the Jackets would kill off the first 82 seconds leading into the first intermission…
Second Period
…and the last 38 seconds coming out of the first intermission. The Rangers would put a lot off pressure on the Jackets this period, keeping play mostly in the Columbus end of the ice. Elvis stood tall, and the Jackets would get a couple rushes.
One thing I noticed about the Blue Jackets this game is that they were playing a lot faster than last season. Faster on the rush, faster on the backcheck, hustling to put up pressure. I like it.
Midway through the period, things shifted fast. Boone Jenner would complete the natural hat trick off another tip, this one from Jake Bean. The goal came off an excellent shift from David Jiricek, where he broke up two separate Rangers rushes in about 30 seconds. He’d be rewarded with a goal of his own, his first in his NHL career.
BLUE JACKETS HAT TRICK GOAL – Boone Jenner (3) from Jake Bean – 12:30 2nd Period
BLUE JACKETS GOAL – David Jiricek from Patrik Laine and David Provorov – 13:37 1st Period
The Rangers would continue to pressure for the rest of the period, though Alexandre Texier almost single-handedly mitigated that. Tex had two breakaways, won a key race for the puck late, and issued one of the best passes I’ve ever seen. If it weren’t for Igor Shesterkin, he’d probably have at least two points tonight.
Third Period
A surprise start to the third period, as Elvis Merzlikins did his best Thatcher Demko impersonation, and left the game due to an illness. Spencer Martin would carry out the last 20 minutes of play. Both goalies looked great in this game, which is a very welcome change.
To be honest, there isn’t really much to write about in this period. The Rangers absolutely dominated for 11 minutes, scored, dominated for another four minutes, Justin Danforth scored on a random breakaway, dominated the remaining five minutes, and got another goal in garbage time. The Blue Jackets had one shot on goal in the entire third period. It was a goal. I cannot emphasize how weird this game was.
RANGERS GOAL – Will Cuylle from Vincent Trochek and Eric Gustafsson – 10:53 3rd Period
BLUE JACKETS GOAL – Justin Danforth from Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson – 15:54 3rd Period
RANGERS POWER PLAY GOAL – Chris Kreider from Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox – 19:24 3rd Period
The Blue Jackets will be back at it on Monday, hosting the Detroit Red Wings. See you then!