The Blue Jackets were back in action Saturday night in Minnesota, in a game that lived up to its Wild expectations.
It was a much better start for the guys in Union Blue. They not only weathered the early home opener storm from the Wild, they actually took an early lead.
After breaking out from the defensive zone, Zach Aston-Reese sent a long dump in cross-corner, which was picked up by Miles Wood as he sped down the wing. He made one quick move and fired a shot that beat Wild goaltender Filip Gustavson to make it 1-0 Jackets just 2:29 in.
The Wild turned the heat up quite a bit as the period went on, but Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins stood very tall. In one of the best periods we've seen from #90 in recent memory, he stopped all 13 shots in the first as the Jackets took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
The Jackets struck quickly to start the second, with Kirill Marchenko breaking in and sniping a shot past Gustavsson, extending the lead to 2-0 at the 0:07 mark of the period. This was the fastest goal to start a period in CBJ franchise history.
Unfortunately, after that moment of excitement, the period mostly spiraled down the drain. Erik Gudbranson was called for a holding penalty that led to the first Minnesota goal, scored on a tap in by Matt Boldy on the power-play at 6:18 of the period.
Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason opted to challenge the play for goaltender interference, but as we've become accustomed to in Columbus; the call did not go our way. This led to another Minnesota power-play that really swung the momentum their way.
With the Jackets killing off that delay of game penalty due to the failed challenge, Gudbranson was again sent to the box for shooting the puck over the glass. To call this a controversial call might be an understatement.
Gudbranson's skate was clearly hacked, causing him to stumble forward as he tried to clear the puck. Due to that trip, his momentum propelled him forward and caused his clearing attempt to go out of play. Just an awful look from tonight's officiating crew.
And, as these things go, of course the Wild capitalized and tied the game. Boldy made a nice play in the middle of the ice, freezing the Blue Jackets' penalty killers, then dished a pass over to Kirill Kaprizov for an easy empty-net shoot in.
To their credit however, the Jackets battled back. They were able to get in on the forecheck and draw a power-play, which helped them build some momentum in spite of the fact that they didn't score.
This led to the period ending the same way it began: with a Kirill Marchenko goal. A Zach Werenski point shot hit Dmitri Voronkov in the leg and deflected out front to Marchenko, who made no mistake shooting it into the Wild net.
As a result, the Jackets would take a one goal lead into the third period, despite a 34-19 shot advantage for the Wild.
They Jackets would make it 4-2 just 1:11 into the third period. Cole Sillinger made a terrific play just inside the Minnesota blue line, intercepting a Wild clearing pass and finding Adam Fantilli. He bought time and made the play over to Zach Werenski, who wired a shot past Gustavsson to extend the CBJ lead.
Kirill Marchenko would extend the lead with his third of the night at 3:01 of the third. HIs fourth career hat trick came on a one-timer with a 5 on 3 advantage, off of a nice give and go with Zach Werenski.
But the parade to the penalty box would continue, and it kept this game interesting. The Wild would score on their 7th power-play of the night, with Zeev Buium firing a one-timer past Elvis Merzlikins to make it 5-3 at 9:53 of the third.
On this night, there was no quit in the Jackets. Off of a faceoff win Boone Jenner fired a shot toward the net that deflected in off of Adam Fantilli, bringing the game to 6-3 for the Jackets at 10:47.
The Wild would get a late power-play tally - another from Kirill Kaprizov - to make it 6-4 at 15:49. But it was too little, too late. Boone Jenner would finish this one off with an empty netter at 18:34 of the third, giving the Jackets a 7-4 victory over the Wild.
Three standouts:
1. Kirill Marchenko. He got the hat trick, and for the second straight game, he was the best player on the ice. Through those two games, he has a total of 12 shots on goal.
2. Elvis Merzlikins. The Wild held a 52-32 shot advantage on Saturday night, but Elvis stood tall. He made 48 saves and gave his team a chance to win against the odds. Great performance from #90.
3. Zach Werenski. 3 points, + 4 rating and over 25 minutes played. We wouldn't have it anywhere else.
In summary:
It wasn't a pretty win, but it was two points in a tough environment. Moving forward, they will need to find ways to stay out of the penalty box and stick to their own game. At 5 on 5, they are quickly proving that they're a very dangerous team. It's better if we can play more at even strength.
Next up is the home opener, Monday night at Nationwide Arena with the New Jersey Devils coming to town. It will be important for the Blue Jackets to carry some momentum from this one into their first Metropolitan Division matchup of the season.