Blue Jackets’ First Road Trip Gives Glimpse of Brighter Future

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The Columbus Blue Jackets went on the road to start their 2024-25 season. With games against the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche, it wasn’t going to be easy for the visitors to win given it was each respective team’s home openers.

Not only did the Blue Jackets play well in both games, they earned a split. A case could even be made they played well enough to win both games.

For as much as the Blue Jackets are going through, coming home from that road trip 1-1 is impressive. They played the games without their captain Boone Jenner and Dmitri Voronkov. Then early on Saturday night, they played most of the game without Zach Aston-Reese who took a high hit early in the first period.

If the Blue Jackets were going to have success, several things had to go right. In these first two games, they did go right for the most part. The biggest part of this was the performance of their talented youth.

Kent Johnson Shined

One of the biggest questions coming into the new season from a purely hockey perspective was who would step up offensively? The Blue Jackets’ hope was pinned on their talented youth to make important contributions.

Thursday night in Minnesota, Kent Johnson answered the call. With the score 1-0 Wild in the second period, the Blue Jackets were able to tie the game early in the period.

Johnson skated the puck into the zone and was able to connect on a pass with Mikael Pyyhtia. This led to extended possession. A couple of won battles later, the game was tied.

Johnson was able to find the puck in a crowd, spin, shoot and score. It was the kind of goal that showed what these new look Blue Jackets were all about.

Kent Johnson Columbus Blue Jackets
Kent Johnson shined on the opening road trip scoring a goal in each game. (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

The Wild had multiple guys around the puck at different times. It didn’t matter. Thanks to the efforts of the line and in particular Cole Sillinger, the play stayed alive. It was the pressure on the puck that created this goal.

The line of Pyyhtia, Sillinger and Johnson are ages of 22, 21 and 21 respectively. Johnson wasn’t done either on that night. He factored in on Zach Werenski’s power-play goal to cut it to 3-2 late.

For Johnson, it was one of his most complete games as a pro. He played 18:05 and was a factor in all zones. He also played both special-teams units in the process. While the Blue Jackets had multiple chances to tie the game, they fell short. But it was Johnson’s effort in part that allowed them to be in a position to tie. What would he do for an encore?

Saturday night in Denver, Johnson led all Blue Jackets’ forwards in ice time. He played 21:30 including 2:55 shorthanded. He’s now showing the propensity of wanting the puck on his stick at all times in all situations. He added a goal in the first period from a wide angle that was labeled.

What was even more impressive about Johnson’s goal was how he created it. He took a pass from Jake Christiansen and then did the rest.

From center ice, Johnson entered the zone and drove wide. This created confusion amongst the Avalanche on how to defend the play. Then from the wide angle, he went high on Alex Georgiev. That made goals in consecutive games to start the new season for a guy GM Don Waddell called an important part of the Blue Jackets’ future.

Other Youth Shined Too

While Johnson did his thing, others stepped up too. Zach Werenski scored in each of the two games. Don’t forget he’s only 27. He scored a power-play goal in Minnesota and then opened the scoring in Denver on a play where he drove the net and finished a great pass from Yegor Chinakhov.

Speaking of Chinakhov, his line with Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko dominated Saturday night. Each member of the line had 1-2-3.

While Werenski opened the scoring and Monahan closed the scoring with an empty-net goal, it was the four Blue Jackets’ goals scored in the middle that stood out. Who scored them?

  • Kent Johnson (21)
  • Adam Fantilli (turned 20 on Saturday)
  • Kirill Marchenko (24)
  • Yegor Chinakhov (23)

The average age of these four goal scorers is 22. Waddell said before the season that the youth would get a big opportunity to play important minutes. It’s very early, but Saturday night showed a glimpse of what these Blue Jackets hope to become in the future.

Even in a 3-3 game Saturday night, the Blue Jackets held right in. They took the lead thanks to Marchenko’s goal. It was a lead they kept for the rest of the game. That’s the other big takeaway from this mini road trip that needs highlighted.

Evason’s Impact

One of the biggest x-factors coming into the season was how new head coach Dean Evason would impact things. The early reviews are overwhelmingly positive on that front.

The Blue Jackets played perhaps one of their best 5-on-5 games in a long time Thursday night. They dominated possession. They looked fast. More importantly, they were positionally sound and knew what to do on the next play in most cases.

The Blue Jackets of the past couple seasons struggled mightily on that front. Many times, they couldn’t make an easy play. It seemed they didn’t know what to do once they got the puck.

Under Evason, there is decisiveness. There is pressure in all zones. There’s quick puck movement north. Although Thursday resulted in a loss thanks to a couple key mistakes, it was the kind of game that gave optimism about the future. If the team plays like that consistently, better days are ahead.

While the Avalanche scored four, they held the Avalanche to just 30 shots. Given how often they’d allow 40 or more shots in a game, having this kind of performance is noteworthy. In a 5-3 game most of the third period, the Blue Jackets outshot the Avalanche 8-7.

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While the way Evason wants the Blue Jackets to play is still a work in progress, the early results are clearly visible. They look much more organized and in control than at any point the last two seasons.

Teams often take on the personality of their head coach. For the Blue Jackets, they have taken Evason’s message to heart and are applying it to their game. The win Saturday marked Evason’s first as the Blue Jackets’ head coach.

It’s just two games so you don’t want to go too crazy yet. However it’s hard to walk away from the games and not think the Blue Jackets may be onto something. The right track is often a long road. They need to start somewhere though.

The Blue Jackets took care of business and earned a split in a pair of hostile environments. They are laying the foundation for what they want to become. Their youth led the way offering a glimpse of better days ahead.

Werenski recently said that this season has to be successful for them, no matter what it looks like. If they have more nights like Thursday and Saturday, the Blue Jackets will make the most out of this challenging season.