The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night in a thrilling game that ended 5-4 following a shootout. Our Mark Scheig was onsite for the affair and recapped the events of the evening, so now, let’s look at some takeaways from the game.
Voronkov Ties Marchenko in Goals
Dmitri Voronkov has been on fire to start the season. A few days ago, I wrote about Kirill Marchenko’s season to date and how he’s on the verge of becoming an NHL star. At this point, it’s safe to say that Voronkov isn’t far off of that pace, either. After a two-goal performance against the Penguins, Voronkov is now tied with Marchenko for the team lead in goals with five, and now leads the Blue Jackets in points with nine in eight games.
During Saturday night’s game, both of Voronkov’s goals came at crucial moments as well. His first of the night came in the second period when he beat Arturs Silovs to tie the game 2-2. Yegor Chinakhov added a goal early in the third period to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead, but we’ll get back to that point shortly. Voronkov’s second of the night came a few minutes later, and at the time, seemed to be a critical insurance goal that could lock up the win. Ultimately, the Penguins tied things up and sent the game into overtime, but Voronkov’s goals both came at key points in the night.
Chinakhov Building Value
At this point, it’s not a secret that a split between Yegor Chinakhov and the Blue Jackets is seemingly inevitable. As we saw earlier this week when the Chicago Blackhawks traded Lukas Reichel to the Vancouver Canucks, trading a highly touted prospect with a minimal track record of success and who is looking for a change of scenery, often leads to a very low return.
Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell has been very patient as he’s maneuvered his way around Chinakhov’s trade request, and the Russian winger’s recent play may be proving that Waddell made the right call.
Chinakhov started the season with two games without recording a point. He recorded his first point of the season, an assist, against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 21. Then, on Friday night, he had a strong outing against the Washington Capitals, even though he failed to register a point. Finally, as we mentioned previously, he got his first goal of the season against Pittsburgh on Saturday night.
While the goal itself came at an important moment, as it gave the Blue Jackets their first lead of the night, Chinakhov’s overall play has been improving. After a disappointing end to the 2024-25 season, there were concerns that his injury might have been limiting his play, and those concerns are starting to be alleviated as the current season marches on.
It’s unknown when the Blue Jackets and Chinakhov will part ways, but if he keeps playing like he has this weekend, he’ll certainly bring a much better return when that time comes.
Discipline Still an Issue
On Saturday, the lack of discipline late in the game allowed the Penguins’ star-studded power play to bring them back into the game, and ultimately sent the game to overtime.
The Penguins were just one-for-three on the power play, but the Blue Jackets taking two penalties late in the third period was critical to their success. A power play with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson will eventually find the back of the net if given enough opportunities, there’s no doubt about that. Letang’s slapshot with just over five minutes remaining in the final frame handed momentum back to the Penguins.
So far this season, the Blue Jackets have been shorthanded 28 times, which is middle of the road in the NHL. The issue arises when the fact that they currently have the league’s worst penalty kill, which sits at 60.7%. It’s been one of their biggest issues this season, yet they constantly take avoidable penalties. If they’re going to have sustained success this season, they’re undoubtedly going to need to solidify their penalty kill, but they also need to stop taking penalties at crucial points in the game.
Related: Maple Leafs’ Trade Pitch Sending Robertson to Blue Jackets Declined
Overall, the Blue Jackets played well. With that being said, a couple mistakes took the game from a regulation win to a shootout victory. They’ll look to keep momentum on their side on Tuesday, when they’ll visit the Buffalo Sabres.
