After a tough loss last Thursday, the Columbus Blue Jackets had the winds change in their favor. Saturday night, March 2nd, they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in the Windy City at the United Center. Blue Jacket’s forward Cole Sillinger continued his 3-game goal streak, and newcomer Alex Nylander has gained points for two consecutive games. For Chicago, Connor Bedard would showcase his passing abilities with an assist to Philipp Kurashev. Both teams played a physical game, but the Blue Jackets overcame the Blackhawks and took home the victory.
1st period
The Blue Jackets came out hot at the start of the period. Alexander Texier stripped the puck away from the Blackhawks and landed the puck in the net only 33 seconds into the game. There was no other scoring until around 14 minutes into the game when Jacket’s Captain Boone Jenner deflected a puck sent from Zach Werenski into the goal, making the game 2-0. Both teams showed some physicality by finishing hits and fighting for the puck. Chicago finished the period with more than double the hits of Columbus. Two and a half minutes from the end of the period, Connor Bedard would land a hit on Alex Nylander to strip away the puck and assist Philipp Kurashev in a goal, making the score 2-1. Shortly after that, a holding penalty was called on Erik Gudbranson. He seemed to disagree with the call but was sent to the penalty box for 2 minutes. The Blue Jackets killed off the penalty just before the end of the period.
2nd Period
The hits kept coming in the second period, and they didn’t stop. The Jackets started hot again with another goal just over three minutes into the period. After finding some holes in the Chicago defense Mathieu Olivier received a pass from Werenski and backhanded the puck into the net to make the score 3-1 in the Jacket’s favor. A series of penalties would happen around 6 minutes into the period. Starting the sequence, Damon Severson was assessed a cross-checking penalty, and Chicago would get a powerplay opportunity. With about 30 seconds left in the powerplay, Chicago’s Seth Jones was sent to the penalty box for tripping. The two played 4 on 4 hockey for 30 seconds, then the Blue Jackets got a powerplay of their own. Neither team was able to capitalize on the powerplay.
With 8 minutes left in the period, Cole Sillinger would get his 11th goal of the season with assists from newcomer Alex Nylander and Adam Boqvist to increase the lead to 4-1 in favor of Columbus. About 5 minutes later, Blue Jacket’s defenceman Ivan Provorov received a hooking penalty. The Blackhawks got a few shots on goal but the Jackets were able to kill the penalty once again. The period ended 4-1
3rd Period
This time, it was Chicago’s turn to start the scoring for the period. With just under 14 minutes left to go, Philipp Kurashev pushed toward the Blue Jacket’s goal. He missed the shot, but Ryan Donato was there to clean it up and make the score 4-2. A few minutes later, the Blue Jackets got another powerplay after Seth Jones received a tripping penalty. Chicago killed off the penalty and continued to play physically, finishing hits, and pressuring the Blue Jackets.
The game wouldn’t have many stoppages for the rest of the period. With about 3 minutes left in the game, Chicago pulled their goalkeeper to put an extra skater on the ice. After a save from Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, Johnny Gaudreau would get a breakaway and score on the empty net. The game ended 5-2, and the Blue Jackets won.
The Blue Jackets’ next game is at home on Monday, March 4th, against the Las Vegas Golden Nights at 7:00 PM EST.
