Adam Fantilli(2), Boone Jenner(2-PPG), Denton Mateychuk(1), Dmitri Voronkov(3-PPG), and Kent Johnson(2-ENG) provided the offense to power the CBJ past the Dallas Stars. Meanwhile, goaltender Elvis Merzļikins was an absolute madman, stopping 22 Stars shots and two Dallas power plays. Merzļikins was by far the best player on the ice for the visiting Blue Jackets. 

The story of the night was two-fold:

1. The special teams were perfect on the night against Dallas. Coming into this game, the CBJ were dead last in the NHL in PP and PK. The Stars, on the other hand, were 2nd on the PP, so this game could've gotten ugly. Columbus was able to score on both of their power play tries when Jenner and Voronkov put pucks past Oettinger. Jenner's goal was the game-winner as well. The penalty kill stepped up huge on Tuesday night as well by stopping two Dallas power plays. They came into this game boasting a 33.3% power play, which was 2nd in the league, but the Jackets shut them down with some superb play by the killers and Merzļikins. 

2. Elvis Merzļikins made some unbelievable saves in this game and was by far and away the best player on the ice for the CBJ. He looked calm, sharp, and top of his game against a Stars team that can put you away with the quickness if you're not careful. 

Columbus also played a very physical game against a team that can easily overpower you. The Jackets ended the game with 35 hits, which is much more than any game they've had this season. They came in with a plan, and it looks like they stuck to it by putting a body on everything that moved. All but three players had hits on the night, with Zach Aston-Reese leading the way with 6 hits, followed by Voronkov and Olivier with 5 each, and then several players with 3 and 2 hits each. 

Quotes

Elvis Merzļikins - "When we all showed up here, seriously, I saw this room different. We are seriously working hard, and we care about each other. If you do the mistake, there's going to be somebody who is gonna save your butt. That's what the (good) teams do, and success is coming, and that's good. But now, even if it's a win or a loss, we need to forget about it. We need to focus. We know our mission by the end of the season, and we want to get there."

Dean Evason - “We talked about getting our chances on the power play, and how it just hasn’t gone in. We didn’t score a lot early. The guys take pride in that, obviously. They probably read more of everybody’s stuff (in the media) than we do, but yeah, they take pride in that, and it was a concern for us. Obviously, it has to continue to be really good.” 

Evason on Elvis - “That second period, he held us in the game, right? I mean, we knew they were going to push. We had a good first, so we knew they were gonna come out. Yeah, he kept us in it. They got one. But he didn’t let them tie it up and get, you know, energized and get the crowd into it. Yeah, he played extremely well.”

The Jackets have a modest two-game winning streak. Their record is 3-3-0, and they have 6 points. 

Final Stats

Player Stats

• Adam Fantilli scored his 2nd goal of the season. He also picked up his third assist, had 3 shots, and 3 hits.
• Boone Jenner scored his 2nd goal of the season, on the power play. He had an assist as well.
• Denton Mateychuk scored his 1st goal of the season.
• Dmitri Voronkov scored his 3rd goal of the season, had 5 hits, and 3 shots.
• Kent Johnson scored his 2nd goal of the season and picked up an assist.
• Charlie Coyle had an assist.
• Sean Monahan tallied an assist.,
• Zach Aston-Reese had an assist and had 6 hits.
• Kirill Marchenko had an assist and 3 shots.
• Yegor Chinakhov had an assist and played 10:16. He also had 2 shots.
• Elvis Merzlikins made 22 saves.

Team Stats

• The Jackets power play went 2/2 on the night.
• The Columbus PK stopped both Stars' man advantages
• Columbus won 41.8% of the faceoffs.

Up Next: They’ll return home to host the Washington Capitals on Oct. 24 in the first half of a back-to-back. The second leg comes against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which could be an early-season statement game. If they can pick up wins against the Capitals and Penguins, it could move them into the top four in their division.

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