The CBJ Writer

After two Vegas Golden Knight goals in Period 1 (the first from W. Karlsson at 15:59 and the second from W. Carrier at 16:55) you'd have likely been doubtful of this game going good for the home Columbus Blue Jackets.  To that I say, never underestimate this team, even against a 16-6-1 team that's top of the Western Division.  Why do I say this?  Just wait.   In Period 2 the Golden Knights wouldn't score at all, but the Blue Jackets would!  At 13:50 Johnny Gaudreau would net his eight goal of the 2022-23 NHL Season!  Assists on this goal would go to Gus Nyquist, his sixth of the year and Vladislav Gavrikhov, his third of the season.  2-1 after Period 2.  The comeback was started, but not finished...yet.   Period 3 would see Captain Boone Jenner's nineth goal of this season at 12:11!  Gus Nyquist would have his second primary assist on this goal tonight, while Johnny Gaudreau would continue to rack up his points this season, gra...

For the Columbus Blue Jackets being 7-11-1 and the New York Islanders being 13-8-0, tonight's game was a very intriguing competition between these two teams.  Period 1 would see just a hand full of shots on goal, while only 1 shot would become a goal.  This goal would go to the Islanders, by way of O. Wahlstrom at 17:26.  The score after one full period of play would be a humble 1-0 Islanders lead.   Perido 2 would result in a second goal for the Islanders, this time from J. Pageau at 7:51.  The Islanders would enjoy a 2-0 lead, but not for long 5th Line!  First, Yegor Chinakhov would net his fourth goal of the 2022-23 NHL Season, coming at 14:05.  Assists on this goal would go to Johnny Gaudreau, his twelfth of this season and Kent Johnson, his sixth of this season.  Then, in the blink of an eye, it would be Kent Johnson's turn to score a goal!  At 14:38, Johnson's fifth goal of the season would come.  Marcus Bjork would gain his t...

I don't know about you, but hearing Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears blaring on the radio during the breaks in play tonight, to celebrate the first Reverse Retro evening at Nationwide Arena, was great.  What else was great tonight?  The goaltending.  For that reason, we're going to skip all the way to Period 3, because no one could score on Joonas Korpisalo of the Columbus Blue Jackets or Sam Montembeault for the Montreal Canadians.   Mathieu Olivier would get the scoring started in the final period of regulation, his goal coming at 1:08, marking his second of this season.  No assists on this goal.  The next two goals would come from the Canadian's, first from A. Xhekaj at 2:38 and the second from former Blue Jacket David Savard, coming at 3:35.  At this point the score was a single Canadians goal lead, at 2-1.  With little time left to close the deficit, Johnson would come in for six total skaters on the ice, while Korpisalo would leave the ...

For how much the Columbus Blue Jackets struggled to find the net last night and defend against the Detroit Red Wings, watching tonight's game against the Florida Panthers, you'd never know.  Now yes, the Panthers had several shots on goal, but the game isn't about shots on goal, it's about how many pucks go into said goal.  With that being said, let's recap!   The Florida Panthers would start the scoring off at 7:52, with a goal from M. Tkachuk.  However, at 11:21 a beautiful goal from Yegor Chinakhov, his third of the season.  No assists on this goal and after one period of play, we'd be tied 1-1.   Early into Period 2, at 2:53, Kent Johnson would send home his second goal of the season!  Assists on this goal would go to Boone Jenner, marking his seventh on the season and Johnny Gaudreau, marking his tenth.  With that being said, this period would be the flip of the first, by means of it ending with a tie.  At 16:238, A. Ekblad wou...

A credit to the Columbus Blue Jackets in this game, before we get too serious, is that the team held the Detroit Red Wings to just 1 goal in Period 1.  At 9:58 this first period, D. Larkin would score for the Red Wings, giving his team a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.    The second would start out with a cannon bang, as Emil Bemstrom would prove he came up ready to play from the AHL, after many Blue Jacket starters fell to injury.  His goal would come at just 0:43 into this second period of play.  This would be his second goal of the season, while Captain Boone Jenner would grab his sixth assist of the season and Johnny Gaudreau would capture his ninth of the season.  After this spark however, the Blue Jackets would lose control of thee game to the Red Wings.  F. Hronek would score at 6:35. B. Chiarot would score at 10:45.  Then lastly, F. Hronek would score at 17:02.  This would put the Red Wings up 4-1 after 40 minutes.   Thir...

Tonight, would start off with the bang of the Nationwide Arena Cannon, and not just to kick off the game either 5th Line!  Goal 1 would belong to the home team, more specific to Cole Sillinger, at 7:28.  Erik Gudbranson would tack on an assist, his fourth as a Blue Jacket.  The second assist would go to Jake Christensen, his first since returning to cover for injured Blue Jacket starters.  1-0 Blue Jackets lead, and that wouldn't be our only goal of this period either.  At 16:19 Gus Nyquist would add his third goal on the season to his point sheet.  Assists on this goal would go to Gavin Bayreuther, his first of the season since being brought up to cover for injured Blue Jacket starters also.  The secondary assist would go to Yegor Chinakhov, his seventh of the season already.  After a dominant Period 1, the Blue Jackets would lead 2-0. Period 2 would go the way of the visiting Canadians, however.  At 15:35 J. Harris would score, then former ...

It would be another night of taking the good with the bad.  The good: goals galore.  The bad: Injuries continue to mount.  I won't keep you hanging on either account, so let's recap 5th Line.   Period 1 would be all Blue Jackets.  Only 1 goal would be scored, and it would be from Sean Kuraly, who returned from injury tonight in a big way!  His goal third goal this season would come at 12:36 and assists would go to Vladislav Gavrikhov, number two for him this season and Eric Robinson, his third this season.  As I said, this was the only goal in all of Period 1, meaning a 1-0 Blue Jackets lead at this point.   Period 2 would be a comeback for the Flyers, but the Blue Jackets wouldn't back down either.  At 5:36, Boone Jenner would find the net for his fifth time this season.  Assists on this goal would go to Johnny Gaudreau, marking Johnny "Hockey's" seventh of the season and Kent Johnson, grabbing his fourth this season.  Ho...

First and foremost, welcome to the NHL Marcus Bjork!  Also, congratulations to Eric Robinson, this game tonight marks his 200th in the NHL.  There were plenty of other high points in this game too, beyond these going into the game, so let's recap 5th Line! Period 1 would see both teams finding their rhythm.  By this, I mean the score was the same when the period began, as it was when it concluded.  0-0 after Period 1, but by no means was this a boring period.  With all the losses the Blue Jackets have faced within the last 48 hours on Defense (Nick Blankenburg, Zach Werenski and Erik Gudbranson) this period was exciting for the fact the new group of defenders played well together.       Period 2 would see the end of that 0-0 tie, with the Blue Jackets breaking the scoring ice first.  Cole Sillinger would finally get his first goal of the season, and a Power Play goal at that!  This goal of his would come 3:09 into this second period...

Yes 5th Line, that's right, this is going to be a heavy and game changing post.  This team will again not be the same this season from this point on.  I don't even know where to begin, so let's start with the one Head Coach Brad Larson said last night "it's not good": Zach Werenski.  We all saw him go into the boards last night after a Flyers player avoided his check.  At that moment his arm was caught and pulled in an awkward and stomach-turning angle.  He looked to be in severe pain and now that he's been removed from the roster, for the remainder of the 2022-23 NHL Season with a shoulder injury, we know why.  Nothing has been said as to what the specific injury is and if he wants to tell us, I believe that's his choice.    Since I've placed Nick Blankenburg in the title, we'll talk about him next.  If anyone out there still didn't see this guy as the definition of defenseman, well I'm sure you will after this.  He played the full gam...

And we're back at it after Finland 5th Line!  Now, I know we left there 0-2-0, however there were some sparks of good, which the Blue Jackets built on tonight.  It was a special night as the Flyers brought former Columbus Head Coach John Tortorella as their own.  Add in a dash of former player Cam Atkinson and you have a stacked Thursday night of hockey folks, let's recap this! Period 1 was glorious for the Blue Jackets.  Early on Johnny "Hockey" Gaudreau would make that cannon his friend with goal sixth this season, just 3:53 into the game.  There would be one loan assist on this, granted to Zach Werenski, he's now up to 5 this season.  After this Werenski decided he wanted his third goal goal of the season too, this would come at 12:03.  This goal would also have only one assist, funny enough to Gaudreau.  So, a little Period 1 scoring flip-flop if you will.  With a solid and respectful fight for Oliver and even one for Blankenburg (defendi...

Before we get into the Game Recap tonight, I have to say one great thing which did happen today: The return of Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.  His season ended early in 2021-22, due to a hip issue require ring surgery, which he could no longer play though.  Today wasn't just special for it being his first game back since this surgery however, on top of that fact this game took place in his home country of Finland.  A memorable start to the 2022-23 NHL Season for him, no doubt.  Welcome back, Korpi.   Period 1 would be quite even.  Everyone seemed to be buzzing for both the Avalanche and the Blue Jackets.  The score after 20 minutes would reflect this nicely.  Goal 1 of this game would come from the Avalanche, by way of A. Lehkonen, just 0:33 into the game.  The Blue Jackets would do their job however, keeping the Avalanche out of their net thereafter.  Better yet, they would match that Avalanche goal as well.  Captain Boone Jenne...

Today, the spark returned to the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Period 1 would end with a 2-0 Colorado Avalanche lead.  These goals would come from L.O'Connor at 1:36 and J. Compher at 12:27.  Toward the end of this period though, the Columbus Blue Jackets would gain a Power Play.  They would not score, but it would light a spark within the team to have come so close to scoring at least twice, but not managing to mark the scoreboard.  This spark continued into Period 2, and boy was it amazing to see! However, first M. Rantanen would score again for the Avalanche.  This would take the score to a 3-0 Avalanche lead, just 0:35 into the second period.  Then, it all changes for the better in the Blue Jackets favor, majorly.  Jakub Voracek would score goal 1 in Tampere, Finland!  This would be the FIRST Power Play goal of the 2022-23 NHL Season.  Assists would go to homeboy Patrik Laine and Zach Werenski.  Patrik Laine would then follow this up ...