What a week it was for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Let's recap what was, what is, and will be going on with the franchise at this time in this Presidential Mood Monday.
The Union Blue lost to the New Jersey Devils on Valentine's Day at home, in a final second ditch effort.
Additional information is from game 54 in my archives.
Johnny Gaudreau had a final second goal in the first period that would be his 15th as a part of the organization; equaling for his 225th career goal.
Patrik Laine had the primary assist for his 18th of the season, and 169th of his career. It counted as his 359th career point.
Adam Boqvist got first goal this season, and a secondary assist for his 18th career goal and 45th career assist.
New Jersey got the opening goal from Yegor Sharangovich; Jesper Bratt; and Ryan Graves.
Vitek Vanacek stopped 31 out of 33 shots for the Devils; Elvis Merzlikins stopped 29 out of 32 shots for the Jackets.
Columbus upset the Winnipeg Jets, but lost Johnny Gaudreau to a lower body injury in the effort.
My archive has this labeled as Game 55 for the game notes.
Patrik Laine had a power play goal and an assist against his former team. This gets the second overall pick to career goal 191 and assist 170.
Kent Johnson recorded his 12th career goal.
Boone Jenner continues to lead the Jackets in goal in the season with 16.
Johnny Gaudreau had his 37th assist despite the injury and conclusion of the Ironman streak.
Emil Bemstrom got his 8th assist if the season and 25th in his short career.
Columbus native Jack Roslovic got his 25th assist of the season and 175th career point against his former team.
David Rittich allowed two goals on 23 shots; Joonas Korpisalo allowed one goal on 38 shots.
The Blue Jackets went into Dallas and stunned them in their seventh loss in the past nine.
CBJ P56 — Stun the Stars
The Columbus Blue Jackets open the scoring with an NHL first. The first round pick from the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Liam Foudy, has opened the scoring with his first career goal. Jack Roslovic and Emil Bemstrom have the helpers on the first.
Dallas then came victim to a challenge call by the Jackets to the tying goal. Jason Robertson's attempted goal was called back.
The Dallas Stars then evened the game with unassisted goal by Tye Dellandrea for his eighth goal of the season.
The Stars then had a second called back goal off an effort by Wyatt Johnston.
Columbus had a three goal third period to crush the Stars' momentum.
Adam Boqvist continues his production with his second goal of the season from Sean Kuraly and Mathieu Olivier.
Olivier had a mid-period goal for his fourth as a Jacket from Eric Robinson and Kuraly.
After an infraction call, Robinson was awarded the final goal for his fifth from Olivier.
Miro Heskianen was my Stars' player to watch, having a -1 on the evening. The Fin had 4 shots on goal in 25:01TOI while also blocking two shots on goal.
Scott Wedgewood allowed three goals on 36 shots for a 0.917 save percentage.
Gavin Bayreuther was my Blue Jackets player to watch, being a +1 with 12:51TOI. The New Hampshire native had 21 shifts with one shot, hit, and two block shots.
Joonas Korpisalo has 28 saves out of the 29 shots faced for a save percentage of 0.966 on the night.
CBJ THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. Joonas Korpisalo -- W, 28 saves, 96.6%
2. Adam Boqvist -- assist, 16:11TOI, +1, 3 game point streak
3. Mathieu Olivier -- goal (4), 2 assists (8); +3, 3 hits, 18:41TOI
The Jackets concluded their weekend in Arizona State with an effort against the Coyotes.
CBJ P57 -- School House Rock
The Arizona Coyotes opened the scoring with two goals in 2:14 time of play.
In the final five minutes of the first period, a great Troy Stecher shot was redirected over the Columbus defender for Travis Boyd to record his eighth goal of the season. Christian Fischer had the secondary assist.
Moments later, a Clayton Keller shot off the back boards rebounded back to Nick Schmaltz, blazing the biscuit over the glove of the goalie for his 15th this year.
Passing the midway marker of the game, a smooth passing between the right handed duo of Andrew Peeke and Nick Blankenburg led to a Boone Jenner redirect goal for his team leading 17th goal of the season.
Patrik Laine evens the game off a third period beautiful one timer for his 16th on the year from Boqvist 's pass and the Jenner setup.
Barrett Hayton rips the overtime winner off a Mattias Maccelli one timer for the first rounder's first ever overtime game winner goal. It would also be his eighth of the campaign.
Clayton Keller was my player to watch for the Arizona Coyotes, earning his 30th assist this season. He also had a minor for tripping Kent Johnson just before the halfway mark of the second period. He also had 2 shots and a block with 21:30TOI.
Connor Ingram was the starting goaltender for the Desert Dogs, allowing two goals on 36 shots faced for a 0.944 save percentage. He had a two and a half game shout-out streak, stopping 86 straight shots at that point before the Jenner goal.
Lane Pederson was my Columbus player to watch, given he is the former Coyotes' prospect. He was pointless with one shot on goal in 7:31TOI.
Elvis Merzlikins stopped 22 of 25 shots for a 0.880 save percentage.
CBJ THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. Boone Jenner -- goal (17,) assist (15)
2. Patrik Laine -- PPG (16)
3. Nick Blankenburg -- assist, 2SOG, 2 hits, 21:43TOI
This week, Columbus has two games against the Minnesota Wild in four days, with Edmonton Oilers visiting in between. The Oilers game concludes their home games for the month of February.
Vladislav Gavrikov is moving this week. Get ready for it. Boston is the front runner, unless there is a last second announcement.
Gus Nyquist and Joonas Korpisalo remain on the market and continue to garner attention around the league. I'd be intrigued to see if Gavin Bayreuther is moved as a depth piece.
Thoughts? More trade talk coming