The Columbus Blue Jackets needed to come out strong today against the Washington Capitals—and that’s exactly what they did.

Columbus scored early and often. It started with Zach Werenski notching his 21st of the season just over a minute into the game. Less than five minutes later, Kent Johnson scored his 23rd to make it 2-0. With under 30 seconds left in the first, Adam Fantilli buried his 26th to give the Blue Jackets a 3-0 lead heading into the break.

The second period was a wild one. The Blue Jackets added three more—Fantilli scored his second of the game and 27th of the year, Sean Monahan added his 19th, and Cole Sillinger chipped in his 10th to make it 6-0. But it wasn’t just about the goals.

At 11:53, Sean Kuraly and Capitals rookie Ryan Leonard dropped the gloves, which nearly sparked a line brawl. Just two minutes later, James van Riemsdyk and Rasmus Sandin went at it too.

The third period slowed down until Dmitri Voronkov and Pierre-Luc Dubois got into it and were both handed misconducts. Then, in one of the more bizarre and hilarious moments of the season, Voronkov never went to the room and tried to hop back on the ice—earning the Blue Jackets a penalty for an ineligible player.

JVR scored his 16th late in the third to stretch the lead to 7-0. As the final buzzer sounded, the Blue Jackets had done their part. Now, all eyes shift to Toronto. If the Maple Leafs beat the Canadiens tonight, Columbus lives to fight another day.

Special Notes

• Zach Werenski set a new franchise record for most goals by defenseman with 21.
• It was revealed on the broadcast by Ray Ferraro that Voronkov doesn't communicate very well in English. So when the Ref told him he had a 10-minute misconduct, he nodded and went back to the bench instead of to the room. Which resulted in an ineligible player penalty.
• Jet Greaves got his first NHL career shutout against the highest scoring team in the league.

Final Stats

Player Stats

• Werenski's 21st goal of the season sets a new record for goals in a season by a defenseman in franchise history.
• van Riemsdyk had a goal and two assists in the blow out.
• Jet Greaves made 20 saves.
• Fantilli scored his 26th and 27th goal of the season.
• Kirill Marchenko collected his 41st assist of the season.

Team Stats

• The Blue Jackets went 0/2 on the power play.
• The Blue Jackets killed off all three penalties against them.
• The Blue Jackets lost the faceoff battle (44.8%).

Up Next: The Blue Jackets play the Washington Capitals in the second half of a back-to-back on Sunday. 

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