Columbus Blue Jackets @ Florida Panthers: 11/6/23 Game Recap

This was a weird game. 

I don't know if I've ever written that as the first line of a post, but this one game was...weird. The Florida Panthers played for the 2023 Stanley Cup, and boy, it showed in the first six minutes of this game. Ryan Lomburg scored goal one for the Panthers at 2:19. The second goal of this game for the Panthers would come at 3:09, less than a minute after goal one. Gustav Forsling would score that second goal. Then, a third one for the Panthers would come at 6:09, this time from Alexander Barkov. 

So, as I watched Elvis Merzlikins come out and Spencer Martin come in, I wondered if I could wheedle my way out of writing a blog tonight. Usually, I have all the faith in the world for this team and loan it out as needed. That said, the first impression of this game looked like the most lopsided boys-to-men comparison I'd seen in a long time for our Blue Jackets. But then, I got to eat my concern, which was delicious! 'Leave it to Kuraly' should be put on a tee shirt and sold in Blueline after his third goal of the season. That's all I'm saying. His spark would come at 15:41 and start the Blue Jackets long way back from a three-goal pit. Erik Gudbranson would gain his first assist on this goal, which is all the more impressive when you consider he's playing injured. Justin Danforth would also get back on the point wagon with his second assist this season. Boone Jenner would then double up, bringing us to a 3-2 score at 18:51. Jack Roslovic would put a bow on his fifth assist this season because to come back with two goals after a 3-0 slump start is huge! Eric Gudbranson would also be the first player to have a multipoint night with a second assist on his captain's goal. So, after an anxiety-inducing start, it would be a 3-2 Panthers lead after just twenty minutes. 

Now, if your pulse had come down after period one's craziness, guess what? We still have forty minutes to go! And a powerplay would spark the third goal we needed to claw back! Kirill Marchenko (more like Marchank-Goal) would get his second goal this season past former Blue Jacket star goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Ivan Proverov would continue his assist dominance with his ninth. Alexander Texier, who has fought through so much over the past year and a half, would get the secondary assist and his first point back since returning to his NHL Team. This was such a great moment. We would hold the Panthers back from a goal for this full twenty minutes, giving us an actual game going into period 3. 

As if the assist for Alexander Texier wasn't enough, he would make his second point tonight a goal at 12:30. I've waited so long to type that 5th line. Assist one would come for Andrew Peeke this season, while Cole Sillinger would have the secondary assist, giving him five total. Unfortunately, the Panthers' desperate panic to send this to overtime would pay off at 19:03 when Nick Cousins would steal the puck from Ivan Proverov. That's all she wrote for period 3, and we'd face over time. 

Carter Verhaeghe is a good player, and he'd show that at 1:26 after getting the puck past Martin to finish off this game for his home Panthers, 5-4. That said, for how Dismal the visiting Blue Jackets played the first six minutes of this game, a point is valiant in my blog recap tonight. Spencer Martin also didn't play a full sixty-minute game tonight, yet he had a full game of saves. A .944 Save Percentage would be his reward after stopping a whopping 34 of the Panther's 36 shots on just him! Sadly, Elvis Merslikins was pulled after eleven shots on him, three of which went behind him for a Panthers goal. His Save Percentage was .727%. Now, before you hate on Merzlikins (again), the whole team before him could not manage to get the Panthers away from their net. Those first six minutes and three goals were on this team, not just the final line of defense in the net. Period. 

Our next game will be at home on Thursday as the Stars come to play from Dallas. Now, they beat us there, so let us hope we beat them here. After all, I will be going to celebrate my birthday! I will not have a blog that night, but I will be back for the following game on November 11th as we head to Detroit to face the Red Wings at home! The puck drop for Thursday will be at 7:30 because it is an ESPN+ featured game. 

GO CBJ!