Columbus Blue Jackets @ Minnesota Wild: Season 25 Game 2

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 it would become the first this season for Zach Asto-Reese. This would be the only goal of the period, but the Blue Jackets would show skill in another important element of the game, the power play kill. At 9:05, we'd lose Dimitri Voronkov after he slashed Zach Bogosian of the Wild. This would cost him 2 minutes in the box. Then, at 10:50, the Blue Jackets remaining on the ice would have to kill off a few seconds of a 3-on-5 after losing Miles Wood for a delay of the game, costing him 2 minutes in the box as well. Watching them kill both penalties was just as impressive as the Blue Jackets taking a 1-0 lead into Period 2. 

If you blinked at the beginning of Period 2, I'm sorry, but you missed Kirill Marchenko's first goal of the season! The goal came just 00:07 into the middle period, and it gave Dimitri Voronkov and Ivan Provorov their first assists of the season. The 2-0 Blue Jackets lead was like a cupcake, tasty, but it didn't last long. Erik Gudbranson would go to the box for 2 minutes following a holding call against Marcus Foligno, and this power play would come back to bite the Blue Jackets as Matt Boldy would add his second goal of the season to the score sheet. Joel Eriksson Ek would gain his first assist of the season, while Kirill Kaprizov would already have his fourth this season. Now, things would get a bit spicy after this as the Blue Jackets would elect to challenge Matt Boldy's goal at 6:18, citing goaltender interference with Elvis Merzlikins. The review would not come back in the Blue Jackets' favor. So, not only would the Wild have their goal, but also a power play after the Blue Jackets would get a bench minor for being wrong! The good news is that the Blue Jackets would kill off this penalty. The bad news is that Erik Gudbranson would go back to the box after another delay of the game, costing him 2 minutes. Kirill Kaprizov would tie the game at 8:24, making his first goal of the season a power-play goal. Matt Boldy would give himself a multipoint night as well as his third assist this season on the primary, while Vladimir Tarasenko would add his first assist to his season on the secondary. Just before the period ended, Kirill Marchenko would become the first Blue Jackets Hatty Watch of the season, bookending this period with a goal in the beginning at 00:07 and another at 18:48! Dimitri Voronkov would add his second assist of the game and his season on the primary, while Zach Werenski would add his first assist of the season on the secondary. And, just like that, a thrilling period would conclude with the Blue Jackets carrying another single-goal lead into the final period of regulation.  

The Blue Jackets would again come out ready to score, and at 1:11, Zach Werenski would find the goal he'd been pushing for. It's his first goal this season, and it would give him a multipoint night of 1-1-2 with plenty of time to play. Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger would each add their first assists of the season to the scoresheet on this fourth CBJ goal tonight. The two-goal margin in favor of the Blue Jackets would become three as Kirill Marchenko would complete his hat-trick at 3:01!!! This would be a power play goal after the Blue Jackets would gain their own 3-on-5 thanks to a Joel Eriksson Ek's trip against Mathieu Olivier, and Jake Middleton's hooking of Sean Monahan. Zach Werenski would come away with his second assist tonight on the primary, giving him a 1-2-3 night, and Captain Boone Jenner would add his first assist this season on the secondary. Kirill Marchenko would go to the box not long after his hat-trick after he closed his hand over the puck. The Blue Jackets would kill off this penalty, but then they'd get caught with too many players on the ice, a bench minor, and this power play would give the Wild another goal. Zeev Buitum would come away with that goal at 9:54, his first of the season, making it a 5-3 Blue Jackets lead. Joel Eriksson Ek would add his second assist tonight to his season on the primary, while Matt Boldy would add his fourth on the secondary. At 10:47, I'd laugh out loud as Boone Jenner would decide to wing the puck and play bumper-puck (a term I just made up) with Adam Fantilli, resulting in the sixth Blue Jackets goal tonight! This was Adam Fantilli's first goal this season, and Boone Jenner's second assist tonight and this season. A fun fact: this marks the 5,000th goal that the Blue Jackets have scored! Another bench minor for too many men on the ice would be killed off by the Blue Jackets, but Dimitri Voronkov would go to the box for another delay of game, and Kirill Kaprizov would add his second goal this season in this game on a power play. Marco Rossi would add his second assist this season on the primary, while Zeev Buium would add his first on the secondary. The best final to this game would come with an empty net goal for our Captain, Boone Jenner, marking his 200th career goal. A career spent entirely with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Charlie Coyle would add his first assist of the season on this empty net goal. This would make the final score a 7-4 Blue Jackets WIN! What an amazing night full of fun and history, and it's only game 2 of the season! 

So, for the wrap-up of highlights. A 7-4 win. A huge, 200th NHL Goal for our Captain, Boone Jenner. A hat-trick for Kirill Marchenko, and this makes the 4th time he's had one in his career, all with the Blue Jackets. Also, his second goal at 00:07 has become the new fastest goal in a period in the last 25 years of Blue Jackets hockey. And, Adam Fantilli's goal tonight, the 6th for the visiting Blue Jackets, becomes the 5,000th in our franchise's history. Miles Wood would find the back of the net for the first time as a Blue Jacket, too. Holy cannoli, what a wild night! (Pun absolutely intended!)

The Third Star of the Game would go to Matt Boldy. He had a multipoint with a 1-2-3 night. 

The Second Star of the Game was earned by Elvis Merzlikins. He held that net like a seasoned pro as he faced 52 shots from the Minnesota Wild and stopped 48. This would translate to a .923 save percentage. 

The First Star of the Game went to the hat-trick man of the night, Kirill Marchenko. A 3-0-3 night for him!!! 

It's obvious, but the penalties were a problem tonight. I'll point that out for all my critics who say I only highlight the good but never the bad. That said, the team put together a great game and won. Also, if you listen to the postgame, everyone is aware of the issue, and I'm sure it will be at the forefront to work on in practice moving forward.  

Our next game will be one 25 years in the making. The Blue Jackets will play their first home game of their 25th season on Monday night against the New Jersey Devils. That game will start at 7:00 p.m. with a huge party beforehand outside of Nationwide Arena. I'll have a full recap of that game for you here afterward. 

GO CBJ!