The CBJ Writer

It's the Blue Jackets' first time in Utah as a team and after a huge 2-1 overtime win last night against the Vegas Golden Knights the Jackets were on the hunt for more goals and points. We all know how challenging back-to-back games can be for even the most experienced and developed NHL Teams. Tonight, the Jackets would do a nice job keeping the Utah Hockey Club out of their net in period one, but unfortunately, the Jackets couldn't take advantage of their own chances to score. Period one would conclude with a 0-0 tie, but with Utah Hockey Club on the hut for the first goal of the game and with less than a minute in a Kent Johnson penalty for tripping at the tail end of period one, they would find a way past a solid Daniil Tarasov for the powerplay goal at 00:41. This goal would be credited as N. Schmaltz eleventh goal of the season while the primary assist would be number fifteen this season for B. Nayton and the secondary assist would become number thirty-seven for C. Kel...

Before I begin tonight's blog I want to express my deepest condolences to those who lost their lives in last night's plane crash. My heart certainly goes out to all their friends and family but as a spectator at the 2023 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships that took place in the Columbus Blue Jackets home arena (Nationwide Arena), my heart breaks for the figure skating community and the young lives lost. May they all Rest in Peace.  First, it was great to see Cole Sillinger enter the game tonight after a bruised hand caused him to miss the last three games. Welcome back, #4. In addition, congratulations to Kirill Marchenko (Marchenk-Goal as I like to call him) as he takes the NHL ice for the 100th time tonight. It's also very exciting to see Captain Boone Jenner on this road trip as he moves closer to an NHL return post shoulder surgery last year. So, many team wins before we even take the ice tonight in Vegas and I'm thrilled to share them with you, 5th Line.  A...

 Can anyone else believe we've reached Game 50 of the season already? It helps that we're in the playoff race in January, but it still feels like this season is flying by. Tonight did start with the Blue Jackets looking for a win after their 7-4 hard-fought loss on the road in North Carolina Thursday night. A bit of rough news would also come shortly after the game started; Sean Monahan will be out longer than expected, 6-8 more weeks to be exact. It's a bummer as I was really looking forward to him returning for the 2025 Stadium Series in the Shue. That said, a bit of good news came earlier in the day as we saw our Captain, Boone Jenner, on the ice! This is big news as he slowly moves toward a return post shoulder surgery earlier in the season. So, today's been a mix of good and bad news, but let's recap a game with some monumental high notes, 5th Line!  The soprano note of highs tonight would come in period one, at 9:54, as Zach Werenski bumps himself into a 19 19...

Buckle up, 5th Line, this will be a long roller-coaster of a blog! After a huge win last night against the Maple Leafs (5-1) the Jackets would come out in period one swinging for the fences. After an incredible few opening saves by Daniil Tarasov, Kent Johnson would score goal fourteen of his 2024-25 NHL Season, giving the Jackets an early 1-0 lead at 7:08. Luca Del Bel Belluz would add his fourth assist this season on the primary, his second in two days, on the primary. James van Riemsdyk would continue his scoring ways with his tenth assist this season on the secondary. Kirill Marchenko would quickly follow up Kent Johnson's goal with his nineteenth this season at 9:48. Adam Fantilli, who had his first NHL Hattrick last night would pick up the primary assist on this goal, his thirteenth this season while Jack Johnson would add his third assist this season on the secondary. The Jackets would hold the Hurricanes off for the whole period and conclude this one with a 2-0 lead...but t...

Tonight was a big night for a recently called-up Blue Jacket. Luca Del Bel Bellze is from Toronto, and tonight marks his first time playing in the arena where he watched NHL hockey as a kid. This special moment would kick off a period full of them for the visiting Jackets. The game would get started with a few swings by Mathieu Olivier and Ryan Reaves. If you want to see a true hockey fight, go find this one. The blows were strong and the energy was up. Of course, both men got a five-minute misconduct for fighting, but damn it was worth it! A few minutes later, one of the funniest things I've seen in a while would happen as both Leafs' Auston Mathews and Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins would both lose their sticks in the gameplay process, then grab each other's stick to continue playing! I don't know about you, but a forward trying to score with a goalie stick brings me so much joy! Both players got two-minute penalties for this, which I would dismiss for creativity, but ...

The Blue Jackets went into their second of four road games tonight looking for more points, and the game started out promising. At 4:52, Kent Johnson would add goal thirteen to his 2024-25 NHL Season, and on the powerplay, too! Kirill Marchenko would skate away with the primary assist, his thirty-third this season while Dimitri Voronkov would add his fourteenth this season on the secondary. The visiting Jackets would hold off a fast Islanders team and lead 1-0 after period one. Unfortunately, this would not hold through period two.  It's been some time since the Jackets had a breakdown in period two, but tonight was just that. The Islanders' B. Horvat would tie the game with his fifteenth goal this season just 0:43 into the second period. B. Barzzal would add his eleventh assist this season while teammate A. Pelech would add his ninth. The Islanders would then take their first lead of the evening with S. Holmstrom's tenth goal of the season on our powerplay, equaling a shor...

Both teams in tonight's game had the will to win, let me start this blog by telling you that. The Jackets were looking to continue their longest win streak in seasons, while the Rangers were looking to continue their rebounding ways after a shaky start to the season. Believe it or not, this would be the first time these two teams have played each other this season. In the past, this matchup has never left you unsatisfied, and tonight was no different, 5th Line. Though the first two periods of this game the Jackets and Rangers would have amazing goalie save percentages, but not much else. Yes, that's right, going into the third period this game was a tight 0-0. I knew this game would be close, but this close? No, not at all. That said, I'm always happy to watch our guys compete and never give an inch, and they did an excellent job of that!  The amount of game-saving stops Daniil Tarasov and Igor Shesterkin had in the final period, no, throughout this whole game, was worth th...