The Columbus Blue Jackets opened their 2025-26 preseason on Sunday night with the first of four games in four nights. They were able to find a good result.
Dmitri Voronkov recorded a goal and two assists. Ivan Fedotov made his Blue Jackets’ debut stopping 14 of 15 in 40 minutes of action.
The Blue Jackets defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Sunday night. Voronkov made his presence felt early and often in this one.
Game Recap
The Blues and Blue Jackets got off to a bit of a sloppy start as you might expect for two teams shaking off the rust. Although the Blues outshot the Blue Jackets 6-3 in the period, it was the Blue Jackets who had the better of the chances. They were unable to solve Joel Hofer.
Then just after coming out of the penalty box, Voronkov won a board battle. He was able to get the puck to a streaking Brendan Gaunce. On a 2-on-0 rush, Gaunce took the shot and beat Hofer between the pads for a 1-0 lead.
Later on in the second, Voronkov earned his second assist of the night when Jake Christiansen setup Luca Del Belluz to make it 2-0. Voronkov showed through his play the kind of work he put in this summer.
Here’s Dean Evason on Voronkov postgame: “We asked him, are you in shape? Like before he even did a thing and he’s like yeah. And you can tell, right? We told him and I’ll be honest with you. We told him you’re not going to play if you come not in good shape and he did. He’s committed and obviously you could see. It’s early. It’s the first game but his pace is real good not only in the game here tonight but throughout practice.”
The Blues got one near the end of the second when Nikita Alexandrov deflected Justin Carbonneau’s shot past Fedotov to make it 2-1. That’s all the Blues could get on the night.
Evan Gardner stopped all six shots faced in the third period. Voronkov scored with 2:29 left to extend it to 3-1 before Mathieu Olivier hit the bullseye to make it 4-1.
The Blues now get six days off before playing their next preseason game against the Dallas Stars. They lost to the Stars 2-1 in a shootout on Saturday night.
The Blue Jackets are right back at it Monday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres in the first of a home and home series. They will play in Buffalo on Tuesday night.
