It was a game between two bad teams, and it showed. But ultimately, the good guys showed some late-game heroics to come away with the win. Here’s how it went down.
1st Period
Warning: bad start alert.
Less than four minutes into the game, Kuraly wiped out on his own at center ice, coughing up the puck to Anthony Duclair. The former Blue Jacket snuck the puck past Elvis on the ensuing breakaway.
SJS Goal 1-0: Duclair (unassisted) 3:38
Just after the goal, the Blue Jackets got a chance to even the game up on the power play – Zetterlund for holding. Not long into the man advantage, Provorov also went to the box for tripping.
Worth noting: Why are Severson and Provorov on the power play together? You could argue that they shouldn’t be there at all with both Werenski and Boqvist in the lineup.
Seconds later, Gaudreau missed not one but two breakaways. He had Kahkonen beat on the first and botched the shot. The second attempt hit the post.
The Blue Jackets broke through with less than five minutes remaining in the period. Werenski took a shot from the point, with Roslovic providing the screen, and put home his first 5v5 goal of the season.
CBJ Goal 1-1: Werenski (Gaudreau, Roslovic) 15:16
Only a minute later, a Gudbranson stretch pass found Chinakhov streaking into the offensive zone. He found Marchenko, who ripped the shot past Kahkonen.
CBJ Goal 2-1: Marchenko (Chinakhov, Gudbranson) 16:24
To make matters worse for the home team, the Jackets went to the power play almost immediately after the latest goal. They weren’t able to get much going, however. The Russian unit had a few good looks but couldn’t hit the net.
After a slow start, the Jackets turned it on in the second half of the first. They ended the period with an 18-7 advantage in 5v5 unblocked shot attempts. The defensive side of the puck was sketchy for both teams in the first period – a challenge to the Jackets to clean that up going into the second.
2nd Period
It looked like Johnny Hockey had scored his eighth goal of the season a minute into the second, but the goal was reviewed and called back for offsides. Name a more snakebit player this season – he can’t even get a goal when the puck is in the back of the net.
Bemstrom went to the box for tripping to give the Sharks their second power play of the evening. The Jackets were able to easily kill off the penalty.
The white jerseys took a two-goal lead when a Chinakhov rebound found Voronkov in front of the net. The big Russian seems to have his eyes set on the team lead in goals. That was number 14 for him. The goal came after some actual extended zone time by the Jackets.
CBJ Goal 3-1: Voronkov (Chinakhov, Gudbranson) 7:13
Unfortunately, the two-goal lead only lasted 19 seconds. Duclair got his second of the night when he found the net off the rush.
SJS Goal 3-2: Duclair (Zetterlund, Addison) 7:33
Voronkov got a phantom tripping penalty when a Shark lost an edge going into the corner. Unfortunately, when bogus calls are made against the Jackets, it seems the opposition scores more often than not. Zetterlund got his 15th of the season.
SJS PP Goal 3-3: Zetterlund (Addison, Granlund) 15:39
There still wasn’t much defense to be found. Gaudreau continued to be all over the ice. Could he cash in in the third period?
3rd Period
The Blue Jackets got another power play opportunity early in the period. Again, they failed to use the man advantage to get ahead in the game.
Not much going on in the middle of the period.
Sillinger went to the box for tripping with less than eight minutes left in the game. Fortunately, the Jackets were able to keep the game tied.
With less than 20 seconds left, Gaudreau sprang Jenner for a semi-breakaway, and the captain was able to tuck it home five-hole.
CBJ Goal 4-3: Jenner (Gaudreau, Provorov) 19:47
Team Leaders
Points: Gudbranson, Gaudreau, Chinakhov (2)
Shots: Werenski (5)
Shot Attempts: Werenski, Jenner, Chinakhov (9)
5v5 GF%: Marchenko (71.51)
5v5 CF%: Boqvist (67.57)
Final Thoughts
Kent Johnson played 6:10. There’s simply no excuse for this unless he was under the weather or nursing an injury.
Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski were once again the Blue Jackets’ best players. They are obviously better off when that’s the case.
The Troika is back! Chinakhov continued his hot play with two primary assists in this game.
Thanks to the boys for avoiding overtime. I’m tired.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets will take on the Kings in LA on Tuesday at 10:30 PM ET.