The Blue Jackets had lost 15 straight games in Pittsburgh heading into Tuesday’s game in the Steel City, and with eight minutes to go, No. 16 sure looked to be on tap.
Columbus was down 3-1 to the Penguins as the clock ticked down, and CBJ fans had seen that movie before. Making matters worse was the fact the team’s No. 1 center, Sean Monahan, left the game with an upper body injury, taking one of the Jackets' leading scorers and top leaders off the ice.
But on the bench in PPG Paints Arena, there was no panic. One of the calling cards of this Blue Jackets team this season has been resiliency, and it was about to pay off in spades. Dmitri Voronkov scored his second goal of the game to halve the Pens’ lead, Adam Fantilli added a tying goal on the power play in the final minutes, and Columbus won 4-3 in a shootout for a victory that propelled the team into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
If there was any game that showed the Blue Jackets’ resolve this season, it was this one.
“We’ve had that, right?” head coach Dean Evason said. “This team, they’ve done that, so it’s just what they know and what they do, so there wasn’t a lot of negative energy. Even after the two (Penguins) goals, it was just continually going about our business.”
Speaking of going about their business, the Blue Jackets kept the same mind-set postgame. They could have been over the moon because of the notable victory as well as the playoff implications at the midway spot in the season, but the focus in the players’ comments was about the big picture, including the fact it was just the team’s fifth road win of the year.
“It means two points in the standings,” Jack Johnson said afterward. “It’s big. We were made aware today that it's been a while, it’s been a minute since the team won here. So it’s always nice to get a monkey off our back, but especially winning on the road. For whatever reason road wins have been hard to come by this year, but it’s nice to get a win.”
Things have been better at Nationwide Arena, where they return tonight to take on the Kraken, as Columbus has won five of the last six in its home barn. They’ll have to keep using that resiliency, though, as it Monahan will be out because of that injury suffered in the second period against the Pens.
Fantilli is expected to move up to the top line in Monahan’s place, while AHL leading scorer Luca Del Bel Belluz was recalled to join the lineup yesterday. Monahan leaves a big hole, but the Blue Jackets will have to come together to fill it.
“I feel I’ve been able to watch (Monahan) quite a bit recently, and stepping in between (Voronkov) and (Kirill Marchenko), I was able to help those guys out well and fill in and try to do my best job there,” Fantilli said. “I feel I can step in there and help.”
Know The Foe: Seattle Kraken
Head coach: Dan Bylsma (First season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 2.85 (23rd) | Scoring defense: 3.12 (18th) | PP: 18.6 percent (22nd) | PK: 79.1 percent (16th)
The narrative: The Kraken made waves two years ago in their second season when they knocked the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche out of the playoffs, but that wasn't a harbinger of things to come. The squad fell short of the postseason picture a season ago and sits eight points out of the playoffs this year under new coach Bylsma, who was brought in to replace Dave Hakstol. That’s left some fans with the blues a-callin', but there is some young talent in the organization that could bring results in the years to come.
Team leaders: Jared McCann leads the way with 29 points and is tied for the team lead with 13 goals, but he has just four goals and eight points in his last 23 contests after scoring 69 goals the past two seasons. Jaden Schwartz (13-13-26), Oliver Bjorkstrand (11-15-26) and Chandler Stephenson (5-21-26) are next on the scoring chart, while Matty Beniers (7-15-22) and Brandon Montour (8-14-22) are next. Defenseman Vince Dunn has 18 points (8-10-18) in 21 games.
Joey Daccord has recently been activated from injured reserve, and he leads the team with 23 starts while going 12-9-2 with a 2.51 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
What's new: After last year’s disappointing campaign, the Kraken not only opted to change coaches, they hit free agency hard by acquiring Montour and Stephenson, two players with Stanley Cup rings in their possession. At the end of the day, though, their success will largely come from the growth of such young players as Beniers (22 years old), forward Shane Wright (21), and defenseman Ryker Evans (23), not to mention recently acquired 23-year-old forward Kaapo Kakko. Seattle has had trouble scoring goals all season and is 3-7-2 in the last 12 while scoring just 29 goals.
Trending: After sweeping the series in the Kraken’s inaugural season of 2022-23, the Blue Jackets have lost the last five games to Seattle including a 4-2 final Nov. 12 in the Emerald City.
Former CBJ: Bjorkstrand is now in his third season with the Kraken and has four points (1-3-4) in two career games against the Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena.
