Coming off of a disappointing loss in Pittsburgh, the Columbus Blue Jackets returned home to face an Edmonton Oilers team riding a five game winning streak.
First Period
After a controversial scratch on Tuesday, Kirill Marchenko and the rest of the Globetrotters got the start. Hmm.
The Blue Jackets drew first blood, and it came from the fourth line. Teamwork makes the dream work, as Mathieu Olivier battled to keep the puck in the zone, Justin Danforth played the puck below the goal line, and Sean Kuraly made a perfect centering pass back to Olivier. Pretty neat snipe, too.
The real energy line lately has been Cole Sillinger’s. He made a perfect pass from behind the net to set up the red-hot Alex Nylander for his fifth goal as a Blue Jacket. He hasn’t even been here for two weeks yet!
Off the faceoff, new Oiler acquisition Sam Carrick challenged Olivier to a fight, and he was more than happy to oblige. A series of left jabs took Carrick down.
Right after that, Dmitri Voronkov read a play like a defensive back and made a great interception that set up his own goal.
All three goals showed great hustle and smart plays.
Second Period
The Oilers are too good to back down from an early 3-0 lead. They responded quickly in the middle frame, though it was a play that took some lucky bounces. Leon Draisaitl recovered nicely from a Zach Werenski challenge and passed it to Connor McDavid. The puck deflected off of McDavid and Zach Hyman had snuck into open space behind Werenski and Adam Boqvist.
Third Period
The Jackets got their first power play early in the third after Yegor Chinakhov drew a high sticking penalty from the other new Oiler, Adam Henrique. Sadly, they only got one shot on goal out of it (from Nylander, naturally). Of note is the first PP unit was just the top line (the Jenner line) and the top pair. The second unit was the more common 4F/1D, featuring Provorov on the point and Nylander with the Globetrotters.
Ugly sequence midway through the period, as Danforth caught Corey Perry’s skate with his stick, and Perry’s upper body got sandwiched between the boards and Kuraly’s knee as he fell. Danforth got knocked over by Kuraly as well. Warren Foegele charged in to go after Danforth while he was still down, and Olivier stepped in to stop him. Foegele and Olivier got offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct minors, while Danforth got one for tripping. Halfway through that penalty, Boone Jenner joined the crowded penalty box after slashing Draisaitl.
Fortunately the penalty kill and Daniil Tarasov stepped up and killed off the 5-on-3. Danforth did well when he joined the kill, but you can only give the Oilers too many chances before they capitalize. It wasn’t the McDavid/Draisaitl duo, but instead it was the second unit and Evander Kane, whose shot was tipped in by Perry. ANNOYING!
As the game entered the final three minutes, the Oilers still had not pulled goaltender Calvin Pickard. The Blue Jackets then managed to have enough possession to delay him further. Tarasov made some more key saves, the defense cleaned up rebounds, and Alexandre Texier and Jack Roslovic got a breakaway towards the empty net. Texier served it up to Roslovic, who got the goal in what may have been his final shift as a Blue Jacket.
Final Thoughts
We have to start with Tarasov. He was outstanding tonight, especially in third period, saving 29 out of 31 shots faced and 1.83 goals saved above expected.
From Burkus in the writers chat: Alex is outscoring his brother William since the trade: 5/2/7 vs. 3/2/5, each in 5 games played. WE HAVE THE BEST NYLANDER
The Sillinger line had a 73.08 CF%. HOLY CRAP.
Over the final two periods, while holding that lead, the Blue Jackets out-attempted the Oilers at 5v5, 42-28. That’s what I want to see. You can’t turtle for that long against an opponent like that. Keep the pressure on. For as bad as this group was at holding leads in the first half of the season, they have gotten much better lately. We’re finally seeing some progress there.
McDavid had zero shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, and just 2 in the third. That’ll do.
Up Next
The trade deadline is tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. Roslovic is a pending UFA so he’s the most likely to be moved.
On the ice, the Jackets have an early start on Saturday against Nashville, for Kids’ Takeover Day at 12:30 at Nationwide.