The CBJ Writer

With the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs 2023-24 Series on the line tonight, this promised to be a spectacular game and did not disappoint. At 4:14, Mitchell Marner would give his Leafs an early lead 1-0. But, at 11:17, the fourth goal of Cole Sillinger's season would even up the score at 1-1! His goal would give Jake Bean his third assist of his season. At 12:55, Auston Matthews would pick up where he left off last week (hattrick) and pop another goal into the Blue Jackets' net. So, it would be the Leafs by a goal after twenty minutes of play.  As if the Blue Jackets need to lose more players, Elvis Merzlikins would be out for the entire second period due to illness. He was not ruled out for the game at this point, though. So, Daniil Tarasov would become the backup to Spencer Marton, and the second period would get underway. It would kick off with another Leafs goal, this time from Nicholas Roberson, at 1:35. After this, Spencer Martin would get set in the net, a...

 I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. It's been three days, and the Blue Jackets are back on the ice and on the road in New Jersey. Period one would be a fairly even fight. At 6:39, the first goal would come from the Blue Jackets' own Jake Bean. This is his second goal of the season and would result in an early lead for the visiting Columbus team. This goal would add a second assist to Brenden Gaunce's assist total this season and number six to Alexander Texier's. As I said, this was a reasonably even period, and the Devils would make it 1-1 thanks to Ondrej Palat at 9:55. Again, it was an even first period, and it would come to an end with that 1-1 score.  Period two would have a big plus and a scary minus for the Blue Jackets. First, at 8:28, the Blue Jackets would regain their lead thanks to Justin Danforth's ninth goal this season. David Jiricek gains his eighth assist, while Adam Fantilli gains number twelve. Unfortunately, for this team, there is rarely any ...

The Blue Jackets would look to add another win to their season tonight as the Toronto Maple Leafs would come to town, heading into the Christmas Holiday on a high note. Period one would be full of potential for both teams, but only the Leafs would score. The goal would come from Auston Matthews, who scored at 8:20. So the Blue Jackets would go into the locker room only down a goal but also without Sean Kuraly. About 0:19 seconds would be added to the second twenty-minute period as the Blue Jackets summoned the paramedics after Kuraly took a nasty smash between two players, followed by a puck to the body. It was a scary sight, but not long after, we'd find out that Kuraly would be okay, and we could all breathe a sigh of relief. That said, he wouldn't play in the notified second period. It is important to note that after this period took place, during the second intermission, it was announced he'd be taken to Grant Medical Center as a "precaution' due to an "ab...

It's hard to believe that tonight is the final time this season that the Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets will face off. Tonight, the Blue Jackets would look to capitalize against the Capitals after their huge 9-4 win at the Sabers two days ago. It would take until 18:24 into the first period for a goal to come, and it would favor the Capitals. The Blue Jackets would do everything good but score. That said, Anthony Mantha would have the first goal of the game and the only one in this period, giving his team a 1-0 lead.  The Blue Jackets would come out swinging in period two, though, and at 15:18, it would finally pay off. This goal was originally given to Emil Bemstrom, but in the third period, it was reassigned to Cole Sillinger's third goal this season. Emil Bemstrom would take the primary assist, his fifth this season, while Johnny Gaudreau would add his fifteenth. Unfortunately, Anthony Mantha would rain on the Blue Jackets' 1-1 tie at 17:24. This would be ...

All I want for Christmas is to write about an epic road win, and Santa Stinger came!   It may be winter, but the Blue Jackets lit up the Buffalo Sabers home ice tonight. After an early goal on Daniil Tarasov just 0:30 into the first period by Sabers' Rasmus Dahlin, the Blue Jackets engine would turn full speed and not slow down. Johnny Gaudreau would start the scoring landslide at 10:35, gaining his sixth goal this season and giving Adam Fantilli his tenth assist this season. Entering the double digits in his assist category was just the beginning for Adam Fantilli this period, as the next goal would belong to him, giving him nine total this rookie season. This goal would come at 14:40 and give Johnny Gaudreau his number in assists (thirteen) and allow Ivan Proverov to hit sixteen. The lead would then expand by a Kirill Marchenko goal that was a true beauty between the legs. Honestly, the amount of skill this goal took and came from such a young player is astounding. The goal ...

With the nail-biting overtime win for the Blue Jackets on Thursday night in the past, the team would come into tonight hoping to win in regular time. Unfortunately, this game wouldn't start in the home team's favor. One of the NHL's Living Legends, Jack Hughes, would score less than a minute into this game at 0:47. It was early for the newly returned Daniil Trasov. Still, with 16:21 left in this first twenty-minute period, a second puck from Erik Haula would zip past Tarasov. So, the Devils would head into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.  That said, just 0:12 into period two, Kirill Mrchenko would pop one into the Devils' net and get the Blue Jackets a goal! It was a single assist on this Marchenko goal, and it would be Johnny Gaudreau's twelfth assist this season. The Devils would find the net again at 0:50, though, as Tyler Toffoli would give his Devils back their two-goal lead. The Blue Jackets would need an answer, and Yegor Chinakov would have it at 8:38. Andr...

The Blue Jackets would look to bounce back from their hard-fought home loss against the Panthers Sunday, which showed early on! At 6:19, we watched as Patrik Laine sent home goal six of his season and tonight's game's first goal. With the only assist on Laine's goal, Kent Johnson would expand his amount to four in his short time playing in the NHL this season. The only other goal this period would belong to Kent Johnson, giving him a pair this season and a multipoint game just 11:56 into the first period! Again, just one assist on this Johnson goal would be the second for Andrew Peek. A 2-0 lead is nice, but in the NHL, it could be a better lead. No worries, though; the Blue Jackets will add more goals in period two!   At 8:16, it would be Justin Danforth's turn for a goal. This gives him seven now this season and plenty of time for more. Ivan Proverov has continued to prove himself to be a great off-season pickup for the Blue Jackets, and he'd continue this with hi...

 The Blue Jackets would search for redemption before the crowd on First Responders Night 2023, and Kirill Marchanko would waste no time getting them started! Just 1:42 into period 1, he would ship his ninth goal of his season past Joel Hofer in the Blues' net. Dmitri Voronkov would add assist number eight to his season total, while Yegor Chinakov would add his third. At 14:36, Blues' Robert Thomas would score for the visiting team. But, at 17:01, Adam Fantilli would score his eight goal this season and his third in just two days! That's our 1st Round Pick! Kent Johnson would also have his third assist in just two nights, giving him five already this season. Emil Bemstrom is up to three with his secondary assist on this goal. The line of Bemstrom, Fantilli, and Johnson hasn't disappointed, and I'm sure it is making Michigan University very proud, too; what a line. With no more scoring in this period, it would be a good 2-1 Blue Jackets lead. This score would hold thr...

 At exactly 4:00 into the opening period, Pierre Engwall would put his home team on the board with an early 1-0 lead over the Blue Jackets. He would have the only goal in the first twenty minutes. So, even though the Blue Jackets wouldn't score this period, they would defend the net against any further scoring.  Period 2 would see the Blue Jackets heat up. First, at 5:56, we see Emil Bemstrom make his return well-known with his fourth goal in the NHL this season. With this goal, Adam Fantilli has eight assists this season, and Kent Johnson has his third. This goal was an entire Michigan affair: a talented group of men. After this, at 10:11, #11 (Adam Fantilli) would gain his sixth goal of his rookie season. Kent Johnson would make his 100th game a multipoint night with his second assist this evening, his fourth overall this season, on this Fantilli goal. In addition, we got to see Zach Werenski take his own assist, totaling up to a staggering nineteen. Unfortunately for our Ja...

The Columbus Blue Jackets were looking to bounce back after Boston and would start strong in the pursuit. After a bang into the boards, resulting in a bleeding eye, Kirill Marchanko would still send home his eighth goal of the season. It would come at 9:07 and renew our faith in the powerplay goal. The goal would also result in Adam Boqvist's third assist this season and give Johnny Gaudreau his eleventh. That single goal would be the only one this period, so the Blue Jackets would go into period 2 with a one-goal lead.  Johnny Gaudreau would take the Blue Jackets to a 2-0 lead with goal number four of his improving season. Johnny would turn his night into a multipoint night at 5:24. This would be followed by Mathieu Olivier's first season goal, expanding the lead to three goals! This goal would come at 13:03 and give David Jiricek his fourth assist this season and our number three draft pick this year, Adam Fantilli, his seventh. With the Blue Jackets still keeping the Kings o...

Period 1 tonight in Boston was a gritty battle of great hockey with no goals whatsoever.  It would take nearly the end of period 2 for the 0-0 tie between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins to be broken. There is no one better to break it than our Captain, Boone Jenner, with goal thirteenth of his season at 19:25. The goal would give Mathieu Olivier his second assist this season while Zach Werenski is at eighteen. This would give us an actual score of 1-0 after two periods in Boston.  This 1-0 lead would be sweet but also short. Brad Marchand, Captain of the Boston Bruins, would go one, two, three with a full hatrick. The times on these goals, all in period three, would be at 1:56, 5:36, and 7:46. So, that happened. If anything, I feel bad for Spencer Martin, who truly worked his butt off to keep this a 0-0 game up till the Jenner goal at the tail end of period 2. The Bruins would prevent the Blue Jackets from scoring further, which would be a 3-1 loss for our home te...

Yes, 5th Line; I can't believe it's December either. Tonight's game promised excitement due to Joonas Korpisalo returning to Nationwide Arena for the first time since he was traded last season. So, a huge welcome back to him. That said, Korpi's return was far from the biggest excitement tonight. Let's recap some high-scoring hockey!   Elvis Merzlikins would be under attack early, stopping many pucks. The Senators would get two past him early into this first period, though. The first would happen at 8:43 and come from the stick of Claude Giroux. The second, coming at 11:08, would be scored by Brady Tkachuk. Being down two goals isn't a great start for the Blue Jackets. The good news? It wouldn't last long. Scoring his fifth goal this season, Patrik Laine would get the first Blue Jackets goal past former Blue Jacket Joonas Korpisalo. This goal would come at 14:53, taking Johnny Gaudreau up to nine assists and Zach Werenski to sixteen. With Dmitir Voronkov'...