It was a great night to be a Blue Jackets defenseman.
Paced by six goals from defensemen, the Jackets routed the Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 18,323 at Nationwide Arena.
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Damon Severson and Zach Werenski scored two goals each. Erik Gudbranson and Nick Blankenburg scored the other two for the Jackets, who've won three of their past four games despite missing 10 players from their main NHL roster.
"Shout out to our forwards for having good traffic in front of the net tonight, and we had some nice seam plays that made the goalie go side-to-side," Severson said. "We stuck to our gameplan offensively and we were able to execute and get some goals from the (defensemen) out of it."
According to the NHL, it was only the second time in NHL history that defensemen have scored six goals for one team in a game. The previous time was Dec. 4, 1992, when the Washington Capitals did it in an 8-4 victory over the New York Rangers .
Blue Jackets TV play-by-play announcer, Jeff Rimer, called both games. It was also the first time in Blue Jackets history that four defensemen scored goals in the same game.
"It's definitely different," Werenski said. "On the bench, we were talking about it after the sixth one, that it had to be some sort of record. It's definitely different. You don't see that every day, obviously. We'll take it. It's good for the 'D.'"
Olle Lycksell and Adam Ginning scored for the Flyers (36-31-11), who are winless in their past seven games (0-5-2) and dropped out of a playoff position after starting the game third in the Metropolitan Division.
Here are five takeaways:
Werenski's three-point game set new career highs in assists (43) and points (52). His point total is second all-time in franchise history behind only his former defense partner Seth Jones , who finished with 16-41-57 in 2017-18 to set the mark .
Werenski now has nine goals on the season, including eight goals in his past 25 games after starting the season with just one goal, an empty-netter, in his first 40 games.
"It's good," Werenski said. "I felt like I was getting chances (early on), but the puck just wasn't going in. So, it's always nice when the puck starts finding ways into the net. My first one was kind of lucky. The second one was kind of lucky, as well, to be honest. But that's what happens when you shoot the puck and put pucks on net. I'll take it right now."
Severson's goals gave him his second two-goal game of the season and fourth of his NHL career ― including two with the New Jersey Devils prior to joining the Blue Jackets in a trade last summer . Severson has nine goals, 17 assists and 26 points during his inaugural season in Columbus and has five more games to up those numbers even more.
Gudbranson matched his career-high of six goals by opening the scoring against the Flyers, equaling his total from 2021 with the Calgary Flames . The veteran has now reached career highs in goals (six), assists (17) and points (23) during his second year in Columbus. Blankenburg, meanwhile, netted his first goal and point in what's been a trying season for him personally.
"'Guddy' started it, then I got a couple (goals)," Severson said. "'Blanks' had one, and then 'Z' was just jealous, so he wanted to join the party. You can't make that stuff up. It just happened like that tonight. We might not score for a while now, but hopefully we do."
This is the fourth straight season with no playoffs for Columbus, but it hasn't been devoid of history.
Having six defensemen score all six goals in the Jackets' victory over the Flyers was just the second time in NHL history that blueliners scored six goals for one team in a single game, and the only time defensemen netted that many goals to complete the scoring for one team in a game. When the Capitals first had six defenseman score goals on Dec. 4, 1992, two of their forwards joined the scoring party during an 8-4 victory over the Rangers .
Not a single Blue Jackets forward hit the back of the net against the Flyers, but they did get credit for creating havoc for Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson .
"Tonight was just a good night from the (defensemen), and it was a solid night from the forwards, as well," Severson said. "We were the guys who put the puck on net, but our forwards were hunting and doing a really good job for us, as well."
The Blue Jackets also did something historic by recalling goalie Malcolm Subban from Cleveland as Greaves' backup. According to the NHL, they became the first team in 24 years to have two goalies of Black descent dress for one team in a game. The last time that happened was April 8, 2000, when Fred Brathwaite and Grant Fuhr handled goaltending duties for the Calgary Flames in a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers .
Brathwaite played his final NHL season with the Blue Jackets in 2003-04 (21 appearances). Only 12 goalies of Black descent have ever played in the NHL, starting with Fuhr in Edmonton, and the Blue Jackets have now had three wear their uniform.
The Jackets had already set two NHL records previously this season.
The first was having four Russian players score a goal in the same game during a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Nov. 27 in Columbus . The second was a more dubious honor, becoming the first NHL team to blow a 5-0 lead in the third period of a game and still win thanks to Kent Johnson 's overtime goal Dec. 14 in Toronto .
Early in the second period, Flyers forward Scott Laughton 's elbow smacked Blankenburg in the face, sending the Blue Jackets defenseman's head into the glass.
The thought, "Oh, no, not again," briefly crossed Blankenburg's mind before a quick self-assessment assured him that what would've been his third concussion this season had been avoided. Blankenburg then scored a key goal later in that period to give the Blue Jackets a 4-1 lead just 49 seconds after Lycksell's goal pulled Philadelphia within two.
"I think right away I kind of knew that I was alright (after the elbow)," Blankenburg said. "It was definitely just a sigh of relief at that point. I don't need another concussion, so I'm just very thankful for that."
Blankenburg, 25, has dealt with numerous injuries, including multiple concussions, since skating straight into the NHL in April 2022 after signing with the Blue Jackets out of Michigan. He logged the first seven games of his NHL career that season and spent last season in Columbus ― playing just 36 games due to injuries that included a concussion plus an ankle fracture.
Blankenburg missed time with four separate issues in all last year, but his challenges were just starting. Without accruing enough NHL games as a rookie to trigger the waivers process for AHL assignments, Blankenburg began the season in Cleveland thanks to a roster logjam in Columbus.
He played 18 AHL games before the Blue Jackets recalled him in early December, but played only six NHL games before being sidelined for 12 games with a suspected concussion. Another AHL assignment happened after his return, again related to a roster logjam, but Blankenburg made it just one game in Cleveland before a concussion Jan. 26 took him out for two more months.
He didn't return from that one until March 30 and played two games for the Monsters before rejoining the Blue Jackets on Saturday as an emergency replacement for Jake Bean —who's out for the season with an apparent hand injury. Blankenburg is now expected to remain with the Jackets for their final five games before likely rejoining the Monsters for the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs — assuming they qualify while most of their top players are in the NHL.
"I thought last year was tough on my health, and then this year happened," Blankenburg said. "I'm just trying to stay positive throughout the process and just learn as much as I can from it. ... Hopefully I don't need any more learning to do through the injury process. It's been a tough road, but I'm just thankful and excited to be here."
Another day passed without a medical update on goalie Daniil Tarasov, who appeared to sustain a head/neck injury in the Jackets' loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday.
Tarasov needed help leaving the game after a collision with Jiricek near the left post and didn't return. No update has been given since, which gives the situation a feeling that Tarasov's ability to return this season is in doubt.
If so, it would be yet another injury hurdle for the talented goalie to overcome. He missed the season's first two months with an offseason knee injury and has also overcome surgery to repair a hip labrum in 2022. Tarasov started slowly but steadily worked his way into impressive form prior to his new injury.
It's only been three years since John Tortorella was given a standing ovation during what turned out to be his final game as the Blue Jackets' head coach.
That might not seem like a long period of time, but it's long enough for an NHL roster to be almost completely changed with new faces at virtually all spots. The Jackets only have five players left from Tortorella's final team in Columbus and three ― captain Boone Jenner , Patrik Laine and goalie Elvis Merzlikins — didn't play in the victory over the Flyers on Saturday.
Werenski and Texier were the only two who played, and both did damage to Philadelphia's dwindling playoff hopes.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets down Flyers, match NHL record for defenseman goals
