Winning Thoughts: Make it three in a row

After CBJ wins, we'll give three takeaways about what stood out or what we'll remember from the Blue Jackets victory.

1. Winning is fun.

That’s self-evident, of course, but it sure feels good, doesn’t it?

The good vibes are prevalent in the Blue Jackets’ locker room, where it was clear that a pair of three-letter words – win and fun – are closely intertwined after another dramatic victory.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Sean Monahan, whose shootout goal was the difference. “We have a good group, fun to be around, fun to come to the rink. When you’re winning games, that makes it even better.”

Added Kirill Marchenko: “When you win three games in a row and you just consistently win, it’s a lot of fun. Everybody enjoys this moment. I try to enjoy it, too. I want to do the next step tomorrow and next game and next practice. It's just awesome.”

The Blue Jackets have now put together back-to-back thrilling victories against two recent Eastern Conference powers, coming back to beat Tampa Bay 7-6 in overtime on Thursday before another comeback victory against Carolina.

Those two triumphs have moved Columbus back to hockey .500 at 9-9-2 and on the edge of the playoff race. And consider these two facts.

• Columbus has won three straight games for the first time since February 2022. That’s right, the Blue Jackets went two full seasons without a three-game winning streak.
• Seven of the Jackets’ nine victories thus far have come against teams that made the playoffs last season.

The Blue Jackets are now a quarter of the way through the NHL season, and a lot will happen in the coming months. But right now, it feels good to believe a little bit, doesn’t it?

“You can definitely feel a bit of belief coming in the locker room,” Dante Fabbro said. “It’s a great feeling. Any time you have some belief, it can be dangerous.”

2. This Blue Jackets team just doesn’t quit.

Thursday vs. Tampa Bay, the Blue Jackets were down 3-0 less than 12 minutes into the game and still battled back to earn the victory.

Against Carolina, the adversity came in a little different fashion. Columbus had three separate one-goal leads and lost them all, with the Hurricanes holding a 4-3 lead from late in the second period all the way until 1:06 to play.

That’s when Marchenko scored his second goal of the game to knot the score, sending Nationwide Arena – and the CBJ bench – into hysterics. Taking advantage of a pair of excellent passes from Monahan and Kent Johnson, Marchenko quickly one-timed a shot past goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, then let loose a roar as he skated toward the glass in celebration.

“It’s a great feeling,” Marchenko said.

And it’s one that doesn’t come along very often. This marked the first time since March 21, 2023, that the Blue Jackets scored an extra-attacker tally in the final two minutes, then went on to win the game. In fact, over the past five seasons, Columbus pulled that off just four times.

It’s yet another sign that this Blue Jackets team is never out of a game.

“Just that never quit attitude,” Fabbro said. “We were able to get a huge goal from Marchy at the end and able to win in a shootout. It’s just a great feeling. We’re starting to see the results that we want to see. We have to continue with that and show up every day and put our best foot forward, but we can definitely continue to grow on that.”

3. Fabbro has been a fabulous acquisition.

Sometimes, all it takes is a change of scenery for a player. After spending each of the previous five seasons as a regular in Nashville, the right-shot defenseman fell out of favor with the Predators at the start of the season, sitting as a healthy scratch for much of the opening few weeks.

He then hit waivers two weeks ago, and Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell and his staff made the decision to claim Fabbro. It seems to have been pretty astute, as Fabbro has fit right in on the top pair with Zach Werenski and now has two goals and two assists in six games with the Blue Jackets after notching the opening goal against Carolina.

After Dmitri Voronkov and Werenski combined to dispossess Martin Necas in the Carolina offensive zone, Fabbro grabbed the puck below the hashmarks and just started going. A player noted more for his first pass out of the zone than a swashbuckling nature, Fabbro instead looked like Werenski, curling around Jesperi Kotkaniemi to create a 2-on-1, skating the length of the ice and then firing through the legs of Kochetkov when he hit the left circle.

“I don’t think that’s ever happened to me in my entire life before,” Fabbro said. “Z had a good stick there and I was able to collect the puck, and I just saw their guy diving in and made a move. It was a full-ice 2-on-1. I saw Mo on the other side, and I think in my mind, I was thinking shoot the whole way.

“I will say I wasn’t aiming five hole, but it worked out. Glad that could go in.”

Werenski topped 32 minutes while reaching a season high in ice time, and Fabbro racked up the minutes along with his defensive partner. When it was all said and done, Fabbro’s ice time of 25:36 was just 12 seconds shy of a career high, and he finished plus-2.

Not bad for a guy that was available to just about everyone a fortnight ago.

“Obviously Don and his group went out and got a guy that could stabilize our back end,” head coach Dean Evason said. “Every night, he does the same things. He’s a pro. He just goes about his business and eats minutes and is a sound hockey player.”