SAN JOSE, Calif. ― The "hockey gods" owed them one.
Amid a season filled with heartbreaking finishes , fumbled leads and wins that slipped through their fingers , the Blue Jackets finally got one in their favor Saturday night at SAP Center.
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After coughing up a 3-1 lead in the second period, they avoided overtime with time running out in the third on a goal by captain Boone Jenner that delivered a 4-3 victory with 12.9 seconds left in regulation. It doesn't make up for the Jackets' multitude of gut-punches, but winning was something to savor.
"You get the two points, it's a lot better," Jenner said. "We've played some good games, and you don't get the result, but there were some ups and downs for us tonight. We had some good minutes, but I really like the way we just found a way to win. That's what you've got to do in this league. Even when they were pushing (in the third), we didn't break. We stuck to it."
Former Blue Jackets forward Anthony Duclair led the Sharks (15-34-5) with two goals and Fabian Zetterlund (goal, assist) scored the third on a power play to tie it 3-3 late in the second. That was the only goal allowed by the Jackets' struggling penalty-kill in four times shorthanded. One of the successful kills followed a tripping call on Cole Sillinger with just 7:40 left in the third and the game tied.
Jenner's goal was his team-leading 17thof the season and fourth in the past three games. Gaudreau , Erik Gudbranson and Yegor Chinakhov finished with two assists each while Zach Werenski , Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov scored the first three goals for the Blue Jackets (17-26-10). Elvis Merzlikins made 30 saves to help his team nix a two-game skid before concluding a three-game road trip Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Angeles and Anaheim .
"We've always found ways to lose this year it seems like," Werenski said. "Tonight, we find a way to win with 12 seconds left, which hasn't happened yet this year. I would've liked to have been up a couple more goals in the third period and won that way ... but we'll take it."
Here are six takeaways:
Moments after celebrating a goal that would've given the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead just 36 seconds into the second period, Gaudreau heard an announcement that San Jose was challenging for a missed offsides.
That's now close to a 100% probability a goal will be overturned by a missed offside call, which is exactly what happened with Gaudreau's tally ― which would've been his first goal of 2024. Gaudreau also came up empty on three breakaways in tha span of about five minutes.
All he could do was just shake his head in disbelief.
"It was rough," Gaudreau said. "Three breakaways. I had (goalie Kaapo Kahkonen ) beat on the first, and he got a stick on it. Second one hit the post and the third one, I think I shot it high. And then I scored one ... and they took it back. It just wasn't my night tonight. Maybe just stick to passing for a few games."
That wouldn't be a terrible idea, but Gaudreau would like to end a 16-game goal drought soon. It's not all bad, though. Gaudreau played a strong game in San Jose and finished with two points on primary assists to Werenski and Jenner.
His dish to Jenner to spring a late break in the third between two Sharks defenders was an elite play.
"I thought he was dominant tonight," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. "I've never seen that, three breakaways and not even one shot on goal (on them). But he was there, he got open and used his speed. I thought he was good."
Jenner's full range of skills can be his body's own worst enemy sometimes.
His work ethic is relentless. He's the Jackets' best on faceoffs. His brute strength and willingness to block shots make him a top defensive forward. It's easy to see how coaches rack up huge amounts of ice time for Jenner, but that doesn't mean it's good for his body in the long haul of his career.
Jenner has dealt with back issues, on and off, the past two seasons while his ice time skyrocketed. It's starting to feel like he might be headed down an all-to-familiar path in that regard. Jenner's 22:46 against the Sharks was his third straight game logging 22-plus minutes, and that was after setting a career-high with a whopping 26:42 on Tuesday in Ottawa ― a road loss that didn't even go to OT.
The Blue Jackets are chasing wins while going through the growing pains of a youthful team learning how to do it, but keeping Jenner healthy for those future seasons is vital. Dialing back his usage a notch could be one way to do it, but the Jackets also have a recovery-friendly February schedule with plenty of down time baked into it, so Jenner should be getting adequate down time between games.
It's something to watch down the stretch.
Hoping to ignite an offensive spark, Vincent put the Blue Jackets' three Russian forwards — Chinakhov, Dmitri Voronkov and Marchenko — back together for the first time since breaking them up Dec. 29 in a 6-5 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs .
It worked exactly as hoped.
Marchenko happily rejoined Chinakhov and Voronkov to form a formidable line that generated goals by Marchenko and Voronkov. They also did what the coaching staff wanted by playing a strong North-South attacking style that brought out opportunities to make East-West skill plays.
That was a tricky balancing act in their first stretch together in late December, but Vincent feels their potential as a group is just heating up if they can consistently play more vertically.
"There's a place to use those East-West plays," he said. "You want the puck, you want to keep the puck, and sometimes that's your only option. But when you start forcing it, that was the problem. ... (Playing East-West) is not going to work for a long period of time, just because of the way the game is being played in the NHL. Maybe in other leagues. Maybe in Europe, I'm not sure. But I know for a fact that it's not going to work here."
Voronkov's 14 goals have him tied for second among NHL rookies with Minnesota 's Marco Rossi. They're two goals behind the top spot occupied by Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (16) who's playing a whopping 19:06 a night.
Voronkov is averaging 13:21 a game and has played just six more games than Bedard, who just returned from a fractured jaw far ahead of his scheduled timeline. Bedard is practically a lock to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, but Voronkov, Rossi and others can keep it interesting.
Blue Jackets rookie Adam Fantilli (skate laceration) missed his fourth straight game, but he's still in the upper echelon of rookie scorers with 12 goals, 15 assists and 27 points in 49 games. Fantilli is tied for fourth in scoring with Voronkov (14-13-27) and New Jersey defenseman Luke Hughes (8-19-27).
Werenski's goal against the Sharks was his first this season with a goalie in net. His only other goal was scored into an empty net from the defensive zone Oct. 20 in a victory over the Calgary Flames , which began a drought that lasted 38 games.
His last goal with a goalie trying to stop it was last year in a same game he tore a right shoulder labrum that ended his season after just 13 games. Werenski didn't pretend to pull a monkey off his back after scoring against the Sharks.
"I retired that one a few years ago after I did it," Werenski said. "I've had a couple long goal droughts in my career, so hopefully no more of those. I really haven't thought about it too much, to be honest. Once it gets to a certain point, you're just kind of like ... whatever."
Duclair spent the bulk of one season (2018-19) with the Blue Jackets before he was traded to Ottawa at the deadline for Ryan Dzingel .
The deal couldn't have worked out much worse for the Blue Jackets, who didn't get much help from Dzingel before a decision was made not to re-sign him in the offseason. Duclair, meanwhile, had success in Ottawa and with the Florida Panthers before signing with the Sharks last summer.
He enjoyed playing in Columbus and spoke that season about wanting to sign a contract extension with the Blue Jackets prior to the trade — which was an emotional moment. Duclair didn't need long to mesh with that Blue Jackets roster, so it was tough being sent away.
He has denied that playing the Blue Jackets gives him added motivation to show them what they could've had, but actions sometimes speak louder than words. Duclair's two-goal game Saturday night pushed his career scoring output against the Blue Jackets to an impressive 7-15-22 in 18 games — another reminder of one who got away.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Gaudreau, Jenner help Blue Jackets nip Sharks: 6 takeaways
