With a lot of the hockey world watching the only NHL game on the schedule, the Blue Jackets showed what they can do when they play their game.
On Wednesday, the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs were the only game on the NHL schedule, so all eyes were on Columbus. The CBJ didn't disappoint.
Cole Sillinger(1,2), Zach Werenski(3), Ivan Provorov(2), Dante Fabbro(1), and Mathieu Olivier(1) powered the Blue Jackets offense, while Elvis Merzlikins had another great outing as they absolutely took it to Toronto on Wednesday night. Columbus jumped on Toronto early and didn't take their foot off the gas for 55-plus minutes.
The story of this game was the play of the 3rd line consisting of Mathieu Olivier, Charlie Coyle, and Cole Sillinger. The line combined for 3 goals and 11 points, while having a +/- of plus-13. Every time something happened, that line was on the ice. They were virtually unstoppable, and all three earned stars at the end of the game.
Defenseman Zach Werenski is starting to heat up as well. He has two goals and 4 points in the last two games and has started to look like he did last year. He's now up to 3 goals and 8 points on the season, while having a plus-9 rating.
Elvis Merzlikins, with the win, is now 4-1 on the season and has looked very good in most of the games. To go along with the 4 wins, he's sporting a .915 SV% and a 2,97 GAA. Last night's win was his first home win of the year as well.
The Blue Jackets are now 6-4 with 12 points and sit 5th in the Metro.
Final Stats
Player Stats
- Cole Sillinger scored two goals and had an assist. He was also a plus-4 and had 4 shots.
- Zach Werenski scored his 3rd goal of the season and had an assist. He has 4 points in the last two games. The goal was his first career goal against Toronto.
- Ivan Provorov scored his 2nd goal of the year.
- Dante Fabbro scored his 1st goal of the season.
- Mathieu Olivier scored his 1st goal of the season and had three assists. He was also a plus-4 and had two hits.
- Charlie Coyle had a career-high 4 assists and was a plus-5.
- Kirill Marchenko had an assist.
- Dmitri Voronkov had an assist .
- Elvis Merzlikins stopped 33 of 36 Maple Leaf shots.
Team Stats
- The Jackets PP went 0/2
- Columbus stopped both Toronto man advantages
- The CBJ won 57.6% of the faceoffs.
- Columbus is now 5-1 on the season when scoring first.
- The CBJ have beaten the Leafs 5 of the 7 games.
What's Next: The Jackets welcome The St. Louis Blues into Nationwide Arena on Saturday.
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