Columbus Blue Jackets' young talent tops takeaways after edging Carolina Hurricanes
Every time it looks like the Blue Jackets ’ season may slide into an all-too-familiar abyss, they find a way to avoid it.
They did it again Tuesday to close out 2024 on New Year’s Eve at Nationwide Arena , improving to 16-6-6 with an entertaining 4-3 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes . Trailing 3-2 to start the third period and struggling to gain traction against one of the NHL’s top teams, the Blue Jackets forced overtime on Dmitry Voronkov’s power-play goal and forced an exciting overtime.
When that didn’t settle it, the Blue Jackets won by shootout after overcoming a deficit in that too. They’re getting good at hanging around with the league’s best, which is a step in the right direction for developing a playoff contender.
“I thought the intensity level of the game felt really good tonight,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “It felt like an important game, right? It’s obviously midway (in the season), but it felt intense. Both teams were playing hard.”
Here are four takeaways:
Columbus Blue Jackets get big contributions from young players against Carolina Hurricanes
Sean Monahan dished out three assists, Zach Werenski set a franchise record with 11 shots while extending his franchise-record home points streak to 13 games and Elvis Merzlikins was big in net.
Those three veterans played key roles in downing the Hurricanes, but the Jackets needed their core group of young players to get past the finish line — including clutch shootout goals by Kent Johnson and Adam Fantilli that decided the winner.
Voronkov also tied it in the third on a power play, Kirill Marchenko scored two more goals in his breakout season, Cole Sillinger made a few impressive plays in overtime and rookie defenseman Denton Mateychuk earned two shifts in OT in the same game he’d earlier collected his first NHL assist and point. That’s six young players making key contributions, and there’s more maturing with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
Columbus Blue Jackets still sizzling on power plays
The days of the Blue Jackets sabotaging their own power plays disappeared in December, allowing them to form a legitimate man-advantage weapon . Voronkov’s goal was the latest example, tying the game with a man-advantage that made Andrei Svechnikov pay for slashing Zach Aston-Reese.
The goal was the Jackets’ 11 th power-play goal in their past 36 opportunities (30.5%), and they’ve now scored on a power play in nine of the past 12 games. Their success rate for the season is now 21.4% and ranks 17 th in the league. Voronkov has become a key component filling Boone Jenner’s role at the net-front as a massive 6-foot-5 goalie screen who has great hands, vision and skill.
It will be interesting to see what role Jenner plays on power plays whenever he’s cleared to return from shoulder surgery.
Kirill Marchenko's hard work is paying off for Columbus Blue Jackets
After his career-high point streak stopped at seven games Saturday in Boston, Marchenko got right back on the scoresheet against Carolina. Netting two goals in the first, he extended his team-leading goal total to 16 through the first 38 games to go with his career-high 26 assists and a team-high 42 points.
Marchenko, who signed a three-year contract extension in July, has tallied points in 11 of the past 13 games for a 6-12-18 scoring line and has added 10-16-26 in 20 games since Nov. 21 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He’s now scored eight goals in nine career games against Carolina, but Marchenko’s scoring prowess isn’t all that has stood out to Evason.
“We’ve seen the competitive level really high this year,” Evason said. “He’s competing, he’s winning his puck battles, he’s winning races to pucks, he’s been sound defensively, and just playing the game the right way. Obviously, the numbers are there. That’s great, but we need him to play in all three zones and he’s done that.”
Jack Roslovic, Eric Robinson nearly helped Carolina Hurricanes overcome Columbus Blue Jackets
Another game in his hometown against his former Blue Jackets teammates brought another goal for Jack Roslovic, who tied it 2-2 early in the second period with his 17 th goal of the season.
Since the Blue Jackets dealt him to the New York Rangers at last season’s trade deadline, Roslovic has become a revelation for the Hurricanes, who are skating him at left wing on their top forward line after signing with Carolina last summer. Roslovic also scored a goal against the Blue Jackets in Carolina's first trip to Columbus in November, and he's on pace to score 38 goals over a full 82-game slate.
That's easily the best scoring pace of his NHL career. Prior to being traded, Roslovic scored 51 goals for the Blue Jackets over four seasons — including 22 in 81 games in 2021-22 as his career-high. He followed that in 2022-23 with 11 goals in 77 games and netted just nine goals between Columbus and New York in 59 games last season.
Eric Robinson joined Roslovic in getting on the scoresheet against his former team, assisting on Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s go-ahead goal to put the Hurricanes up, 3-2, less than three minutes after Roslovic netted the equalizer.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets edge Carolina Hurricanes in shootout: takeaways
