Game two of the Traverse City Prospects Tournament did not go as well for the Blue Jacket prospects team, as they dropped a 5-2 decision. The game was closer than the score might indicate however, and they did not really play all that poorly. In fact, if you take Detroit free agent invitee Riley Piercey and his four goal performance out of the equation, the Jackets actually won the game 2-1. Silver linings.
After Piercey opened the scoring early, Kent Johnson scored his second goal of the tournament exactly halfway through the first period off of a rebound from a Mikael Pyythia shot, tying the game up:
who wants to relive that KJ goal?? (we know you do) pic.twitter.com/ni54ufFupH
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 16, 2022
The score would remain tied until the 11:56 mark of the second, with Piercey collecting his second of the game. The Red Wings scored again with less than four minutes left, with a goal from Drew Worrad, and took a 3-1 lead into the third. They went up 4-1 at the 11:33 mark (Piercey again), before the Jackets would make the game interesting with a goal from Kirill Marchenko, his second of the tournament:
Just call him Kirill Marchenkgoal!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/Tyr1cru6Qq
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 16, 2022
The Red Wings would cap off the scoring with a goal at 14:44 of the third by – you guessed it – Riley Piercey. His four goal game was certainly the storyline today, making all the difference in this game. The young Blue Jackets played pretty well but simply gave up too much defensively, allowing the Red Wings too much in front of the net and off of the rush.
The three standout players for me today were Johnson and Marchenko, who both had goals but also looked engaged and had several good looks throughout the game – and Jordan Dumais. Dumais, for the second day in a row, had several good looks and probably should have had a couple of goals, but was unable to cash in. The trio spent a few shifts together in the early second period and I thought those were the best shifts of the game for either side.
I also thought free agent invitee Liam Hawel had a pretty good game and he seems like a guy with some upside. The former fourth round pick of the Dallas Stars has good size and offensive instincts, and played well on both sides of the puck.
The Jackets will take a 1-1 record into Sunday, where they will face the Toronto Maple Leafs in their final game of the tournament. Puck drop is at 2:00 eastern, and you can catch the game on bluejackets.com, or the team’s Twitter page.