Kent Johnson (18, 19), Denton Mateychuk (2), Zach Werenski (18), and Adam Fantilli (16) powered the Blue Jackets past the Blackhawks on Saturday night by a final score of 5-1. Elvis Merzļikins stopped 27 of 28 Chicago shots and was stellar in his first game back from the break.
Columbus jumped on the Blackhawks early and never really looked back. Chicago had a goal called back due to goalie interference that would've made it a game at that point, but this one was never really in question. The Jackets secured their 27th win of the season on Saturday night.
Now on to the heartwarming stuff.
Saturday was Johnny Gaudreau Jr.'s first birthday, and there was no better way to celebrate than to watch his daddy's team play some hockey. With his sister Noa and Mother Meredith in attendance, the entire crowd at Nationwide Arena sang happy birthday to little Johnny Junior. It was truly a wonderful moment.
Happy Birthday, Johnny.
Final Stats
Player Stats
- Kent Johnson scored his 18th and 19th goals. He now has 38 points.
- Denton Mateychuk scored his 2nd goal of the season. He also played 21:32.
- Zach Werenski had a goal and two assists on the night. He now has a 22 game home points streak and now has the third-longest home point streak by a defenseman in NHL history behind Bobby Orr (25) and Paul Coffey (23). He also has tied Johnny Gaudreau (46 in 41 Games) for most points at home in a single season.
- Adam Fantilli scored his 16th goal of the season. He now has 33 points on the season.
- Boone Jenner tallied an assist in his first game back.
- Kirill Marchenko recorded his 35th assist of the season.
- Dmitri Voronkov got his 17th and 18th assists.
- Cole Sillinger got his 19th and 20th assists.
- Elvis Merzļikins stopped 27 shots on the night to pick up his 20th win of the season.
Team Stats
- The Jackets power play went 1/1 on the night.
- The Columbus PK stopped 3 of 4 Chicago man advantages.
- Columbus won 63.6% of the faceoffs.
What's Next: Columbus Welcomes Dallas into Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.