Columbus Blue Jackets @ Vegas Golden Knights: Season 25 1/8/26 Game Recap

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 goalie, Akira Schmid, to the net by doubling the Blue Jackets' lead to 2-0 after adding goal number four of his season! Sean Monahan gets assist number two of his night, his sixteenth this season, and Captain Boone Jenner adds an assist to his early goal on the secondary, giving him a multipoint night after his fourteenth this season. Before the opening period could close, Golden Knights' Reilly Smith would take the visiting Blue Jackets' lead down to a goal at 12:20 thanks to goal number seven of his season. Ben Hutton gets assist number seven of his season on the primary, while Mitch Marner gets his thirty-fourth assist this season on the secondary. With the first twenty minutes behind them, on the road in Vegas, I'll take a 2-1 scoreboard lead and an 8-7 Blue Jackets shots on goal lead!

Period 1 undoubtedly belonged to the Blue Jackets. Naturally, the Golden Knights don't give up easily, and they would run away with this middle period of hockey tonight. This would start at 5:19 after Reilly Smith would put himself on hat-trick watch with goal number two tonight, and number eight of his season overall. Mitch Marner adds his second assist of the night, his thirty-fifth this season, on the primary, while the secondary assist goes to Mark Stone, becoming his twenty-second of the season. Jack Eichel would then break the 2-2 tie with goal number thirteen of his season at 13:07 tonight. Ivan Barbashev earns his nineteenth assist of the season on the primary, while the secondary assist is the second of the night and the twenty-third of the season for Mark Stone. Mathieu Olivier would find himself in the box at the tail end of this period, 18:28, after hooking Braeden Bowman, and the Golden Knights would capitalize 00:16 later with a goal from Mark Stone. This gives him fourteen goals this season, and a multi-point night to this point, with 1-2-3. Tomas Hertl adds his seventeenth assist on the Golden Knights' fourth goal's primary, while the secondary assist goes to Jack Eichel, his thirty-second of the season, and this gives him a 1-1-2 multipoint night so far as well. So, after a three-goal Period 2 for the home team, the Blue Jackets would look to rebound and find the spark of Period 1 again in Period 3. They would also look to win the shots on goal battle as well, since they lost it in the middle period, 8-5. 

The Blue Jackets would have less than half the shots on goal of the Golden Knights, but at 14:27, Kirill Marchenko and his sixteenth goal this season would prove once again that quality always beats quantity! Dimitri Voronkov adds his fourteenth assist this season on the primary, while Ivan Provorov gets his twelfth this season on the secondary. But, of course, I'd leave to get water and come back down to hear the Golden Knights buzzer sound of a fifth goal tonight. UGH. Brett Howden would have his ninth goal this season at 16:14. Keegan Kolesar gets on the scoresheet with his seventh assist this season on the primary, while the secondary goes to Tomas Hertl, his second tonight, and his eighteenth of the season. The Blue Jackets wouldn't give up by any means, but they wouldn't be able to find the two goals needed to tie this game. The final tonight would be 5-3. The shots on goal for this final period would be even, 11-11. 

No Blue Jackets would find themselves on the Stars of the Game list tonight. Jack Eichel would be the Third Star after his goal and assist. Reilly Smith captures the Second Star tonight with his two-goal game. And, after a goal and two assists for three points, Mark Stone gets the First Star tonight. 

I'm known for being optimistic, but another thing I'm known for is not lying, so when I say our next game will be a challenge, you know I speak the truth.  The Blue Jackets will now travel from Las Vegas to Colorado to face the best team in the league, the Avalanche. Just tonight, they beat the Ottawa Senators at home,8-2. I will never count out our team, but they'll have to show up with their A Game Saturday afternoon. Puck drop will be at 4:00 p.m. in Ohio, and I'll have a redacted recap as I work, but not for the whole game. 

Go CBJ!   

        

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