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Greaves backstops 'greasy' road win for Columbus Blue Jackets: 5 takeaways
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- Greaves backstops 'greasy' road win for Columbus Blue Jackets: 5 takeaways
You're not going to score six goals every night in the NHL, but it might feel that way to the Blue Jackets .
More: Columbus Blue Jackets 'kids' power blowout of Seattle Kraken: 4 takeaways
After scoring six or more goals 10 times in 42 games , or roughly once every four games, the Blue Jackets took their attack on the road Saturday against the St. Louis Blues . They got only two pucks past Blues goalie Jordan Binnington in a 2-1 victory , but a bushel of goals wasn't necessary to notch their first four-game winning streak since February 17-24, 2022.
Jan 11, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves (73) makes a save against St. Louis Blues left wing Brandon Saad (20) during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
All the Blue Jackets (20-17-3) needed to edge the Blues were two goals, a sea of defensive sticks, razor-sharp rookie Jet Greaves , 23 blocked shots and a little grease.
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"Jet was real solid tonight, real calm back there," Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger said. "(He) made some huge saves for us, good special teams, get (a goal) on the power play, good on the penalty kill ... and just kind of a greasy 2-1 road win. We talked about being better on the road and being able to win hockey games like that, and this is a big one for our group."
Here are five takeaways:
Jan 11, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves (73) defends the net against the St. Louis Blues during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves stole win vs St. Louis Blues
The Blue Jackets played a solid road game through two periods and took a 2-0 lead into the third on goals by Adam Fantilli and Sillinger — their top two centers with Sean Monahan (wrist) and Boone Jenner (shoulder) out. The third belonged to St. Louis, and the Blues threw everything they had at Greaves.
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Utilizing quickness and a great glove hand, he stopped all but one shot by Colton Parayko with 10.5 seconds left and the Blues holding a 6-on-4 advantage. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blues generated 76% of 5-on-5 attempts in the third (19-6), 73% of unblocked attempts (11-4), 82% of shots (9-2) and had large advantages in scoring chances (13-1) and high-danger chances (4-0).
Greaves handled it like a seasoned veteran.
"It's just trusting myself and trusting the guys around me," he said on the FanDuel Sports Network postgame TV broadcast. "The guys did a really good job on the secondary chances there, and did a good job with the traffic, just clearing out the sightlines. Then, it's just competing and doing everything we can to keep the puck out of our net and get the two points."
Columbus Blue Jackets center Zachary Aston-Reese (27) skates with the puck against St. Louis Blues defenseman Ryan Suter (22) in the first period at Nationwide Arena on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.
Columbus Blue Jackets lose Zach Aston-Reese to injury
The Blue Jackets were credited with six of their 23 blocked shots in the third period, but four other Blues attempts were officially listed as "blocked by teammate," on the NHL's official play-by-play log.
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Zach Aston-Reese was credited for one 2:21 into the third that slammed into his torso off Ryan Suter 's stick from the left point, but it also knocked him out of the game with an upper-body injury. Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason didn't have an update on the veteran forward after the game, saying he was still being evaluated.
Should Aston-Reese have to miss games, he'll join a list of injured regulars that includes Monahan, Jenner, Yegor Chinakhov , Erik Gudbranson and Justin Danforth .
Jan 11, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli (19) shoots and scores against St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) during the first period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Columbus Blue Jackets already have seven players with double-digit goals
After struggling to produce offensively for much of the season's first half, second-year center Adam Fantilli is heating up. His goal with 4:22 left in the first period against the Blues was his 10th of the season and gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead. It also gave them another player with double digits in goals.
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Fantilli is the seventh Blue Jackets players with 10 or more goals through their first 43 games. The others are Kirill Marchenko (18), Dmitri Voronkov (17), Monahan (14), Zach Werenski (13), Kent Johnson (11) and Mathieu Olivier (10).
Sillinger, who put the Blue Jackets up 2-0 late in the second period, is the next closest to 10 with seven goals.
Adam Fantilli thriving with Columbus Blue Jackets' top line
Fantilli's goal was the third the Blue Jackets' top forward line has generated two-plus games since he took over as Monahan's replacement in the third period of the Jackets' 4-3 shootout win Tuesday in Pittsburgh . He has six points on three goals and three assists during a five-game points streak, and the goal Saturday was his fourth in the past eight games.
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Skating with Voronkov and Marchenko, Fantilli is having success while applying some of what he's learned by watching Monahan center the two high-skill Russian wingers. His goal in St. Louis was the result of their growing chemistry, even though Fantilli almost missed a fake shot and pass that froze Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.
"I thought he was shooting it, too, to be honest with you," Fantilli said. "I just know when (Marchenko) has the puck in those areas, I have to be ready for it, because he can be faking it, and he could be slipping (me a pass). I've just got to stay right in there, and it ended up coming to me ... and the fake was so good that Binnington wasn't really in the net there, so it worked out."
Nov 30, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues head coach Jim Montgomery looks on from the beach during the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery 0-3-0 vs Columbus Blue Jackets this season
The Blue Jackets downed St. Louis twice within a week to sweep the two-game season series against the Blues, but they also swept a three-game "set" coach Jim Montgomery.
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He also ran the Boston Bruins ' bench Nov. 18 in the Blue Jackets' 5-1 victory at TD Garden. That loss prompted Montgomery's firing the following day and led to the Blues hiring him six days later. No wonder the Blues came out breathing fire while down 2-0 starting the third period Saturday night.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Greaves backstops road win for Columbus Blue Jackets: 5 takeaways
