The CBJ Writer

Tonight's game was full of goals, so we're going to skip my (at times corny) intro and jump right into the recap! The visiting Blue Jackets would kill off an early Blues' power play after Cole Sillinger went to the box at 2:41 for holding Oskar Sundqvist. However, a few minutes later, at even strength, the Blues would still be the first team to score. At 7:11, Jimmy Snuggerud would add goal nine to his season, giving Brayden Schenn his eleventh assist on the primary and Dalibor Dvorsky his sixth assist on the secondary. The good news is that while the Blues arena was still announcing the Blues' goal, the Blue Jackets tied the game at 1-1! Isac Lundestrom would score his second this season at 7:48. Captain Boone Jenner adds his eighteenth assist on the primary, and Miles Wood would find his way back to the scoresheet with his fifth assist this season on the secondary. This would be followed up a few minutes later, at 12:54, with Denton Mateychuk shooting his shot and get...

It's surprising to me that we're already playing our last game in January and have just three more after tonight before the 2026 Winter Olympic Break. One Blue Jacket who has shown bright this month is Charlie Coyle. Before tonight's game, he had a 6-4-10 month and received his golden NHL stick for his 1,000th game in the league. In our last game, at home against the Philadelphia Flyers, he scored the first goal. Tonight, on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks, he'd score the first goal again! This goal would be his thirteenth this season, and it would hit the back of the Blackhawks net at 19:13. Even better, this would be a power play goal as Blackhawks' Connor Murphy sat in the box for holding Kirill Marchenko late in the opening period. Zach Werenski would add his thirty-ninth assist on this first goal of the game with the primary, while the secondary assist would become the twenty-sixth for Kirill Marchenko. The Blue Jackets would hold the lead for a few sec...

 The Blue Jackets would waste no time on the National TNT Broadcast tonight. Charlie Coyle would continue his spotlight week with yet another goal, his twelfth this season, just 00:38 into the game! The primary assist would get Mathieu Oliver on the scoresheet with his eighth this season, while Zach Werenski continues his domination with assist number thirty-seven this season on the secondary. It would take nearly half the period before the Blue Jackets would allow the Flyers to get on the ice, but when they did, the Flyers would tie the game at 1-1 after Travis Konecny scored goal number eighteen of his season. The goal, at 9:03, would give Cam York his eighteenth assist this season on the primary, while Noah Juulsen would add his eighth assist on the secondary. The opening period wouldn't end in a tie as Kirill Marchenko would score at 19:40! Another primary assist for Zach Werenski would give him thirty-eighth this season, and yet another multipoint game. Adam Fantilli picks up ...

 Well, 5th Line, if you're snowed in, this recap will keep you occupied for a while because it was a goal buffet at Nationwide Arena tonight! For example, Period 1 had six goals. Yes, six! Cole Sillinger's sixth goal this season kicks us off at 5:47! The only assist on this goal for Cole became Charlie Coyle's twenty-first this season. This goal would be followed up with one of the weirdest I've seen in my years covering this team. No, seriously, Lightning's Jake Guentzel would score his twenty-third goal this season at 7:48 after he shot the puck towards our net. Jet Greaves stopped it, but then sent it away on a rebound, likely hoping one of our guys would clear it, or have a breakaway with the opportunity to score again. Sadly, this didn't happen, but it also backfired. The puck would ricochet off Isac Lundestrom's skate and find its way behind Jet Greaves' net. And that's how the game would go to a 1-1 tie. That said, in the time it took the NHL ...

First, we'll take a moment to congratulate a game-changing player who has greatly helped this team since being traded to Columbus. Tonight, Charlie Coyle celebrates his 1,000th NHL Game. It's a career milestone that not many players reach. During his time in the league, Charlie has scored 199 goals and 316 assists for a total of 515 points. He also holds an overall +/- of +45. In his 49 games this season, he currently sits at ten goals and twenty assists for thirty points. He's been so impressive since coming here from Colorado, and I'm excited to see what else he does as a Blue Jacket and in this league before his career sunsets. Congratulations, again, Charlie!   Tonight's game can be summed up in one word: Competitive. Just over eight minutes into the game, our Number 8, Zach Werenski, would score goal number nineteen of his season! On this goal at 8:48, Damon Severson would get to add his sixteenth assist on the primary, while Isac Lundestrom gets to add his six...

Tonight's game would be competitive and chippy from the get-go, 5th Line. Tyler Kleven would score only 3:34, shooting the puck for his first goal past Elvis Merzlikins while our goalie was being screened. Claude Giroux adds assist number twenty-six of his season on the primary, while Michael Amadio adds his eleventh with the secondary assist. A few minutes later, Sean Monahan would even the score at 1-1 after scoring his seventh goal this seeeason at 7:46! Our Captain, Boone Jenner, picks up his seventeenth assist with the primary, while the secondary gives Kent Johnson his tenth assist this season, bringing him into the double-digits! It's amazing to see Kent finding his game as of late, and it's even better to see it continuing game after game. That said, someone was bound to break the tie, and it would be the Senators' Tim Stutzle at 10:15 with goal number twenty-two this season. Thomas Chabot adds the primary assist to his season total, bringing it to thirteen, whi...

 The Columbus Blue Jackets have found their winning ways since Rick Bowness joined the team as Head Coach. Tonight, against their biggest division rival, they'd look to add to his 2-0-0 record. Zach Aston-Reese would start the effort with his first goal this season, scored at 2:42 into Period 1! Zach Werenski continues building his point mountain with his thirty-fourth assist this season on the primary, while Brendan Gaunce gets his fourth assist this season on the secondary. But the Penguins are always a strong foe, countering with their own goal at 9:59 by way of Connor Clifton. This marks his first goal of the season, and the only assist on it would become the sixteenth this season for Tommy Novak. Rickard Rakell would then give his home team their first lead of the night with goal number seven of his season at 17:52. Sidney Crosby comes away with the only assist on the Penguins' second goal tonight, giving him twenty-seven so far this season. The opening period would conclu...

 It's Rick Bowness's world, and Columbus is now living in it. After notching his first win as the Blue Jackets Head Coach on Tuesday, beating the Calgary Flames, in regulation, 5-3, he'd look for another win tonight against the Vancouver Canucks. The Blue Jackets would start with the only goal in the opening period at 17:25 as Charlie Coyle adds his tenth this season! Charlie Coyle accomplished this on the power play, too, while Canucks' Max Sasson sat in the box for tripping him at 15:49. Kirill Marchenko adds assist number twenty-three to his season with the primary, while Adam Fantilli adds his eighteenth assist this season for scoring on the secondary. The Blue Jackets would conclude this period by not just leading on the scoreboard, 1-0, but also leading shots on goal, 15-11.  The Good start for the home team would continue in Period 2 as Kirill Marchenko would score a goal all his own at 5:49, giving the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead! This would become his seventeenth g...

It's the beginning of a new era in Columbus tonight as Rick Bowness takes over the Blue Jackets bench as the team parted ways with Dean Evason yesterday. To me, it was a shock, and I didn't post anything because I wanted Don Waddell, our General Manager, to speak first about the decision today. I've covered this team since May 2020, and I've seen my share of coaching changes, but this is the first to happen during the season. Personally, I expected this, but thought leadership would wait until after this season concluded. Why? To me, last season was one of learning and mourning after the loss of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother. So, I expected Dean to have the rest of this season to prove he could help the team rebound. That said, I'm not surprised leadership didn't wait, but instead tried to change the narrative during this 25th Season in Columbus and save the historic season that way. Rick Bowness has an extensive resume, including time with the Dallas Stars an...

This road trip has been anything but fun for the team and the 5th Line. Last night, I promised to do a shortened game recap from what I heard after work to the game's conclusion. That said, given we were shutout 4-0, there wasn't much for me to say other than I expected this due to the Colorado Avalanche being the best team in the league. Of course, when I promised a recap, I was hopeful that our boys would play spoiler, like they did against the Buffalo Sabers a few games back, but that didn't happen. It is what it is, and, bonus honesty, if the Avalanche aren't playing for the cup, I'll be shocked! They've just got it this year, and the fact they haven't slowed down post-Christmas break makes me believe they'll go deep this playoff season.   All of that said, it's in the past; time to rebound against the Utah Mammoth. Our boys would come out swinging, getting the first goal of the game just 2:47 into Period 1! This wouldn't just be the first go...

Hey, 5th Line, ready for a hot late-night game in Sin City? Our Captain, Boone Jenner, would start the scoring early, tipping in his seventh goal this season at 8:24! This is a big moment for Boone Jenner as he not only scores the game's first goal, but also leaps Cam Atkinson's 402 points with the Blue Jackets to take the third overall most with 403, and the night is young, folks! Congratulations, Boooooone! Zach Werenski, Mr. Team U.S.A., gets assist number thirty on this goal's primary assist, while Sean Monahan adds his fifteenth assist this season on the secondary. It's important to note that Carter Hart, while trying to stop that first Blue Jackets goal, would be injured. I wish the Golden Knight Goalie the best and hope it isn't too serious because even though he isn't a Blue Jacket, he's still a person when he steps off that ice, and I never like seeing a player injured. That said, at 10:41, Kent Johnson would welcome Golden Knights' backup goali...

Hello, 5th Line. First, I'm sorry, I missed Sunday's home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. I had a chance to help out a coworker and take their shift, so naturally, I did. I'm back for the start of the Western Roadtrip tonight, though, so let's recap some hockey!  Period 1, the visiting Blue Jackets would finish leading shots on goal, 12-10, but they wouldn't finish leading on the scoreboard. With seconds left in the opening period, at 19:11, Sharks' Pavol Regenda would get his ninth goal this season, giving the home team the first lead of the late-night game. Former Blue Jacket, Alexander Wennberg, gets his twentieth assist this season on the primary, while the secondary assist bumps Tyler Toffoli to seventeen this season. The good news: the Blue Jackets would face the middle period only down a goal. The bad news: the middle period would get worse for the Blue Jackets before it got better.  The bad news for the Blue Jackets is that they'd take a penalt...