The Columbus Blue Jackets went into Saturday night’s game against the St. Louis Blues looking to move past a brutal ending to the game Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings. After a bit of a dicey third period, they accomplished their task.
Dmitri Voronkov scored two more goals while Sean Monahan added three assists to help the Blue Jackets to a wild 6-4 win over the Blues on Saturday night in front of another sellout crowd at Nationwide Arena. This game was a tale of two games, the first 40 minutes and then the last 20 minutes.
Game Recap
The first period was a battle of the goalies despite what the final score tells you. Joel Hofer and Elvis Merzlikins traded saves with Merzlikins making a few big ones to keep it 0-0. The Blue Jackets were able to break through in the final minute.
Voronkov scored his first of the night from his usual position in front of the net. It gave his team momentum going into the locker room up 1-0.
The Blue Jackets were able to double their lead by the end of the second period thanks to a Kirill Marchenko power-play goal early in the frame. That was Marchenko’s team leading 17th goal of the season. They were able to limit the Blues’ chances to the tune of just nine shots on goal in the second.
But then the third period happened. The teams traded eight total goals, four on each side on 30 total shots. The third started as well as the Blue Jackets could have asked for. Mikael Pyyhtia scored shorthanded to make it 3-0. Turned out the game was far from over.
Jordan Kyrou scored 1:10 later on the same power play to make it 3-1. Adam Fantilli needed only 31 seconds after Kyrou’s goal to make it 4-1. Cam Fowler made it 4-2 just 1:30 later. Voronkov added his second of the night just 29 seconds later to make it 5-2.
The Blues then got consecutive goals from Colton Parayko and Brayden Schenn to close it to 5-4. Schenn’s goal was scored with Hofer off for an extra attacker. That marked the seventh goal allowed by the Blue Jackets when faced with an opposing 6-on-5, tied for the most in the NHL.
Although the Blues still had 3:44 left to tie things up, they could never get that fifth goal. Mathieu Olivier sealed the deal with an empty netter to get to the final score of 6-4.
With the win, the Blue Jackets tied both Ottawa and Pittsburgh in points for the last wildcard spot. The Senators have games in hand. Postgame, Ivan Provorov and Adam Fantilli each expressed the team’s goal is to make the playoffs this season. Meanwhile, Zach Werenski had two assists and now has points in 15 consecutive home games.
The Blue Jackets have Sunday off and will be on the ice Monday for practice in advance of their next game Tuesday in Pittsburgh. The Blues also have Sunday off and will play in Minnesota on Tuesday night.