Update 6:55pm w/CBJ P13 - Victory at a Devastating Cost The Columbus Blue Jackets WIN!
Rare occurrence for that statement to be written and documented this season. The Columbus Blue Jackets hood onto survival with a regulation win over the Philadelphia Flyers, with the final score of 5-2.
Columbus opened the scoring with 3 consecutive goals, with the top guys coming up strong.
Johnny Gaudreau opened the scoring with a clean and beautiful wrist shot for his 6th goal of the season; Zach Werenski had the lone assist.
Werenski and Gaudreau teamed up again to get Z’s third of the campaign. Gaudreau had the apple.
Captain Boone Jenner opened the second period scoring with his 3rd of the year; Patrik Laine and Gaudreau had the helpers.
The the injuries came. More will come at the end of this.
Then came the Philadelphia Flyers goals.
Anthony DeAngelo smacked the door shut on the shutout hopes with his 3rd of the season and as a Flyer; Noah Cates and Ivan Provorov had the helpers.
Provorov then got his first of the season; forwards Travis Konecny and Joel Farabee had the helpers.
Then more injuries.
To end, there were two Columbus empty net goals.
Nick Blanenburg got the first empty net goal against the Flyers for his second of the year; Brendan Gaunce got the assist for his first point of the season.
Jenner got his second goal of the game for his 4th of the year and was unassisted.
Former Blue Jackets’ forward Lukas Sedlak was my player to watch for Columbus, in his first game back in North America in years. Sedlak was pointless, but was +1 with 2 shots and hits; Sedlak had 14:11 TOI.
Carter Hart got his first regulation loss of the season, stopping 24 of 27 shots for a 0.889 save percentage.
Johnny Gaudreau was my player to watch for Columbus, and he was the first star of the game without a doubt. Gaudreau had the opening goal; a primary assist; and a secondary assist, for a three point performance. This puts the prize of the 2022 free agent market at 12 points in his first 13 games as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Gaudreau also was a +3 with 2 shots on goal and takeaways. Johnny Jacket had 19:07 TOI.
Joonas Korpisalo was the starter for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and got his first regulation win in 7 and a half months. Korpi allowed 2 goals on 34 shots for a 0.941 save percentage.
CBJ THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. Johnny Gaudreau — goal (6), 2 assists (6)
2. Zach Werenski — goal (3), assist (5)
3. Boone Jenner — 2 goals (4)
The Injury Report:
John Tortorella had his team tonight like he did with Columbus, tough and ready to play. Great guy, coach, and hoping for the Hall of Fame for the winner.
Now, his team and the home team collided, and led to three injuries for the Blue Jackets.
Zach Werenski — the top defender suffered a dislocated shoulder and a torn labrum, and is DONE for the season.
Nick Blanenburg — the undrafted Michigan captain suffered a broken ankle, and will miss the next 6-8 weeks.
Erik Gudbranson — the first rounder from the Florida Panthers suffered an undisclosed upper body injury, and is day to day. Columbus coach Brad Larsen has confirmed he will miss the next game (tomorrow against the NY Islanders).
Jakub Voracek — suffered an upper body injury against Colorado, and is on IR with no timeline of return.
Sean Kuraly — suffered an injury against Colorado, is on IR as day to day.
As a result, the injuries have led to three defensemen being recalled from the AHL Cleveland Monsters. Defensemen Gavin Bayreuther, Marcus Bjork, and Jake Christiansen are traveling with the team to Queens; David Jiricek, who was recalled earlier in the day, has been reassigned due to salary cap issues. All will be confirmed in the lineup, meaning we get the NHL debut for Bjork.