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CBJ PG9 v New York Islanders — Spooky Scary Shutout ; Oct Thoughts |
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The Columbus Blue Jackets shutout the New York Islanders on Hockey Halloween night by the final score of 2-0 by way of 2 third period goals.
Kevin Labanc covered a Columbus dump in, that was edged off to Sean Kuraly. The fourth line center pushed to back to the blue line for Damon Severson. Sevo skated down toward the corner where the mentioned forwards wore and snapped the puck on net. The biscuit appeared to have hit off Ryan Pulock’s sore and pass Semyon Varlamov for Sevo’s second goal of the regular season. Severson’s 11th Columbus goal and 69th of his career was supported by Sean Kuraly’s 80th career assist and Labanc’s 5th point with the Blue Jackets. Labanc is now at 230 career points.
Justin Danforth potted the insurance marker with 2:03 remaining in regulation. His empty net goal is his second of the year and 24th career. Cole Sillinger and Ivan Provorov got the apples. This was Sillinger’s fourth assist of the season. Provorov is now at 3 on the season and 35 points with the Blue Jackets.
The New York Islanders are now on their fourth shutout against on the season. They have played 10 games. They haven’t scored 4 times. Yes it is repetitive. But with an offensive minded coach like Roy and an aggressive manager in Lou Lamerillo, this is shockingly bad.
Players to Watch
Kyle Palmieri was a -1 with 3 shots on goal in 19:08TOI.
Mathieu Olivier had 2 shots with 3 blocked shots and hits in 16:32TOI.
Goaltenders
Semyon Varlamov allowed one goal on 25 shots faced for a 0.960 save percentage.
Elvis Merzlikins had his 11th career shutout after stopping all 26 visiting shots faced.
CBJ Three Stars of the Game
1. Elvis Merzlikins — W, shutout victory, 26 saves
2. Damon Severson — GWG (2), 22:23 TOI, +1
3. Justin Danforth — empty net goal (2), 2PIM, +1
Next Matchup
The Columbus Blue Jackets host the Winnipeg Jets in their first meeting of two in the regular season. The Jets come in as the best team in the league with a 9-1-0 start, with Winnipeg’s loss belonging only to Toronto. Columbus is 2-0-0 against Canadian teams this season.
10 October Thoughts Through First 10% of Games
The NHL regular season for all 32 franchises is 10% complete as all the teams have played through 8 games minimum. The Columbus Blue Jackets finish the month surprising the league with a 5-3-1 start for a 0.611 winning percentage. 11 points has the Jackets sitting at 5th in the Metropolitan Division in both points and win percentage, but second in the Conference Wild Card race. If the postseason was set to today with all teams playing 10% of their games, Columbus would draw New Jersey in round one.
1. Start Strong for Johnny
The theme overall this season is going to be honoring and remembering the lives taken too soon from us in Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. The tributes all over the league from preseason, home openers, memorials, and a banner raising have all been first class by the league and Columbus Blue Jackets.
The recognition in salutes by Cole Caufield (MTL), Sean Monahan (CBJ), and Mathieu Olivier (CBJ) have been touching and eye watering moments. The Gaudreau warm up jerseys by Florida and their willingness to participate in the 13 second delay by Sam Bennett and the 4 skaters on the Columbus ice. All special moments and touches for the Blue Jackets to start the year.
2. Sean Monahanov
The Columbus Blue Jackets signed their top line center Sean Monahan to a five year deal to play with Johnny Gaudreau in Ohio to spark the Calgary Flames reunion. Unfortunately, unimaginable tragedy struck and that is never going to happen. New head coach Dean Evason has Monahan skating with Yegor Chinakov and Kirill Marchenko on his wings.
Monahan leads Columbus in goals through the opening games with 5. He only trails Marchenko in points with 9; Marchy has 11. KJ, Marchy, and Monny are the only skaters at or above a point per game at the time of writing this (Oct. 31, 2024)
3. The Injury Curse
The Columbus Blue Jackets have been devastated with injuries through 2024-2025. Boone Jenner is out until March. Erik Gudbranson is likely done for the season with shoulder surgery. Max McCue and Jordan Dumais were both injured in training camp. Justin Danforth missed all of preseason due to offseason wrist surgery, but is back. Dmitry Voronkov was injured in preseason, and is not expected back until after American Thanksgiving. Kent Johnson is out long term with an upper body injury despite the hot start to the season.
4. Olivier Career Year
Mathieu Olivier is a pending unrestricted free agent, and is one goal away from matching his career high in the first 9 games played. Known as one of the toughest enforcers in the league around the active players, the undrafted Mississippi native has already scored 4 goals.
5. Elvis Rebound Year
Latvian goaltender Elvis Merzlikins is putting up his best numbers since his rookie year behind Tortorella in 2019-2020. Merzlikins is 2-2-0 with a shutout and a 0.925 save percentage. That save percentage is 5th in the league currently for goaltenders that have played 4 or more games.
Discussion around the club too is that he is emerging as “one of the leaders” in the dressing room. Is this his way out of Columbus by playing the best he can and voicing his opinion?
6. Sillinger Shocking Start
Cole Sillinger has stepped up nicely for the Blue Jackets after a couple of rough seasons. The Columbus kid is relishing his time in the top six with Adam Fantilli. Sillinger has 8 points in 9 games, his best year since his rookie year. After a small raise, he is fighting for more money in a couple years time.
7. Simple Buy In
Oliver has come out in recent interview with the press and mentioning the simplicity of the coaching system by new head coach Dean Evason in Columbus. Evason was previously the head coach in Minnesota and was a disciple under Bruce Boudreau during his time in the State of Hockey. The players are buying in, and the Jackets have been off to their best offensive start in franchise history by scoring 35 goals on net in 9 games played.
Simple, structure, and consistency are key components for hockey players every single game, despite the quirkiness of one’s superstitions.
8. Zach Werenski
Werenski leads Columbus defenders in point scoring with 8 points in 9 games. He is tied for fifth in defensive lead for goal scoring with 3. He is sitting 8th in time on ice in the league at 24:46 per game, while driving the top line and powerplay unit in Ohio.
9. The Depth Is Scoring
Every single skater has one point or more for the exception of Jordan Harris. Erik Gudbranson was pointless in 3 games before his shoulder injury. 10 of 21 skaters have 5 points or more in 4 games played or more. David Jiricek even has a point in 2 games played. Marchenko leads with 11, and leads in +6. 3.89 goals for per game is 6th in the league. That is offense. 81.5% in penalty kill is tied for 10th with Washington. They are preventing the puck from being scored when down the man. 2.78 GAA is 6th lowest in the National is showing how defensive the new systems are in Columbus.
10. The Kids Are Alright
Marchenko, Chinakov, Sillinger, Kent Johnson, and Fantilli are half of the leading point scorers in Columbus with Werenski backing them up on the defense. All Columbus draft picks that are carrying the way in the Top 10 in Columbus scoring. This is impressive scouting under the previous administration, but better use of them under the Waddell extensions and Evason use in his systems. Better pieces will make this team a legitimate force for years to come.
What are your thoughts on the Blue Jackets?
More is coming…
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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