Columbus Blue Jackets @ Minnesota Wild: Season 26 Game 7 Recap

After an exhilarating overtime win last night against the New York Rangers at home, it was time to board a flight and head to an early evening matchup with the Minnesota Wild tonight! The Blue Jackets would be tested early as Conor Garland would be sent to the box at 2:03 for holding the Wild's Matt Kiersted. Then Charlie Coyle would go to the box seconds later, at 2:11, for cross-checking the Wild's Matt Boldy. This would give the Wild nearly 2 minutes with a 5-on-3 advantage, but the Blue Jackets wouldn't break, killing off both penalties. Even with the Blue Jackets having a power-play at the 8:57 mark, as the Wild's Zach Bogoslan would sit for 2 minutes after tripping Matthew Knies, it would take till 18:12 for the first goal to be scored. Unfortunately, that goal wouldn't be ours. Danila Yurov would add his fourth goal this season, and Yakov Trenin would add his second assist of the season, giving the home team an early 1-0 lead. Exactly a minute later, at 19:12, however, Adam Fantilli would answer with his second goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1! Zach Werenski picks up his sixth assist of the season on the primary, while Sean Monahan gets his second assist of the season on the secondary. The final seconds ticked away in the opening period, and the score held at 1-1. The Wild would double up the Blue Jackets on shots on goal this period, 14-7. 

The opening of period 2 would see history repeat itself for our Columbus Blue Jackets, but with an unfortunate twist. Denton Meteychuk would go to the box for 2 minutes after high-sticking the Wild's Blake Coleman. Unlike in period 1, the Wild would capitalize on this power play, taking back the lead, 2-1. The goal would become the tenth this season for Kirill Kaprizov at 3:06. Maxim Shabanov would add his fourth assist this season on the primary, while Joel Eriksson Ek would add his fifth assist this season on the secondary. Even though the Blue Jackets had another chance on the power play at 12:34 after the Wild's Matt Boldy went to the box for 2 minutes for hooking Charlie Coyle, they wouldn't be able to convert again. The Blue Jackets would be held goalless in this middle period, but on the bright side, after their power-play goal to kick off the period, the Wild would be goalless for the remainder of the period, too. So, it would be the Wild by a goal, 2-1, ahead of the final regulation period. The shots on goal heavily favored the Wild this period, 15-5. 

The third period was defensively heavy. The shots on goal were led by the Blue Jackets, 5-2. Yes, 7 total shots for the entire period. No goals would come from any, however, and the Wild would go on to win at home 2-1. 

Here's the thing, and some may not agree with me on this, but this was a good game for the Blue Jackets. I'm not saying it was flawless, but it was an improvement compared to our last three season losses prior to tonight. With this win tonight, the Wild are now 6-2-1. They are favorites to not just advance to the postseason, but win the Stanley Cup. They may be missing players, but when you talk about this Wild team, that doesn't really matter. So, holding them to a 2-1 win at home is a good night, especially on a back-to-back when this team flew out at 2:00 a.m. 

Cam Talbot was the only Blue Jacket to get a Star of the Game tonight. He was the third, and I'm glad they awarded him this because he earned it, espeically in that second period. He stopped 32 of the Wild's 32 shots on his net, giving himself a .941 save percentage, 

The Wild's Danila Yurov gets the Second Star of the Game after he scored the first goal of the game for his home team. 

The Wild's Kirill Kaprizov gets the First Star of the Game after he scored the go-ahead goal in the second period. It would later go down as the game-winning goal as well. 

The Blue Jackets will now return home for a game Tuesday Night. The Toronto Maple Leafs will fly in for a puck drop at 7:00 p.m. The Maple Leafs may be 3-4-2, but as of late, they have been finding their game. This will be another big test for the now 3-4-0 Blue Jackets, and I'm eager to see how they handle it. This will be Kirill Marchenko's only game in Columbus this season after he was traded, by request, just a few weeks ago. Further, I can't imagine former Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky won't start this game for the Leafs. Bonus, we can't forget about the 2026 1st overall pick, Gavin McKenna. He is also starting to find his legs in the NHL, going 2-5-7 across his first 9 games. So, this should be an interesting matchup, 5th Line! 

Go CBJ!