Blue Jackets score 4 straight in 2nd, stay hot with win against Kraken

COLUMBUS -- Zach Werenski, Denton Mateychuk and Luca Del Bel Belluz each had a goal and an assist for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who scored four straight times in the second period of a 6-2 victory against the Seattle Kraken at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

Sean Kuraly, Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko also scored, and James van Riemsdyk had two assists for the Blue Jackets (19-17-6), who have won three straight and six of eight. Elvis Merzlikins made 29 saves.

Mateychuk, 20, and Del Bel Belluz, 21, are part of the youth movement that has come through Cleveland of the American Hockey League.

“They’ve got swagger. They've got a confidence,” Columbus coach Dean Evason said. “Both guys that come up, they've got a ton of points down there, but they play the right way. It just sets them up to have success.

“The team, this group in particular, the most important thing to them is the two points. That's what's awesome about this group. Are we happy for people? One hundred percent. But the people that we're happy for are happy to win -- as opposed to just scoring a goal or making their debut or whatever -- it's that the Columbus Blue Jackets win.”

Eeli Tolvanen scored twice for the Kraken (17-22-3), who have lost four in a row. Philipp Grubauer allowed five goals on 19 shots before being replaced at 15:45 of the second period by Joey Daccord, who stopped all four shots he faced.

“I think the second period is embarrassing from us,” Tolvanen said. “We have to do something, get some life on the team. … We gave them all their goals. Sloppy D-zone turnovers.

“I feel like when we play a simple game, then we are at the best. Then when we start trying to make fancy plays, that's when we get scored on.”

Kuraly gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 11:58 when he tipped a shot by Ivan Provorov for his first goal in 15 games.

Tolvanen scored 10 seconds later to tie it 1-1 at 12:08 with a shot from the top of the right face-off circle to end a 12-game goal drought.

Del Bel Belluz, making his season debut, gave the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead at 3:29 of the second with a redirect of a van Riemsdyk pass. It was his second goal in his second NHL game after being recalled from Cleveland on Wednesday to replace injured center Sean Monahan.

He became the first player in franchise history to score at least one goal in each of his first two career games.

“Right now, I'm just trying to stay in the moment and get through day by day and kind of just earn my spot,” Del Bel Belluz said.

Werenski extended it to 3-1 at 10:53 scoring, from the left dot.

“After the third goal, in particular, there was a huge drop in our game after that for too long a time,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said.

Mateychuk made it 4-1 at 12:27 with his first NHL goal. The No. 12 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft was playing in his eighth game.

“I know every guy in this room wants to win and we've had quite a bit of success in Cleveland, so, I just try and bring that same feeling up here,” Mateychuk said. “Everybody knows in here that we can win.”

Johnson pushed it to 5-1 at 15:45, prompting Grubauer to be pulled.

Tolvanen’s second goal of the game made it 5-2 at 8:44 of the third period.

“We tried to come on the third and have a push and see what could happen,” Kraken defenseman Josh Mahura said. “Obviously, just too much to overcome from the second there.”

Marchenko scored an empty-net goal at 19:31 for the 6-2 final.

NOTES: Blue Jackets forward Owen Sillinger, 27, played 13:09 in his NHL debut in place of his younger brother, Cole, who was ill. They are the sons of Mike Sillinger, who played 1,049 NHL games from 1990-2009, including 155 for Columbus in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. … Werenski has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in a five-game point streak … Columbus forward Adam Fantilli had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, three assists). … The Blue Jackets have scored six goals an NHL-leading 10 times this season, one shy of the franchise record set in 2018-19.