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Blue Jackets Grab Pair Of Wins On First Day Of Preseason

September 22, 2014, 9:14 AM ET [2 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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Blue Jackets hockey is back and, though the games weren't overly important, they came back with a bang, grabbing two wins in as many contests on the first day of preseason.

Playing in split squad games against Carolina and St. Louis, the Jackets managed to squeak out a pair of 4-3 wins.

They were beaten pretty bad on the shot clock in both games, but they're 2-0 nonetheless.

Some notes on Sunday's contests:

- Cam Atkinson broke out in a big way last season en route to a 21-goal, 40-point campaign. The Blue Jackets need a little more from him if they want to take the next step and, luckily for them, he appears ready to do that. Atkinson had a pair of goals on four shots and was named the 1st star in Columbus' 4-3 win over Carolina.

- Somebody should tell James Wisniewski it's only preseason. The 30-year-old defenseman logged over 27 minutes of ice and had an assist in the win.

- Cody Goloubef is probably the most likely under-the-radar defenseman to make Columbus, and he showed why against the Hurricanes. He was 3rd on the team in minutes (22:09) and had an assist.

- Oliver Bjorkstrand had seven(!) hits in just over 14 minutes of work. The next closest to him in that category were Michael Chaput (4) and Brad Malone (4).

- Anton Forsberg outdueled Cam Ward/Alex Nedeljkovic in a big way. The young Swede stopped 29-32 while the Canes' duo stopped just 15-19.

- In the other game, Boone Jenner stole the show. He had a goal, an assist and won 67% of his faceoffs before leaving the game for precautionary reasons with what the team calls tightness. He played center in junior and was excellent in that role, but the team clearly wants to see how he can handle his reps down the middle in NHL games (albeit preseason) should the team need/want to move him to center.

- David Savard had six hits, three shots, an assist and a couple blocks while playing a hair over 29 minutes. That's quite the line.

- Jenner's goal aside, all the offense came from kids against the Blues. Kerby Rychel, Alex Wennberg and Dillon Heatherington (OT winner) all found twine.

Next up for the Jackets is a game on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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