Both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs played early on Tuesday during Hockey Frenzy. They were the main attraction on Wednesday night as the only game in the NHL. The Blue Jackets did not disappoint.
One night after the Blue Jackets’ fourth line helped them to victory in Buffalo, it was the third line’s turn to carry the weight. Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier combined for 3-8-11 to lift the Blue Jackets to a convincing 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs.
The Blue Jackets’ dominance overshadowed some NHL history for John Tavares.
Game Recap
While both the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs had to deal playing on a back-to-back, it was the home team that had the jump early. It resulted in an early 1-0 lead.
Sillinger scored his first goal of the season by driving the net. He took a pass from Coyle and then beat defenseman Simon Benoit to the net. Turning backhand to forehand, Sillinger beat Cayden Primeau to open the scoring.
Just over four minutes later, Coyle was at it again. This time, Olivier hit Matias Maccelli to the ice. Coyle slid the puck to Zach Werenski who led what turned into both a Flying V and a 5-on-1 rush. Werenski’s third of the season made it 2-0 after one.
The Maple Leafs pushed to start the second and got a goal from Sammy Blais. He made his Maple Leafs’ debut for an injured William Nylander. Blais batted the puck out of the air past Elvis Merzlikins.
The Blue Jackets then dominated for the rest of the night. Goals by Ivan Provorov, Sillinger again and Dante Fabbro turned a 2-1 game into a 5-1 game in the span of just over eight minutes.
In the third, Olivier extended to 6-1 by collecting his fourth point of the night. Coyle recorded his fourth assist of the game. This goal prompted some Leafs’ fans to throw jerseys on the ice in Columbus that the officials quickly picked up.
Then NHL history was made. With 4:15 left in the game, Tavares became the 49th player in NHL history to record 500 career goals. He finished off a Matthew Knies pass. There wasn’t much celebration given the score. But there was some applause when the achievement was announced.
Nick Robertson capped the scoring with 1:50 left to get to the final of 6-3. Merzlikins finished with 33 saves on the night. Meanwhile, Primeau stopped just 18 of 24. Steven Lorentz had to leave the game near the end of the second period due to an upper-body injury and wasn’t able to return.
Both the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs will get Thursday off. The Blue Jackets will host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday while the Maple Leafs travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Saturday night.
