The CBJ Writer

The Jackets come into tonight looking to put their last road loss behind them and wrap up 2024 with a home win for the 5th Line. They start out on the right skate for that to happen, as Kirill Marchenko scores his fifteenth goal at 4:48. Sean Monahan would add his twenty-first assist on this goal with the primary while Denton Mateychuk would add his first NHL point with the secondary. Good for him! Elvis Merzlikins would get a rare tripping penalty a few minutes later. He almost got away without a goal being scored, but in the final seconds, at 9:56, T Smith would score his first goal this season on the Canes' first powerplay of the evening. S. Aho, an undeniable star of the Canes, would come away with his twenty-seventh assist of the season with the primary while teammate M. Necas would add his thirty-first. But, before the period could end, Kirill Marchenko would put himself on hattrick watch with his sixteenth goal this season at 15:43! Dimitri Voronkov would add his eleventh as...

For how solid the Jackets were on home ice last night, they couldn't find the back of the home team tonight in TD Garden. Back-to-back games are rough, and tonight proved as much for this still-developing team. The Jackets had chances, but Jeremy Swayman would not let them pass. Period one would have just one goal in favor of the Bruins. That goal would become number eight this season for J. Brazeau at 2:29. B. Carle would add his fourth assist this season with the primary assist while M. Lohrel would add his fifteenth this season with the secondary. Mathiew Oliver would engage in a fight with M. Kastelic in this opening period, too. Each would gain a five-minute fighting major.  Period two would get more rocky for the visiting team, as they would allow another two goals, extending the Bruins' lead to 3-0. M. Geekie would add number eight to his goal total at 6:29 with one of his own; no assists required. The second goal would become D. Pastrnak's thirteenth goal of the sea...

I hope you all had or are having a wonderful holiday season. If you wanted to see Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins battle against each other in Nationwide Arean, you got a late Christmas gift tonight! I know I sure did. I love both goalies and tonight was sure to be a fun competition, but once the goaltender matchup was announced, this game got even better! The game would start out with a bang, literally, as the cannon would fire after Sean Monahan scored the first goal on the powerplay at 11:29! Zach Weerenski and Kirill Marchenko continue their battle for who has the most assists this season. With this goal, the two men continue their tie at twenty-fire each this season. Of course, this is the Bruins, so they would answer at 15:13 with a goal from P. Zacha. This goal would be his ninth this season. D. Pastrnak would add his twenty-fourth assist this season. This would be the period's final goal, leaving the teams tied at 1-1 after the opening period of play.  The Jackets wou...

Congratulations to Denton Mateychuk on being called up by the Cleveland Monsters to play in his first NHL game tonight. Having seen him in past Blue Jackets camps, it's great to finally see him take the ice in the league. Mateychuk and the Jackets would look for a strong start to their final game before taking their holiday break, and boy did that happen! After several great attempts to score on Canadians' goaltender, Sam Montembealut, Dimitri Voronkov would finally break through at 12:93 with his ninth goal of the season. Sean Monahan would add his eighteenth assist of the season with the primary and only assist on this goal. Just before the period could end, Kent Johnson would enter the double-digit club with his tenth goal of the season at 18:45. The primary assist would come from Zach Werenski and become his twenty-second of the season while the secondary assist would become Mathiew Oliver's sixth assist this season. The Jackets would carry a 2-0 lead into period two.  ...

After a lovely ceremonial puck drop by the Gaudreau family prior to the Jackets and Flyers game tonight, a competitive game ensued. Period one would hold just one goal, becoming the ninth this season for Mathieu Olivier. The goal would come at 15:47 and give Kent Johnson his tenth assist this season. Elvis Merzlikins would continue his incredible coverage of the Jackets' net, and this game would be a 1-0 after the first twenty-minute period.  The second period would again only see one goal, and it would go to a young Jacket with a lot of promise. Mikael Pyyhtia would score his third goal this season at 7:05. This was an awesome pop-the-puck into-the-net kind of moment as the Jacket' play convinced Flyers' goaltender, S. Ersson, to slide down on the ice, leaving a wide not for Pyyhtia to shoot into. This goal would have just one assist like the first, and it would belong to Kurally, becoming his fifth this season. Elvis Merzlikins would continue saving, and the Jackets would...

Remember how last game the Tampa Bay Lightning ran up the goal total on the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 before the visiting Jackets could score? Remember how they mounted a comeback but still lost that game 5-3? Well, tonight, at home against the New Jersey Devils, it was the Columbus Blue Jackets turn to run up the score first and keep it up!  Period one saw just one goal, and it came from Ivan Provorov at 7:55. This would become his third goal of the season and give Zach Aston-Reese his seventh assist of the season and Mathieu Olivier his fifth assist of the season. Elvis Merzlikins would be a brick wall in the net, and the Jackets would be up 1-0 after the opening twenty-minute period.  The real turning point would be when Elvis Merzlikins kept the Devils out of his net in period three and the Jackets added two more goals in period two! The first Jackets goal would come at 9:36 and be a powerplay goal for Zach Werenski; his eleventh goal this season. Kirill Marchenko would pi...

For a road game against a team that could make the NHL Playoffs, the Blue Jackets would hold their own in period one, allowing only one goal from L. Glendening at 3:21. This would become his second goal of the season and give N. Perbix his sixth goal of the season and E. Lilleberg his eight this season. It would be period two that saw far more turbulence from the Lighting for the Blue Jackets.  Period two saw three goals from the home team. N. Paul scored his seventh of the season at 1:28 and it would have no assists. Next, J. Guentzel scored his eighteenth goal of the season at 7:36. N. Paul would have the only assist on this goal, giving him nine this season. Lastly, M. Chaffee would score his sixth goal of the season at 14:18, and this would become the Lightning' first powerplay goal of the night. N. Paul would keep rolling as he'd add his tenth assist of the season and second of the night while teammate B. Hagel would add his twenty-first assist of the season. The main fire...