The CBJ Writer

The Jackets come into tonight looking to put their last road loss behind them and wrap up 2024 with a home win for the 5th Line. They start out on the right skate for that to happen, as Kirill Marchenko scores his fifteenth goal at 4:48. Sean Monahan would add his twenty-first assist on this goal with the primary while Denton Mateychuk would add his first NHL point with the secondary. Good for him! Elvis Merzlikins would get a rare tripping penalty a few minutes later. He almost got away without a goal being scored, but in the final seconds, at 9:56, T Smith would score his first goal this season on the Canes' first powerplay of the evening. S. Aho, an undeniable star of the Canes, would come away with his twenty-seventh assist of the season with the primary while teammate M. Necas would add his thirty-first. But, before the period could end, Kirill Marchenko would put himself on hattrick watch with his sixteenth goal this season at 15:43! Dimitri Voronkov would add his eleventh as...

For how solid the Jackets were on home ice last night, they couldn't find the back of the home team tonight in TD Garden. Back-to-back games are rough, and tonight proved as much for this still-developing team. The Jackets had chances, but Jeremy Swayman would not let them pass. Period one would have just one goal in favor of the Bruins. That goal would become number eight this season for J. Brazeau at 2:29. B. Carle would add his fourth assist this season with the primary assist while M. Lohrel would add his fifteenth this season with the secondary. Mathiew Oliver would engage in a fight with M. Kastelic in this opening period, too. Each would gain a five-minute fighting major.  Period two would get more rocky for the visiting team, as they would allow another two goals, extending the Bruins' lead to 3-0. M. Geekie would add number eight to his goal total at 6:29 with one of his own; no assists required. The second goal would become D. Pastrnak's thirteenth goal of the sea...

I hope you all had or are having a wonderful holiday season. If you wanted to see Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins battle against each other in Nationwide Arean, you got a late Christmas gift tonight! I know I sure did. I love both goalies and tonight was sure to be a fun competition, but once the goaltender matchup was announced, this game got even better! The game would start out with a bang, literally, as the cannon would fire after Sean Monahan scored the first goal on the powerplay at 11:29! Zach Weerenski and Kirill Marchenko continue their battle for who has the most assists this season. With this goal, the two men continue their tie at twenty-fire each this season. Of course, this is the Bruins, so they would answer at 15:13 with a goal from P. Zacha. This goal would be his ninth this season. D. Pastrnak would add his twenty-fourth assist this season. This would be the period's final goal, leaving the teams tied at 1-1 after the opening period of play.  The Jackets wou...

Congratulations to Denton Mateychuk on being called up by the Cleveland Monsters to play in his first NHL game tonight. Having seen him in past Blue Jackets camps, it's great to finally see him take the ice in the league. Mateychuk and the Jackets would look for a strong start to their final game before taking their holiday break, and boy did that happen! After several great attempts to score on Canadians' goaltender, Sam Montembealut, Dimitri Voronkov would finally break through at 12:93 with his ninth goal of the season. Sean Monahan would add his eighteenth assist of the season with the primary and only assist on this goal. Just before the period could end, Kent Johnson would enter the double-digit club with his tenth goal of the season at 18:45. The primary assist would come from Zach Werenski and become his twenty-second of the season while the secondary assist would become Mathiew Oliver's sixth assist this season. The Jackets would carry a 2-0 lead into period two.  ...

After a lovely ceremonial puck drop by the Gaudreau family prior to the Jackets and Flyers game tonight, a competitive game ensued. Period one would hold just one goal, becoming the ninth this season for Mathieu Olivier. The goal would come at 15:47 and give Kent Johnson his tenth assist this season. Elvis Merzlikins would continue his incredible coverage of the Jackets' net, and this game would be a 1-0 after the first twenty-minute period.  The second period would again only see one goal, and it would go to a young Jacket with a lot of promise. Mikael Pyyhtia would score his third goal this season at 7:05. This was an awesome pop-the-puck into-the-net kind of moment as the Jacket' play convinced Flyers' goaltender, S. Ersson, to slide down on the ice, leaving a wide not for Pyyhtia to shoot into. This goal would have just one assist like the first, and it would belong to Kurally, becoming his fifth this season. Elvis Merzlikins would continue saving, and the Jackets would...

Remember how last game the Tampa Bay Lightning ran up the goal total on the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 before the visiting Jackets could score? Remember how they mounted a comeback but still lost that game 5-3? Well, tonight, at home against the New Jersey Devils, it was the Columbus Blue Jackets turn to run up the score first and keep it up!  Period one saw just one goal, and it came from Ivan Provorov at 7:55. This would become his third goal of the season and give Zach Aston-Reese his seventh assist of the season and Mathieu Olivier his fifth assist of the season. Elvis Merzlikins would be a brick wall in the net, and the Jackets would be up 1-0 after the opening twenty-minute period.  The real turning point would be when Elvis Merzlikins kept the Devils out of his net in period three and the Jackets added two more goals in period two! The first Jackets goal would come at 9:36 and be a powerplay goal for Zach Werenski; his eleventh goal this season. Kirill Marchenko would pi...

For a road game against a team that could make the NHL Playoffs, the Blue Jackets would hold their own in period one, allowing only one goal from L. Glendening at 3:21. This would become his second goal of the season and give N. Perbix his sixth goal of the season and E. Lilleberg his eight this season. It would be period two that saw far more turbulence from the Lighting for the Blue Jackets.  Period two saw three goals from the home team. N. Paul scored his seventh of the season at 1:28 and it would have no assists. Next, J. Guentzel scored his eighteenth goal of the season at 7:36. N. Paul would have the only assist on this goal, giving him nine this season. Lastly, M. Chaffee would score his sixth goal of the season at 14:18, and this would become the Lightning' first powerplay goal of the night. N. Paul would keep rolling as he'd add his tenth assist of the season and second of the night while teammate B. Hagel would add his twenty-first assist of the season. The main fire...

 The Ducks and Jackets delivered if you wanted a tight, competitive hockey game tonight. It would take until 16:33 for a goal to happen, and it would come from the Ducks' M. McTavish. This goal would become his third this season while R. Fabbri would add his first assist of the season and J. LaCombe would add his fourth. The score wouldn't stay 1-0 Ducks long, though, as the Jackets would go on the powerplay and get a goal from Kirill Marchenko at 17:09! This goal would yield assist number nine for Keent Johnson this season and number twenty-one for the ever-scoring Zach Werenski. Seconds later, Cole Sillinger's fifth goal this season at 17:43 would give the home team their first lead of the evening! Zach Aston=Reese would add his sixth assist on this goal while Mathieu Oliver would add his fourth. The Jackets would carry their one-goal lead into period two.  Of course, the Ducks would continue to push, and A. Killorn would eventually break through Jet Greaves's goalten...

The lloss on Tuesday against the Philidelphia Flyers wwas rough, but the Blue Jackets once again proved tonight that they can bounce back after Canagda jetleg and a loss. With Jet Greaves 'earing' an NHL start after his incredible winning campagne in Cleveland with the Monsters, according to Dean Evason, it was gametine against the Capitals. Each team would have as many good oppertunities to score as goalies would have to save them and the game would stay 0-0 until 14:12 when yet another career milesone for Zach Werenski would come to fruition. It's triple digits in the goals catagory for #8 as he adds his 100th goal of his career and tenth this season. Way to go, Zach! Exxpanding on this, with the primary assist, Kent Johnson has already exceeded his point total last season with his eighth assist, seventeen points total. Wow, what a season for him, and that's with missing time due to a shoulcder injury early in the season! In addition, Sean Monahan adds his sixteenth a...

After an inspired win against the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg over the weekend the Blue Jackets would return home with the intention of winning against the visiting Philidelphia Flyers. Unfortunately, tonight's game wasn't as simple. Elvis Merzlikings would have an unlucky rebound hit his arm and go into the net early into period one, putting the Flyers up 1-0. That goal would go to N. Cates and become his second this season. The goal scored at 4:37 would also give T. Foerster his fourth assist this season and C. York his second. A few minutes later, at 10:56, O. Tippett would add his ninth goal to his season and bring the visiting Flyers to a 2-0 lead. J. Drysaale would add his third assist on this goal this season while teammate M. Frost would add his eighth. Thankfully, the period would end without another goal and the Jackets would only be at a two-goal deficit after one period of play.  Things wouldn't improve in period two as the Flyers would get a powerplay due to an e...

The most eventful parts of period one tonight came down to amazing goal saves by both Elvis Merzlikins of the Blue Jackets and Eric Comrie of the Jets. Aside from that, it was fun watching James van Riemsdyk of the Jackets and Neal Pionk of the Jets go round on the ice, dropping the gloves, but each getting only a two-minute roughing penalty! After all of that, though, the score would remain 0-0 and remain that until halfway through the second period.  K. Connor would break the 0-0 ice with a powerplay goal at 11:51. This goal in period two would be the first scored in the game and his fifteenth this season. J, Morrissey would add his twenty-fourth assist on this goal M. Scheifele would add his seventeenth. The Jackets would then get their own powerplay a few minutes later and at 13:53, Dimitri Voronkov would pop one into the net from the malay in front! This would become his seventh goal of the season. Kirill Marchenko would add his sixteenth assist on this goal while Zach Werensk...

The Blue Jackets would look to find their stride on the road again in Vancouver and they would early in period one. The opening goal of this game would belong to Mathieu Oliver as he continues his best career season in the NHL. The goal would come at 7:10 and become his eighth this season. The primary assist would belong to Cole Sillinger and be his fourteenth assist this season while the secondary assist would belong to Zach Aston-Reese and be his fifth this season. Damon Severson would add another goal to the total, making it 2-0 at 12:18. This would be his sixth goal of the season. The primary assist on his goal would belong to Ivan Provorov and become his seventh this season while the secondary would belong to Kirill Marchenko and would become his fifteenth this season. With shots on goal being 17-2 in favor of the visiting Blue Jackets, they would carry a two-goal lead into the middle period.    At 1:16, Ivan Provorov would go into the boards and jam his thumb. I can't sa...

A hop, skip, and a jump after an emotional night in Calgary Tuesday lands us in Edmonton to face the Oilers at home Thursday. Since then, one particular Blue Jacket was given some incredible news. A deserved honor for Zach Werenski, the Columbus defenseman will play in the upcoming 2025 4-Nations Face Off in February! Of course, I'd have been more surprised had he not been selected after his electric start to the 2024-25 NHL Season. Days ago he landed himself in his franchise's record books again by having the longest point streak for a defenseman with eight games. That did sadly end in Calgary Tuesday, but I'm sure he won't be off the point sheet long! Why? This season in just twenty-four games he's already had 26 points with 8-18-26. I look forward to watching him continue his collection of points this season and seeing him play in February for Team U.S.A. Congratulations, #8! Now, let's focus on the now and recap a hockey game, 5th Line! The scoring would sta...

First and foremost, the Calgary Flames tributes to Johnny and Mathew Gaudreau before and tonight were each presently perfect. The hockey sticks left behind at the memorial being crafted into a beautiful bench that will forever sit in the Flames' stadium and Johhnny's kids and wife being the first to sit upon it. The donation of $0.13 per Skittle left behind in hundreds of bags to the local food bank of Calgary. The Flames inviting Guy Gaudreau to practice yesterday and today, allowing him to use one of his son's sticks. The 13 Warmup jersey raffle. The helmet of Flames Goaltender, Dan Vladar, being donated to auction and the funds going toward the legacy of doing good in these two men's names who should still be here. Keep in mind, this was all done before the beautiful ceremonial puck drop by the parents, sisters, wife, and kids of Johnny and Mathew while supported by Johnny's former team, the Calgary Flames, and his last team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, among a se...

First and foremost, good luck to David Jiricek who was traded to the Minnesota Wild yesterday afternoon. It's good to be back after a Google Blogger glitch and working Black Friday. Let's recap some road hockey! 2:59 into period one, Conner Bedard would light up the home crowd as he made the score 1-0. This would become his fifth goal this season. The primary assist would be the fifth for R. Donato and the secondary would be A Vlasic's tenth assist this season. Seconds later, Ivan Proverov would score the first goal of the road trip and it would become his second this season at 4:27! Sean Monahan would pick up his fourteenth assist on Proverov's goal while Damon Severson would add his seven this season with the secondary assist. Before the first period could end, Kent Johnson would continue his impact on scoring this season with his sixth goal at 11:23. This goal would give the Blue Jackets their first lead of the afternoon, 2-1. Damon Severson would add his second assi...