With the Columbus Blue Jackets set to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, we thought we'd reminisce and jump into the way back machine to bring you a little CBJ lore.
This one is fun.
On January 11, 2006, the CBJ played the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena. The Jackets jumped all over the Penguins in more ways than one.
Columbus scored 3 in the first and 3 in the second to route the Pens, with goals by Rick Nash, David Výborný, Nikolay Zherdev, Jaroslav Balaštík(2), and Sergei Fedorov. Those are some big-time names.
But that's not even the fun part. The CBJ set a franchise record by taking 21 penalties in the game. This record has stood since that night and has only come close to being broken a few times.
They took a total of 68 PIMs, the second-most in a game, behind the 70 they had in 2003 against the San Jose Sharks.
The Blue Jackets did everything they could to lose this game from 31 seconds in.
The Jackets took 5 penalties in the 1st period, 9 in the 2nd, and 7 in the 3rd for a total of 21 penalties for 68 minutes. In total, the Pens got 8 power plays out of the chaos. But what's even crazier is that the CBJ went 8-for-8 on the PK.
The Penguins also took 21 penalties for 84 PIMs, giving the Blue Jackets 6 power-play opportunities, on which they scored 2 goals.
Even the late Lyle Odelein, former first Captain of the CBJ, who played for Pittsburg at the time got into a fight with current Captain Rick Nash.
Here's the penalty list for the game for Columbus:
Jody Shelley - 20 PIMs - Multiple Fights
Ron Hainsey - 14 - Multiple Fights
Rick Nash - 9 - Fight
Mike Rupp - 5 - Fight
Nikolay Zherdev - 4
Dan Fritsche - 4
Cale Hulse - 4
Radoslav Suchy - 2
Rusty Klesla - 2
Many fans wish that the series between the CBJ and Pens would turn into a full-fledged rivalry, but with a record of only 20-30-11 against Pittsburgh, there going to need to start stacking a lot of wins to make that happen.
Check out the highlights below.
Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets take on the Pittsburgh Penguins this Friday at Nationwide Arena.
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