The CBJ Writer

It's the Blue Jackets' first time in Utah as a team and after a huge 2-1 overtime win last night against the Vegas Golden Knights the Jackets were on the hunt for more goals and points. We all know how challenging back-to-back games can be for even the most experienced and developed NHL Teams. Tonight, the Jackets would do a nice job keeping the Utah Hockey Club out of their net in period one, but unfortunately, the Jackets couldn't take advantage of their own chances to score. Period one would conclude with a 0-0 tie, but with Utah Hockey Club on the hut for the first goal of the game and with less than a minute in a Kent Johnson penalty for tripping at the tail end of period one, they would find a way past a solid Daniil Tarasov for the powerplay goal at 00:41. This goal would be credited as N. Schmaltz eleventh goal of the season while the primary assist would be number fifteen this season for B. Nayton and the secondary assist would become number thirty-seven for C. Kel...

Before I begin tonight's blog I want to express my deepest condolences to those who lost their lives in last night's plane crash. My heart certainly goes out to all their friends and family but as a spectator at the 2023 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships that took place in the Columbus Blue Jackets home arena (Nationwide Arena), my heart breaks for the figure skating community and the young lives lost. May they all Rest in Peace.  First, it was great to see Cole Sillinger enter the game tonight after a bruised hand caused him to miss the last three games. Welcome back, #4. In addition, congratulations to Kirill Marchenko (Marchenk-Goal as I like to call him) as he takes the NHL ice for the 100th time tonight. It's also very exciting to see Captain Boone Jenner on this road trip as he moves closer to an NHL return post shoulder surgery last year. So, many team wins before we even take the ice tonight in Vegas and I'm thrilled to share them with you, 5th Line.  A...

 Can anyone else believe we've reached Game 50 of the season already? It helps that we're in the playoff race in January, but it still feels like this season is flying by. Tonight did start with the Blue Jackets looking for a win after their 7-4 hard-fought loss on the road in North Carolina Thursday night. A bit of rough news would also come shortly after the game started; Sean Monahan will be out longer than expected, 6-8 more weeks to be exact. It's a bummer as I was really looking forward to him returning for the 2025 Stadium Series in the Shue. That said, a bit of good news came earlier in the day as we saw our Captain, Boone Jenner, on the ice! This is big news as he slowly moves toward a return post shoulder surgery earlier in the season. So, today's been a mix of good and bad news, but let's recap a game with some monumental high notes, 5th Line!  The soprano note of highs tonight would come in period one, at 9:54, as Zach Werenski bumps himself into a 19 19...

Buckle up, 5th Line, this will be a long roller-coaster of a blog! After a huge win last night against the Maple Leafs (5-1) the Jackets would come out in period one swinging for the fences. After an incredible few opening saves by Daniil Tarasov, Kent Johnson would score goal fourteen of his 2024-25 NHL Season, giving the Jackets an early 1-0 lead at 7:08. Luca Del Bel Belluz would add his fourth assist this season on the primary, his second in two days, on the primary. James van Riemsdyk would continue his scoring ways with his tenth assist this season on the secondary. Kirill Marchenko would quickly follow up Kent Johnson's goal with his nineteenth this season at 9:48. Adam Fantilli, who had his first NHL Hattrick last night would pick up the primary assist on this goal, his thirteenth this season while Jack Johnson would add his third assist this season on the secondary. The Jackets would hold the Hurricanes off for the whole period and conclude this one with a 2-0 lead...but t...

Tonight was a big night for a recently called-up Blue Jacket. Luca Del Bel Bellze is from Toronto, and tonight marks his first time playing in the arena where he watched NHL hockey as a kid. This special moment would kick off a period full of them for the visiting Jackets. The game would get started with a few swings by Mathieu Olivier and Ryan Reaves. If you want to see a true hockey fight, go find this one. The blows were strong and the energy was up. Of course, both men got a five-minute misconduct for fighting, but damn it was worth it! A few minutes later, one of the funniest things I've seen in a while would happen as both Leafs' Auston Mathews and Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins would both lose their sticks in the gameplay process, then grab each other's stick to continue playing! I don't know about you, but a forward trying to score with a goalie stick brings me so much joy! Both players got two-minute penalties for this, which I would dismiss for creativity, but ...

The Blue Jackets went into their second of four road games tonight looking for more points, and the game started out promising. At 4:52, Kent Johnson would add goal thirteen to his 2024-25 NHL Season, and on the powerplay, too! Kirill Marchenko would skate away with the primary assist, his thirty-third this season while Dimitri Voronkov would add his fourteenth this season on the secondary. The visiting Jackets would hold off a fast Islanders team and lead 1-0 after period one. Unfortunately, this would not hold through period two.  It's been some time since the Jackets had a breakdown in period two, but tonight was just that. The Islanders' B. Horvat would tie the game with his fifteenth goal this season just 0:43 into the second period. B. Barzzal would add his eleventh assist this season while teammate A. Pelech would add his ninth. The Islanders would then take their first lead of the evening with S. Holmstrom's tenth goal of the season on our powerplay, equaling a shor...

Both teams in tonight's game had the will to win, let me start this blog by telling you that. The Jackets were looking to continue their longest win streak in seasons, while the Rangers were looking to continue their rebounding ways after a shaky start to the season. Believe it or not, this would be the first time these two teams have played each other this season. In the past, this matchup has never left you unsatisfied, and tonight was no different, 5th Line. Though the first two periods of this game the Jackets and Rangers would have amazing goalie save percentages, but not much else. Yes, that's right, going into the third period this game was a tight 0-0. I knew this game would be close, but this close? No, not at all. That said, I'm always happy to watch our guys compete and never give an inch, and they did an excellent job of that!  The amount of game-saving stops Daniil Tarasov and Igor Shesterkin had in the final period, no, throughout this whole game, was worth th...

Tonight, the home Blue Jackets would look to split the season series with a win against the visiting San Jose Sharks who beat them in overtime in California a few weeks back. It would extend their winning streak to six games if they could accomplish this. In addition, many players were also looking to extend streaks of their own, and many of them did! Adam Fantilli would get them off on the right skate with his eleventh goal of the season, scored at 12:11 into period one. This first goal of the game would give Zach Werenski his thirty-sixth assist and extend his point streak at home to eighteen games, allowing him to match Brian Leetch in his 1992-1993 season among NHL Defenseman. Minutes later, at 16:17, two more Jackets would find their way onto the point sheet. Kent Johnson would send his twelfth goal to the back of the net with the only assist going to Sean Kuraly, his seventh this season. The Jackets would hold off the Sharks this period and finish it with a 2-0 lead.  There w...

 After a thrilling road win to mark four in a row, on the road, at the Blues, the Jackets would take home ice tonight, welcoming the Philadelphia Flyers to Nationwide Arena. The Flyers came off a huge win at home last night against the Florida Panthers, the final score being 4-3. So, tonight's game was promised to be competitive and delivered.  The Flyers' B. Brink would strike first with his fifth goal this season at 3:44. N. Seeler would add his tenth assist on the primary while teammate J. Drysdale would add his ninth on the secondary. Zach Werenski would play Robbin Hood and steal a puck, charging the Flyers' net and scoring his fourteenth goal this season at 10:27. This goal would make him the leader in goals for defenseman across the league and be unassisted but far from underappreciated as this goal does more than just knot the game at 1-1. Zach Werenski becomes the first defenseman to have a 17-game point streak this century! This hasn't been done since Ray Borq...

 After a funfilled week of wins at the Pittsburgh Penguins and home against the visiting Seattle Kraken, the Jackets would look to win their fourth overall game, and several players would look to continue or start point streaks. The Jackets got off to a great start when Adam Fantilli entered the double-digit goal club at 1538 with his tenth this season! Kirill Marchenko goes to at least a point in the last four games with the primary assist on this goal, his twenty-ninth this season while Dimitri Voronkov would also extend his total to four games straight with at least a point as he takes the secondary assist, his thirteenth this season. With no other goals in the opening period, the Jackets would take a one-goal lead into period two.  History would repeat itself as there would be one goal in period two, and it would belong to the visiting Jackets as well! This time, though, the Jackets' Cole Sillinger would capitalize on the powerplay! This would be Cole Sillinger's seventh g...

After a win over nine years in the making at the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday, the Jackets would look to pick up right where they left off as they welcomed the Seattle Kraken to their home ice. Before the puck could drop, Owen Sillinger had to take his rookie lap. He's twenty-seven years old, and if that isn't the inspiration to follow your dreams, I don't know what is. I've seen him play in many prospect camps and, let me tell you, he's as nice as he is talented. Congratulations, Owen, and welcome to the National Hockey League.  Let me preface this by saying our Jackets did not disappoint! The first goal tonight would belong to Jackets' Sean Kuraly, his fourth this season, at 11:58! Ivan Provorov would add assist number sixteen with the primary assist on this goal while Mathiew Oliver would add his seventh with the secondary. If you blinked after this goal, you miss the Kraken's first of the evening. It would come at 12:08 by E. Tolvanen, his ninth goal this...

 Tonight was a game of early goals. At just 3"20 into period one the Jackets' first shot on goal would become an early powerplay goal for Dimitri Voronkov, his sixteenth this season. Kirill Marchenko and Sean Monahan would add their twenty-seventh assists this season with the primary and secondary. The Penguins would push to tie the game while the Jackets would push to go ahead by more than 1-0, but no other goals would come in the opening period.  Another early goal would be the only goal in period two, but this time the goal would belong to the Penguins. M. Bunting would score his thirteenth goal this season on the powerplay at 00:51. S. Crosby, the Ledgand, would add his thirty-second assist with the primary while E. Karlsson would add his twenty-fifth with the secondary. With the impeccable goaltending by both Elvis Merzlikins and T. Jarry, this game would stay at 1-1 through this second period.  We'd also lose Sean Monahan, our top-line center, after a hit in period ...

The Columbus Blue Jackets would look to bounce back from their heartbreaking 5-4 home loss last game against the visiting Detroit Red Wings. The St. Louis Blues were on the backside of a road back-to-back, having shutout the Ottawa Senators 4-0 roughly twenty-four hours ago. The Jackets were motivated, though, and they proved such in period one. The home team ran the ice with 16 shots on goal compared to just six for the visiting Blues. Best of all, one of those sixteen shots would result in goal number fourteen this season for Dimitri Voronkov at 19:01, giving the Jackets a late 1-0 lead! With the primary assist, his thirty-second this season, Zach Werenski would extend his home-point streak to fifteen games. In addition, with the secondary assist, Ivan Provorov would add his thirteenth this season. With no other goals in the final 0:59 of the period, that 1-0 lead would carry over into period two.     The Jackets would again run the ice in period two. Kirill Marchenko w...

Happy New Year, 5th Line!  The last Jackets game was an exhilarating fourth-round shootout win against the Hurricanes on New Year's Eve. Tonight, the Jackets would return to home ice and score first against the visiting Red Wings. This goal would become the fifth for James van Riemsdyk at 2:42, and on the powerplay, too! Cole Sillinger would pick up assist number fifteen this season with the primary while Ivan Provorov would pick up assist number twelve with the secondary. Unfortunately, this period would close out with three unanswered goals by the Red Wings after the Jackets initially went up 1-0. The first goal would be at 6:55 by P. Kane, his eighth this season. The primary assist would be number nine for A. Copp this season and the secondary would be number fourteen for A. DeBrincat. Goal two would be E. Gustafsson's first goal this season, coming at 14"39. The only assist on this goal would belong to J, Holl. his third this season. This period's final goal would ...