The CBJ Writer

Johnny Gaudreau would pick up where he left off last night. He'd score the first goal of tonight's final 2022-23 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Season at just 0:34 into Period 1! Defenseman Tim Burni would have the primary assist, add his second assist to his NHL Season, while Adam Boqvist would add number nineteen with the secondary. Believe it or not, this would be the only goal this season, meaning a 1-0 Blue Jackets lead.  Now, in Period 2, the Sabers would go on a scoring spree. Jon Gillies would keep them out of our net for nearly half of this game, but J. Skinner would slip one past him at 8:36. This spark would allow another goal for the Sabers at 12:35, scored by V. Olofsson. Then, at 14:01, A. Tuch would pop a third goal for the Sabers. That 3-1 lead for the Sabers would be a big lead to overcome, but at 18:24, Tyler Angle would find the back of the Sabers' net. This is a massive moment as this is only his second NHL Game and his very first NHL Goal! Andrew Peeke would...

This was a close game tonight in Nationwide Arena. Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins were eliminated from the 2023 NHL playoffs. That said, you'd not have known it tonight with how they played. The same can be said for the Blue Jackets, who were out of the playoffs arguably months ago but played like they still had a postseason chance as well. In addition, our home Blue Jackets would welcome four new players to the NHL. These players were Mikael Pyyhtia (Number 82), Samuel Knazko (Number 62), Stanislav Svozil (Number 81), and Tyler Angle (Number 39.) A huge Columbus welcome to all four first-time NHL Players!  Period 1, we'd see just one goal, which would come from the Penguins K. Legang at 4:28. The score would be a low 1-0 Penguins lead after the opening 20 minutes of play.  At 2:12, Period 2, Andrew Peeke would put the Blue Jackets on the board with the team's first goal this evening. This marks the defenseman's sixth goal of the season. The only assist on this goa...

 ***Warning, if you're a "fan" who has been cussing out players for scoring, you can exit this post now. First, we won't agree on anything I say in this post, and second, I'm not taking anyone's backlash today.  Now, if you're still reading on, you're the fan base I write for; let's recap some hockey. In Period 1, our Blue Jackets would come out swinging. Goal 1 tonight would come at 9:47 and be Liam Foudy's seventh this season! On this goal, Carson Meyer would get his first point (a primary assist) of his NHL Season, something he's worked fourteen games to get. Tim Berni would grab the secondary assist on this goal, giving him his first assist point this season, too! The next goal would also belong to the Blue Jackets; it would come from Trey Fix-Wolansky, and mark his first goal in the NHL this season. This goal would be scored by him at 12:43, taking his team to a 2-0 lead, and this goal would also have no assists. Unfortunately, with a ...

The New Jersey Devils are another team already destined for the NHL Playoffs. That said, the opportunity to play most of those 1st Round Games on home ice is still up for grabs, which is valuable. The Devils are number 2 in the Metropolitan Division, but the Rangers are just 3 points behind them. So, the battle for points is still real, and that showed tonight. A player sidenote, Johnny Gaudreau, would leave this period and be ruled out later in Period 2. The organization cited "illness" as the reason for this. Whatever is going around that locker room is not doing us any favors, that's for sure.  When Period 1 ended, the Devils could've been up 2-0 over our Blue Jackets. However, we won a challenge on the first goal scored, and it was removed from the scoreboard. This period's only goal would come at 11:35 and belong to J. Hughes, and his Devils would take that 1-0 lead into Period 2.   This second period tonight would be riddled with goals, but most wouldn't...

Coming into this as a team battling for last place vs. a team already in the 2023 NHL Playoffs, even I expected this game to be a landslide for the Maple Leafs. However, that wouldn't be the case. Goal one would come at 5:10 from Z. Aston-Reese, giving his Maple Leafs a 1-0 home lead. At 12:22, though, Jack Roslovic's twelfth goal this season would even the odds at 1-1. With the primary assist, Kent Johnson now has twenty-four this season, while Liam Foudy adds his seventh this season with the secondary. This would be the score after a full 20 minutes of play.  Period 2 would be held to just 1 goal. It would come at 7:25 and be in favor of the Maple Leafs. This goal would belong to A. Kerfoot. So, 2-1 after 2/3 of this regulation hockey game. For how much the Blue Jackets have struggled this season, these last few games have shown some incredible promise for the near future. Also, Jet Greaves was the Blue Jackets Goalie tonight, and this was his first NHL Game, even though he...

For a long time, many of us dared to hope that something this incredible would come out of this injury and illness-ridden season. Now, that hope has turned into reality as Kirill Marchenko scored his twenty-first goal in his Rookie NHL Season, cementing him in Columbus Blue Jackets Franchise History forever. Over his first 53 games, he's gone 21-4-25. The record stood in the organization for five seasons before Kirill Marchenko took it from Pierre-Luc Dubois, who went 20-28-48 over 80 games in his NHL Rookie Season back in 2017-2018. When asked about his incredible accomplishment in postgame tonight, Kirill Marchenko said it was "very cool." To this, I say, Marchenko, you have no idea! May this be a lesson to all of us fans, no season is a complete loss, no matter how many losses we have.  Way to go, Marchenk-Goal! I can't wait to see and report on what you accomplish in the remainder of this season, as well as in the future.    

We'd see the opposite Blue Jackets team we saw last night tonight. The Blue Jackets came out roughly twenty-four hours ago against the Panthers with fire, but it quickly fizzled as they shut them out 7-0. The Senators faced a similar defeat last night; they lost at home in a shutout too, but just 3-0 to the NHL Playoff-bound Maple Leafs. The Blue Jackets are playing for confidence to carry over into the 2023-24 NHL Season and a top 2023 NHL Draft Pick this summer. On the other end of the ice, the Senators are in a tight Atlantic Division, where many teams, including themselves, are still not out of the 2023 NHL Playoff hunt. That division looks prepared to go down to the wire as this game did.  Period 1 would see a high goal total with five. The first goal would come from the hometown team, Columbus Blue Jackets, and mark Kent Johnson's sixteenth of his Rookie Season! This is a huge deal because it shoots him up the record board with the fourth most in that introductory NHL Sea...

Both the Panthers and Blue Jackets would come out flying in this game. However, the Panthers would quickly gain the goal-scoring advantage. With a goal from S. Reinhart at 12:03 and C. Verhaeghe at 17:29, the Panthers would take a 2-0 lead into Period 2.  A quick shot from C. Verhaeghe just 0:18 into the second 20-minute period tonight would put the Panthers up 3-0. Then, C. Verhaeghe would tack on his third of the evening, giving himself a Hat Trick in Nationwide arena. That goal would come at 6:34 and put his Panthers up 4-0. We'd carry this score into Period 3 and the final 20 minutes of regulation.  On a stunning 49 Panther shots on goal, Hutchinson did manage to stop 42. For being under attack, he didn't do that bad, honestly.  The Panthers would pour on the gravy in the final period of this game, scoring three more goals. N. Cousins would score at 8:34, C. Verhaeghe would score at 11:18, and E. Steal would score at 14:16. These three additional goals would take the ...