The Columbus Blue Jackets entered Tuesday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets riding a three-game win streak, defeating Carolina, Minnesota and the New York Rangers in the process.
The high-octane scoring of the Jets, led by youngsters Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, definitely caused some concern among CBJ fans, but in the end, it was the Columbus Blue Jackets that ended up showing off their goal-scoring ability.
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1st Period – Blazing Pace
In the first period, both teams came out quick. The ice didn’t seem to want to comply, though. Players from both teams struggled with footing and keeping the puck from bouncing around the rink.
FOX Sports Ohio color commentator and former Blue Jacket Jody Shelley made a comment about the condition of the ice and how a concert held in Bell MTS Place last night may have been a reason for the puck bouncing so much.
Either way, neither team seemed to gain an advantage over the other in the first 20 minutes. However, the Blue Jackets were slightly more aggressive on the opposing goaltender, outshooting the Jets 11-8. Nonetheless, the teams went into the first intermission scoreless.
2nd Period – You Get A Goal! (x5)
The second period was filled with goals. Most of them were Blue Jackets goals too.
Scoring started off with a Cam Atkinson goal. Camsanity raced down the ice with Jacob Trouba in pursuit, but Trouba couldn’t stop Atkinson from getting the first goal of the game and third of the season.
Nick Foigno was up next as he shaked and baked all over the ice to score one of the sweetest looking goals of the year. You just got to watch to appreciate this.
Winnipeg was able to respond as Kyle Connor sneaked one past Joonas Korpisalo to record his first NHL goal in his first NHL game.
The good feels didn’t last long as Jack Johnson scored following some sweet moves by Josh Anderson and Brandon Dubinsky. And to top off the period, Lukas “Sedsy Cat (rawr)” Sedlak scored unassisted to make it a 4-1 game to end two periods.
3rd Period – Just Finishing The Job
Compared to the second period, the final 20 minutes was pretty uneventful. The Blue Jackets played pretty passively as they held their large lead, only conceding one more goal to Joel Armia. But it’s okay, Zach Werenski scored one more earlier in the period.
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Postgame Wrapup
This is basically is what you want out of the Blue Jackets. They didn’t do the best job at times, but they didn’t need to. They put up a great amount of scoring behind constant aggression while Korpisalo did his job for the most part in net.
This win marked the fourth in the row for the Columbus Blue Jackets. It also pushed the team’s season record to 5-1-0, tying their best start in franchise history. They may have not played the best teams, but it’s encouraging that they’re still winning, with three wins coming on the road.
The next game will be a good test for the team, though. Nikita Kucherov and the hot Tampa Bay Lightning will be coming to town on Thursday in a highly anticipated Eastern Conference matchup.