Another Blue Jackets season that went bust before the playoffs went out with a boom Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.
More: Labor of love: Columbus Blue Jackets' Jeff Rimer ready to join his 'rock' in retirement
Rather than going into the offseason moping, the Jackets sent a crowd of 17, 289 home with a few good things to remember in a 6-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes .
Rookie Luca Del Bel Belluz scored his first career goal on the first shot of his NHL debut. Michigan standout Gavin Brindley made his NHL debut. Zach Werenski , another Michigan alum, had two goals, two assists and four points to tie the Blue Jackets' franchise scoring record for a defenseman in one season — which his former partner, Seth Jones , set in 2017-18 with 57 points .
"Once I got two (points) in the first, and then went to three in the third, all the guys were kind of pushing me to get it," Werenski said. "(Assistant Steve McCarthy) kept pushing me over the boards, and then 'Provy' ( Ivan Provorov ) changed (out) on my last goal there. So, I owe it to a lot of guys, but it was pretty cool to finish that way. Just getting a win here in our last game before summer, I think it's huge for us."
It was also a memorable night for television play-by-play broadcaster Jeff Rimer , who went into retirement calling a victory to end his 20-year run in Columbus and almost 50 years covering NHL games. Rimer received a standing ovation midway through the third and the Blue Jackets were sent into their offseason hearing chants of "C-B-J!" ringing in their ears.
"The best moment was ... well there were a few, right?" Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. "Del Bel Belluz's first shift. Scores a goal. Zach Werenski ties the record. But the message today was, 'We're going to compete as hard as we can, and we owe it to our fans. We owe it to the jersey we wear."
The Blue Jackets (27-43-12) closed out the season last in the Metropolitan Division and last in the Eastern Conference with 66 points, a seven-point increase from last year's injury-maligned 59-point debacle . Injuries decimated this one, too, but not until the final five weeks. The Jackets' point total could've been higher with better health luck, not to mention better play while holding leads in third periods .
That didn't happen in the finale, when the Jackets turned a 4-3 lead into a three-goal cushion against a postseason-bound Hurricanes team that rested most of its top players. Werenski, Del Bel Belluz, Johnny Gaudreau , James Malatesta and Alex Nylander accounted for the Jackets' goals, while rookie goalie Jet Greaves (38 saves) earned his third win of the season between the pipes.
Teuvo Teravainen scored two goals to lead the Hurricanes (52-23-70), who played former Blue Jackets goalie Spencer Martin in net.
"We've been saying that next year is starting now, and we're evaluating the character of our team, and the people, how they manage those moments," Vincent said. "But winning that game in front of our fans in the last game of the season, that's the cherry on the cake."
Here are the takeaways:
An NHL debut is always a memorable occasion for players, their families, previous teammates, coaches and anybody else who had anything to do with it along the way.
Del Bel Belluz, 20, added even more to his debut by netting his first NHL goal on his first shift with his first shot after serving his first penalty early in the first period. Moments after coming out of the penalty box, the rookie got the puck from fellow rookie Mikael Pyyhtia, carried into the Carolina zone and zipped a laser past goalie Spencer Martin for a 1-0 lead just 3:37 into the game.
"There was a lot of adrenaline pumping through," Del Bel Belluz said. "I probably shot one of my hardest shots there."
Del Bel Belluz was selected by Columbus in the second round (44thoverall) of the 2022 NHL draft in Montreal . He has nine goals, 21 assists and 30 points in 55 games as an AHL rookie for the Cleveland Monsters, who are gearing up for the Calder Cup Playoffs.
According to the NHL, he's the 223rd player in league history to score his first career goal with his first shot. His family just barely missed it after barreling toward Columbus from the Toronto area with a 2 p.m. start from their driveway. Del Bel Belluz was informed around 1 p.m. that he'd make his NHL debut as an emergency replacement for Dmitri Voronkov .
After returning to his apartment in Cleveland to get a suit, he excitedly made the two-hour drive to Columbus. His parents, Susy and Angelo, and sister, Ella, arrived just in time to hear his name being announced for the goal as they entered the concourse at Nationwide Arena.
"There were so many thoughts going through my head," Del Bel Belluz said. "I had so many people calling me on my way down to Columbus, so a lot of the time I was on the phone. It was just so memorable."
Werenski also had a night to remember with his four-point night for the Blue Jackets. His two assists set a new franchise record for assists in a single season by a defenseman (46) and his second goal, scored with just 39 seconds left, tied Jones for the team's all-time scoring record for a defenseman in one season.
It capped a fevered push to the finish line for Werenski, who scored 10 of his 11 goals for the season in the last 36 games. He also added 22 assists in that span to finish with 10-22-32 to chase down former Blue Jackets defensemen James Wisniewski for the assists record and Jones in points.
Werenski, this year's Masterton Trophy nominee for the Blue Jackets and the team's "community MVP" for his local charitable efforts, made that furious push after returning from a high-ankle sprain that caused him to miss 10 games. His season will continue next month for the U.S. at the world championships in Czechia.
"Just getting a win here in front of our fans in our last game here before summer, I think it's huge for us," Werenski said. "It was a really fun hockey game, a fun atmosphere and it's good to end on a high note."
Vincent signed a two-year contract after taking over Mike Babcock's role as the Blue Jackets' head coach just a couple days before training camp opened.
Babcock's forced resignation for alleged privacy violations during 1-on-1 player meetings last offseason put Vincent in the spotlight, but his own future in Columbus instantly became uncertain when Jarmo Kekalainen was fired Feb. 15. The Blue Jackets are looking for a new GM, which will determine whether Vincent sticks around to coach the final year of his contract.
"Well, we know we're going to have a new GM," he said. "What's going to happen from there, I don't know. ... We've improved a lot of things, and the guys know about it. But this summer, we're going to be specific about a few things, and when it comes to me, well, it's going to be up to the new GM to decide what he wants to do. Certainly, I hope I'll be here, but it's going to be up to him."
Midway through the third period, Rimer was shown on the scoreboard video screens during a stoppage. He was given a lengthy standing ovation by fans who've listened to him call Blue Jackets games on television for the past 20 years, which brought two touches of his heart to signify his feelings for them.
Vincent also invited Rimer to read the Jackets' starting lineup in the locker room prior to the game, where he asked them to send him out with a victory. The Blue Jackets delivered for a memorable night in Columbus.
The Hurricanes rested most of their top players, but they still outshot the Blue Jackets by a wide margin (41-25). The reason they didn't spoil the evening's festivities was primarily due to Greaves' latest impressive performance in net.
Greaves is undersized for an NHL goalie, but he's quick side-to-side, remains poised and has an excellent glove hand as a former baseball shortstop growing up. The Blue Jackets are still looking for a new general manager, so many roster projections would just be guessing at this point. Greaves, however, proved during nine appearances this season that NHL competition isn't overwhelming for him.
Should something change this summer with the top two goalies in the organization, Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov, Greaves could challenge for at least the NHL backup role next season.
The Blue Jackets honored the Ohio State women's hockey team for winning another NCAA national championship this season. They also had Gavin Brindley, a Michigan standout who just signed his first NHL contract Monday, make his NHL debut in the season finale at Nationwide Arena.
A large number of Brindley's former Wolverines teammates made the trip down from Ann Arbor, Michigan to support him and catch up with other recent U-M players who are now Blue Jackets – including Adam Fantilli , Kent Johnson and Nick Blankenburg .
At one point, while the OSU women's team was shown on the scoreboard, the crowd broke out into the "O-H-I-O!" chant during the playing of "Hang on Sloopy," as Ohio State's block 'O' logo flashed on the screen. It was a prelude to what it could be like for the "Michigan Blue Jackets" for the scheduled outdoor game March 1, 2025 at Ohio Stadium.
After netting his first NHL goal Saturday in Nashville , Malatesta scored for the second straight game while skating with veterans Sean Kuraly and Mathieu Olivier.
Olivier charged after the puck off a faceoff Kuraly won late in the first, attempted a between-the-legs shot in front of the net and barreled over Martin as Malatesta popped the puck home for a 3-2 lead going into the first intermission. It was a quick reaction by the rookie forward, who instinctively headed toward the back post after spotting Olivier taking the puck strong to the net.
Malatesta has a tall order to break camp with the Blue Jackets next season, but it wouldn't be surprising if he earns a role playing with Kuraly and Olivier that soon. Unlike a lot of young players, he's already built like an NHL veteran and knows how to use his strength. He's also not afraid to get into the "kitchens" of opposing players and cook, much like Olivier.
"I think he's got over 40 body checks in 11 games," Vincent said. "He's made a big impression on us, and that's what I told him. I said, 'That fire that you have, that's your identity, that's what you can bring,' and adding this guy to Kuraly and Olivier gave us an identity on that line. He's done a real good job."
Most initially thought of Nylander as a throw-in part of a trade that sent Emil Bemstrom to the Pittsburgh Penguins . He came to Columbus with a conditional sixth-round pick that could've become a third-round selection if Bemstrom scored six goals for the Penguins in the season's final five-plus weeks.
That didn't happen, which is no surprise to Blue Jackets fans who watched Bemstrom continually underwhelm since his NHL arrival in 2019. Nylander, picked eighth overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2016, turned out to be the "steal" of the deal for Columbus.
His goal in the season finale, a beautiful one-touch number from a sharp angle off a bounce pass from Erik Gudbranson , was his 11thin just 28 games for the Blue Jackets. Nylander finished his first season in Columbus with 11-4-15 in just 28 games, including his first NHL hat trick and two other two-goal games.
He's a pending restricted free agent who almost certainly earned himself a new contract to extend his stay in Columbus.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets topple Hurricanes to cap trying season: takeaways
