The Columbus Blue Jackets took care of business at home against the eliminated Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, doubling them up in an 8-4 win. Kirill Marchenko scored three goals for his third career hat trick and added an assist for a four-point night, while Sean Monahan also had four points with two goals and two assists of his own.
“On the bench, it feels like a dream every time when you score a hat trick and like all [the] hats are going on the ice…I really enjoy this moment because I scored a hat trick at home, because on the road, it’s not really feeling like that.”
– Kirill Marchenko
Dante Fabbro delivered a standout performance with a goal and an assist, while Zach Werenski and Kent Johnson each chipped in two assists to drive Columbus forward. It wasn’t Elvis Merzlikins’ best night in net, as he stopped 20 of 24 shots—but his teammates more than made up for it with an explosive offensive display, scoring a season-high eight goals to seal the victory, their 14th time scoring six goals or more this season.
Related: Blue Jackets Take Care of Business in Win Over Predators
Columbus improved to 34-30-9 with the win, now two points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card spot. Sadly, for Blue Jackets fans, Montreal pulled off a 3-2 win in overtime over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. While Columbus still has a game in hand, Montreal holds the all-important tiebreaker between the two teams.
Deadly Marchenko-Monahan Combo
Since coming back from his wrist injury, Sean Monahan has been great alongside Marchenko on the Blue Jackets’ top line. The duo was electric on Tuesday night, combining for a whopping eight points, constantly setting each other up for goals and playing a huge role in securing two critical points for the team.
Monahan didn’t have his best night in the faceoff circle, going 7 for 18 (39%), but his overall impact on the game was massive. According to hockeystatcards.com, he posted an adjusted game score of 3.25—just barely edging out Marchenko’s 3.20. In fact, they earned the top two adjusted game scores across the NHL that night.
The three goals on the night gave Marchenko 31 on the season, giving him his first 30-goal season in the NHL. He gave a lot of credit to his linemates for giving him great feeds, as he especially could not have reached this career-high without them.
“I scored three tonight. I’m so happy for sure. He gave me great passes…He gives me confidence too & we feel each other really well right now & I enjoy playing with him. I hope we’ll play together a long time.”
– Kirill Marchenko on linemate Sean Monahan
Moving forward, the top line of Voronkov-Monahan-Marchenko needs to keep up the production to help get this team back into the playoffs, which is surely not going to be easy, but can be done.
Blue Jackets Finally Got an Early Lead
The Blue Jackets broke a frustrating streak by scoring first for the first time in 10 games—something they had excelled at earlier in the season. Tuesday night marked a return to form, with Marchenko wasting no time and opening the scoring just 1:15 into the game off a crisp pass from Werenski.
Despite the fast start and early lead, head coach Dean Evason wasn’t pleased with how his team opened the game. During the first TV timeout, he huddled the players at the bench to remind them about playing the right way and avoiding shortcuts, as they’d given up more odd-man rushes than he was comfortable with. Luckily, Merzlikins stood tall in net, making key saves early on to keep Columbus ahead and buy them time to settle into the game.
“We were cheating it; we were giving up odd-man rushes. We were very fortunate early to not be behind, and you know, it kind of flipped.”
– Head coach Dean Evason
The team seemed to take Evason’s message to heart, responding with a strong push to extend their lead. Fantilli and Monahan found the back of the net, giving the Blue Jackets a commanding 3-0 advantage late in the first period. However, the momentum was briefly halted when Filip Forsberg fired back just 24 seconds later with a sharp snipe, cutting the lead to 3-1 as the period came to a close.
Blue Jackets’ Power Play Gains Confidence
The Blue Jackets’ special teams showed signs of life on Tuesday night, delivering a solid performance. They went 2-for-5 on the power play and were a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Although the penalty kill ranks 24th in the NHL this season at 75.8%, it looked much sharper against Nashville. The unit consistently cleared pucks the full length of the ice and excelled at clogging shooting lanes, blocking and deflecting shots to protect Merzlikins, who stood strong while the team was shorthanded. However, they still showed some defensive lapses at five-on-five that will need attention.
On the power play, Monahan led the way, scoring both goals. One came off a one-timer, while the other was a slick finish from the side of the net.
The unit as a whole played with more energy and creativity, moving the puck well, firing more shots, and creating a little more traffic in front of the opposing netminders, Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen. Evason emphasized in his post-game presser that the special teams still have room for improvement, and it’s hard to argue with him—these units will need to keep building if Columbus is to push into the playoffs.
“I think it’s a good point. We did some different things as far as maybe not being as stagnant as we have. We’ve talked about getting some movement, and we did that. But yeah, to get rewarded and the penalty kill as well—hopefully that can jumpstart us in both the special teams. We’ve talked about our special teams having to be better. They were tonight. They need to be even better moving forward.”
– Head coach Dean Evason
Monahan also noted the improved movement on the man advantage post-game Tuesday night.
“I think the last couple of games, we’ve been moving it around pretty well. It’s confidence, guys getting touches, and guys reading off each other. We’re doing a better job with that right now.”
The Blue Jackets will practice on Wednesday in advance of Thursday’s 7:30 PM ET game against the Colorado Avalanche (45-26-4) at Nationwide Arena.
