The CBJ Writer

 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...

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...

 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...

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...

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...

 Tonight, the Blue Jackets were at home and showed the control we saw before the Olympic Break. Impressive considering Zach Werenski missed another game due to Illness, and I hope he feels better soon. Further, our D-Line would take another hit as Dante Fabbro was announced out minutes before puck drop with a lower-body injury. I wish both men well and hope to see them back on the ice soon!  Now, the Florida Panthers haven't looked great recently. That said, as someone who played sports herself, you never underestimate an opponent, no matter how bad their playing. You don't want to be the team that relaxes and gives an underperforming team its mojo back. Adding emphasis to this point, both of these teams are fighting for playoff hopes, and this team has won it all the last two seasons. So, best believe they'll bring it, and they did, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's recap some hockey, 5th Line!   The Blue Jackets would have the only goal in Period 1. It would ...