The CBJ Writer

Following an incredible overtime road win last night (4-3 over the Buffalo Sabers), the Blue Jackets had to rush back to Columbus for a meeting tonight with the Toronto Maple Leafs. After some Halloween fun at Nationwide Arena, the puck would drop on an eventful Period 1 for the home team. With his first goal of the season at 6:76, Cole Sillinger would get the Hockey Halloween party on the ice started! Charlie Coyle would add assist number four to his season, while Mathieu Olivier would add his second this season on the secondary. At 11:16, the Blue Jackets would double up on the Leafs with Zach Werenski's third goal of his season! Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier would both add their second assists of the night on #8's goal, Charlie Coyle the Primary and Mathieu Olivier the secondary, again. The Leafs would have 9 shots on goal, 3 more than the Blue Jackets, but they'd never find the back of the net behind Elvis Merzlikins. The Blue Jackets would carry a two-goal lead int...

The opening period of this road game for the Columbus Blue Jackets would showcase their talents. Over ten minutes would expire before the Blue Jackets would allow the Sabers to have a shot on Jet Greaves and the visitor's net. Even better, the Blue Jackets would secure the only goal in this period at 6:09. Yegor Chinakov would own this goal, his second of the season, scoring it without an assisting Blue Jacket. The Blue Jackets would cap this opening period with five more shots on goal than the Sabers, 14 to 9. A goal lead would take us into Period 2, which was far more eventful for both teams.  11:39 into Period 2 would see Josh Doan add goal three of his season, as well as tie the game. Alex Tuch would add assist number five to his season, while Conor Timmins would add his third assist this season with the secondary. A few minutes later, at 14:12, Ryan McLeod would bring his home arena to their feet with his third goal of the season, giving his Sabers their first lead tonight. Th...

 This game had everything you'd expect when rivals meet. At just 00:59 into the game, Ryan Shea would launch the puck behind Elvis Merzlikins' visitors' net, scoring for the Penguins. Anthony Mantha and Parker Wotherspoon would each add assist number four to their season on teammate Ryan Shea's goal. The Penguins and Blue Jackets would take turns shooting on both goalies, but the Penguins would consistently run over and knock the Blue Jackets to the ice. At 11:45, after Penguins' Mathew Dumba did so to Boone Jenner, the Blue Jackets Captain decided he was done with the legal but cheap hits, and the two dropped gloves! Both men would get five minutes each for fighting, but nothing more. At 15:44, Charlie Coyle would score his first goal since joining the Columbus franchise through a trade in March! To make matters better, this marks Charlie Coyle's 300th NHL point; congratulations to him! Dante Fabbro adds his first assist this season after picking up the primary...

 For half this game, you could have cut the tension with a hockey skate. But, eventually, someone had to break the 0-0 tie, and it wouldn't be the Blue Jackets. At 18:19 in Period 2, Capitals' John Carlson would slip one past Jet Greaves, who'd been a brick wall to this point. This would make two goals for John Carlson's season. Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre would both add their second assist this season on John Carlson's goal. The rest of this period would play out, and the Blue Jackets would face the third period of regulation only down by a goal.  Unfortunately, the Capitals have the player with the most goals since Wayne Gretzky! Alex Ovechkin would come out red hot as his jersey, scoring goal 899 of his career, the second of his season, at 1:36. There was just one assist on this goal, belonging to Dylan Strome, and this would mark his eighth goal of the young season. The Capitals would quickly go from 2-0 to 3-0 with Justin Sourdif's first goal this...

After a much-needed meral boost following their 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at home Saturday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets hopped on their plane and flew down to Dallas. The Stars have been decent this season, holding a 3-2-0 record coming into their arena tonight. That said, the 2-3-0 Blue Jackets would look to play spoiler and pack two road points from this single-game road trip. Let me preface this by saying it was a great game, so let's recap it! The visiting Blue Jackets would be on the board first with Adam Fantilli's second goal this season, and it would come off an insane slap shot at 4:33! Our Captain, Boone Jenner, would add his fourth assist this season with the primary, while Kent Johnson would get his first assist this season on the secondary. There's no denying that special teams for the Blue Jackets have struggled in the first five games of this young season, but tonight, you'd never know. At 14:40, we'd see Cole Sillinger sent to the box ...

Tonight would have a zesty start as the Tampa Bay Lightning faced the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first time this seeason. Just over a minute into the game, the Lightning would come away with a power play after Boone Jenner and Dimitri Voronkov would be each called for roughing, compaired to just one Lightning being called for it, J. J, Moser. Seconds after the Blue Jackets killed the Lightning's first power play oppertunity, Blue Jackets Mathieu Olivier and Lightning's Curtis Douglas would have a true hockey fight, complete with a five minute penilty for each player. After this, the atmosphere would cool until the cannon would egnite with a Birthday Boom for Columbus Blue Jackets' Kent Johnson as he'd score goal number one of his season at 4:58! Not a bad way to start your twenty-third year. This birthday goal would come with two assists, the third this season for Captain Boone Jenner on the primary, and the second this season for Adam Fantilli on the secondary. This...

Tonight started with the sunset of a historic career in Nationwide Arena. Cam Atkinson would skate one last time as part of his one-day contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of his retirement from the league. Not only was Cam Atkinson a fan favorite of many, including myself, but he showed us all what a 6th Round Draft Pick could accomplish. He's one of just 3 players to achieve the 200-goal mark. He's the top of the mountain when it comes to hat-tricks with 6. His impact here was incredible, and to see him get to finish where it all started is heartwarming to say the least. He's made it clear he'd like to join the organization in his next chapter in life, and I look forward to writing that news update. Congratulations, Atkinson! Entering the game tonight, the Colorado Avalanche had a 3-0-1 record while the Columbus Blue Jackets had a record of 1-2-0. The Avalanche is a playoff-level team; you can't convince me otherwise. That said, the Blue Jackets kept a...

First and foremost, happy 25th season to the Columbus Blue Jackets as they play their first home game of the season tonight! After an electric 7-4 win at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, the Blue Jackets would look to double their points with a win in their first home game of the franchise's 25th season. After the festivities of introducing the current team, but puck would drop, and the Blue Jackets would have an outstanding offensive push throughout the opening period, ending up with 19 total shots that made it to Jake Allen and the Devils' net. This was in comparison to just 8 shots, which made it to Jet Greaves in the Blue Jackets' home net. That said, two problems would arise in this period for the Blue Jackets: the first would take Miles Wood out of the game. The Stick of Devils' Doughie Hamilton would slide under the shield protecting Miles Wood, resulting in blood and a quick exit from the ice. The Blue Jackets' 4-minute power play would amount to no score. Th...

The Columbus Blue Jackets would look to use their first game and loss of the season as motivation after a solid showing in Nashville. The Predators won by a one-goal margin, 2-1 being the final. Overall, the team played strongly, but was edged out by an impressive opposition and goalie by the name of Juuse Saros, who finished with a .974 save percentage. Enough said.  The Columbus Blue Jackets @ Minnesota Wild game would start a little late, as the Blue Jackets would witness a preview of their own home opener next week. Why? It's not just the Blue Jackets celebrating their 25th season, but the Wild as well. So, a huge happy birthday to them! After the festivities, the puck would drop, and just 2:29 into the game, the visiting Blue Jackets would add the first goal of the game to the scoreboard! To make the moment all the more exciting, it would be the first goal of Miles Wood's since he joined the Columbus Blue Jackets in March. There would be a single assist on this goal, and i...

Welcome to the quarter-century celebration, 5th Line!  Congratulations to Jet Greaves, who got to start in game one of an NHL season for the first time in his career. The team would take the ice in Nashville with energy, just as excited to start the 25th season of Columbus Blue Jackets hockey as the fans. Unfortunately, the opening goal would be in favor of the home team. Predators' Michael Bunting would sail the puck past the gloved hand of Jet Greaves. From the line of sight he had, Jet had no chance at stopping the Predators from going up 1-0 at 6:45. Even with a few minutes of good play toward the middle of the period for the Predators, the Blue Jackets would have excellent energy and control in the beginning and end of the opening period. The strength of play for the visiting Blue Jackets would come through at 16:01 with the first goal of the season for Dimitri Voronkov! Damon Severson and Denton Mateychuk would each get their first assists of the season on the goal from Jacke...

The Right Winger is coming home for his final NHL Contract. The former number 13 (before it was worn by Kent Johnson and the late Johnny Gaudreau) has agreed to terms on a single-day contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. After this, he will retire from the NHL.  Cam Atkinson spent ten years with us here in Columbus and quickly became a fan favorite with his energy and scoring ability. Over the span of 627 games, he had 213 goals, his most in a season beginning back in 2018-19 when he had 41. In addition, he had 189 assists. This all came to a grand total of 402 points in Columbus alone. He'd gone on to add 143 games over two seasons with the Flyers, accomplishing another 36 goals and 42 assists for a combined 78 points. Then, he played his final full NHL season in Tampa Bay with the Lightning. He'd add another 39 games to his total, with another 4 goals and 5 assists. When you add it all together, he had 12 seasons with 848 games played, 253 goals, 236 assists, for a total o...

The opening period of this game would be a standoff between goalies Logan Thompson of the Capitals and Elvis Merzlikins of the Blue Jackets. It would end as it began, 0-0. Period 2 would see the Blue Jackets take chances with good offense, but no goals would come of it. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the Capitals, who were held to minimal offense but cashed in on their few opportunities.  The Capitals would gain a 1-0 lead after Declan Chisholm would pop the puck past Elvis Merzlikins' visitor net. This would be his first goal of the preseason, and it would come just 2:38 into Period 2. Ivan Miroshnichenko would add his second assist this season with the primary, while Ryan Leonard would add his first this preseason with the secondary. The Capitals would then double up at home at 10:03 with some help from a former Blue Jacket. It would be Pierre-Luc Dubois' laser slapshot goal, his first this preseason, that gave his home team the 2-0 lead. Tom Wilson would ad...