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Columbus Blue Jackets @ Philadelphia Flyers: Season 25 3/14/26

Don't let the shots on goal fool you; this was a tight, exciting game with no brotherly love to be found on the ice! 4:21 into the game, Kirill Marchenko would gain his twenty-fifth goal of the season, giving us a 1-0 lead! Adam Fantilli adds his twenty-eighth assist this season on the primary, while Damon Severson adds his twenty-second with the secondary. A few minutes later, at 10:24, Alex Bump would shoot the puck so hard into our net that it would jump out before the buzzer could go off, but it did go in for his second goal of the season. The tying goal would give Emil Andrae his eleventh assist this season on the primary, and Christian Dvorak adds his twenty-sixth assist this season on the secondary. Each team would continue to have good chances to score, but just that, good chances. The period would end with a 1-1 tie between the Flyers and Blue Jackets, but the Blue Jackets would lead shots on goal in this opening period, 13-6.   Period 2 would end with the same 1-1 ti...
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Columbus Blue Jackets @ Florida Panthers: Season 25 3/12/26

This game was tight to the end and beyond. Period 1 would end with a 0-0 draw. The Blue Jackets would dominate shots on goal, 14-3. Let me make this clear, especially when it comes to Kent Johnson: if not for former Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, we'd have been up by at least a few goals!   It would take until 13:01 into Period 2 for a goal to be scored. Adam Fantilli finally beat Sergei Bobrovsky as the Blue Jackets blocked a puck sent toward Elvis Merzlikins, then redirected it for a three-on-one charge down the ice! This was goal number nineteen of Adam Fantilli's season, and it would yield only one assist, Mason Marchment's eighteenth this season. The middle period would conclude with a 1-0 Blue Jackets lead, but also a holding penalty against the Blue Jackets' Damon Severson, putting him in the box for two minutes at the start of Period 3. Shots on goal this period would again be led by the Blue Jackets, but by a smaller margin, 10-7. 1:28 into Period 3 ...
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Columbus Blue Jackets @ Tampa Bay Lightning: 3/10/26

 It's a quick turnaround, 5th Line, as the Blue Jackets played a makeup game from the January snowstorm at home yesterday against the L.A. Kings, then hopped on a flight to Tampa Bay to play the Lightning tonight! I must say, the Blue Jackets have vastly improved their play in back-to-back games this season, and you'll see why soon. Period 1 would prove that this would be an exciting game full of energy and skill. The Blue Jackets and Lightning would be nipping at each other's skates from puck drop on. The Blue Jackets would lead shots on goal this opening period, 9-4. Still, the Lightning would have the first goal of the game at 13:38. This goal would become the eighth this season for Gage Goncalves. Victor Hedman comes away with his ffifteenth assist this season on the primary. The unreal Nikita Kucherov would add his seventieth assist this season on the secondary. Towards the end of this period, Cole Sillinger would hold his own in a fight with Lightning's J.J. Moser...
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L.A. Kings @ Columbus Blue Jackets: Season 25 3/9/26

Hello, 5th Line! So, I missed the first two periods of hockey this afternoon due to work. That said, I will backtrack to congratulate our newest Blue Jacket, Connor Garland, on his first two goals with our franchise! I was excited when we picked him up, and knew he'd be a good fit here.  Period 3 would have several good chances for the Blue Jackets to break the 3-3 tie, but the Kinga goaltender, Anton Forsberg, would continue to show off in his visitors' net.  Then, at 10:07, Brian Dumoulin would add goal number two to his season. Mikey Anderson would come away with his ninth assist this season on the primary, while Scott Laughton would come away with his fifth assist this season on the secondary. But, with the minutes ticking down, Scott Laughton would take a costly penalty for interference against Mason Marchment at 16:43, and Kirill Marchenko's twenty-third goal of the season would follow at 18:04! Zach Werenski adds yet another assist to his season, number forty-six, wi...
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Utah Mammoth @ Columbus Blue Jackets: Season 25 3/7/26

 So, I had a chance to see family I hadn't seen in years and missed the first two periods of tonight's game. I came in when the Mammoth and Blue Jackets were tied 2-2. That said, I think I saw the best period of the night! The Mammoth would score two goals early in Period 3. The first would belong to Alexander Kerfoot at 3:00, and this would become his second goal this season. Michael Carcome would add his eleventh assist on the primary, while MacKenzie Weeger would add his nineteenth on the secondary. Then, at 4:54, the Mammoth would have its largest lead of the night after Logan Cooley added his tenth goal of the season. Lawson Crouse gets his sixteenth assist this season on the primary, while Ian Cole gets his fiftieth assist this season on the secondary. Now, if you left Nationwide Arena with the Blue Jackets down 4-2 on a Saturday night after the revitalization this team has had since hiring Rick Bowness, that's your fault! At 13:38, Adam Fantilli would pick up his eig...
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5th Line, We Have a Trade! 3/6/26

Did you go to bed yet, 5th Line? Finally, being a night owl pays off on NHL Trade Deadline Day! As of 12:20 a.m., we have a new Blue Jacket! The Vancouver Canucks have accepted two draft picks from Columbus, a third-round pick this year (2026) and a second-round pick (2028), for Conor Garland!  The 29-year-old, who turns 30 next week, has appeared in 50 games for the Canucks. In that time, he's scored seven goals and nineteen assists for twenty-six points. Not bad at all. From 2018-2021, Conor Garland was with the team that drafted him in round 2 in 2015, the Arizona Coyotes. From 2021 to now, he's been in Vancouver with the Canucks. In that time, he's appeared in 535 NHL games, scoring 129 goals and 188 assists for 317 points.  It's no secret that the Vancouver Canucks would be looking to sell during this year's trade deadline. They haven't had the best season. I know I said in a post, literally two hours ago, that I didn't think we needed to add. That said...
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If I Were Don Waddell, This is What I'd Do Ahead of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline

So, a few days ago, I wrote a blog post that I hoped wouldn't hold up. I think my hopes have been realized. In that post, I centered on how our captain, Boone Jenner, had been listed as out against the Nashville Predators under 'maintenance'. I got an uneasy feeling this could result in a trade due to the timing and the reason he wouldn't play. Tonight, he not only played against the Florida Panthers but also had the game-winning goal. So, although anything can still happen, I feel less anxious about Boone leading us tomorrow before the NHL Trade Deadline at 3:00 p.m. So, with that said, what would I do if I were Don Waddell?  Nothing.  You read that right, 5th Line, I wouldn't touch this team. I say this for two main reasons. First, our best player and defenseman, Zach Werenski, has been out ill for the last three games. This team has rallied without him to win once in overtime and twice in regulation in those three games. Further, the first game they won without h...
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