Blue Jackets down Toronto in OT to finish perfect in Traverse City

The Blue Jackets posted a 7-6 win in overtime against Toronto on Monday afternoon to finish the annual NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., with a perfect 4-0 record.

Quote of the Game

Angle: "Our coaches talked to us and told us that the Columbus Blue Jackets are known for their hard work. The big thing they said to us was, 'Wear the jersey with pride. You might not outskill teams but you can outwork them.' And that's what we did."

CBJ Standouts

• 2021 fifth-round pick Jordan Malatesta finished with a hat trick for his first three goals of the tournament.
• Captain Josh Dunne notched his third goal of the event and added three assists for a four-point night, while Angle tallied two goals.
• Goaltender Jet Greaves made 37 saves on 43 shots and was the team's best player for much of the evening.

Quick Recap

Columbus couldn't score on a 55-second 5-on-3 in the first period while Toronto mostly carried play, then the Leafs took a 1-0 lead at 13:15 as Jordan Frasca found a loose puck in the slot and buried a shot over the shoulder of Greaves. Columbus replied, though, with 20.9 seconds left in the period when third-round pick Stanislav Svozil danced around a defender at 4-on-4 and put the puck on net, with Angle there to swat home the rebound past goalie Keith Petruzzelli.
There were five goals in a topsy-turvy second period, though, with each team claiming and losing the lead. Malatesta buried a rebound of his own shot on a shorthanded breakaway 1:06 into the period to give Columbus the lead, but Toronto's Braeden Kressler scored 28 seconds later on the power play to tie it at 2. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev gave the Leafs the lead again at 5:35 to complete a nice passing play, but Columbus knotted things at 3 at 10:18 when Dunne banked the rebound of Tim Berni's shot into the net off the goalie. Finally, Malatesta tallied again 32 seconds later to give the Jackets a 4-3 lead they'd hold through the rest of the period.
The third period was just as wild, as Columbus grabbed a 4-2 lead when Cole Fonstad scored on a rush just 2:07 into the period. Toronto then got the first of two power-play goals in the frame when Der-Arguchnitsev scored from in front to make it 5-3 with 8:25 left. Columbus appeared to have sealed the deal when Malatesta finished the hat trick when he tipped home a shot by Gerard Keane to make it 6-4 with 7:23 to go, but Nicholas Robertson scored from the slot with 4:21 to go and the Leafs tied it at 6 with just 23.7 seconds left when Joseph Duszak's shot deflected past Greaves.
But a dustup at the final whistle led to a five-minute major for cross-checking on Robertson, giving the Blue Jackets a power play for the length of overtime. Columbus pushed and pushed and finally capitalized in the dying seconds, as Angle's centering pass tipped off a skate and got by Petruzzelli to complete the perfect weekend for Columbus.

Jeff's Quick Takeaways

1. We'll break down the entire tournament here, going position by position. Starting with the forwards, the theme of the weekend was the breakout performances of Chinakhov and Sillinger, who were a lot of fun to watch -- the former for his prodigious shot and the latter for the edge and skill with which he plays. Both guys will have a chance to make the team in training camp. But Columbus got contributions from up and down the lineup, with Dunne also providing a steady hand as captain and Angle a fitting third wheel to play along with Chinakhov and Sillinger.
   2. Defensively, my star was Svozil, the 2021 third-rounder who looks like he might be a bit of steal. Some people had him as a potential first-rounder going into the draft, and he certainly has some skill as well as a good amount of poise on the puck. His move to set up Angle's first-period goal, where he deked around an onrushing defender and created a ton of space, was a beautifully creative piece of work. Christiansen also had a very good tournament and will be an intriguing piece to watch.
   3. In net, Greaves came to Traverse City having not played in a full season thanks to the cancellation of the OHL campaign a year ago, but he certainly didn't look rusty. The Cleveland signee just got better and better as the weekend went on, making big saves at key times and controlling the game the way a goalie has to. He also never gives up on a puck. He could be a nice find, while Gatineau's Emerik Despatie also turned in a solid showing in his one start Sunday night.

Notable

Angle and Dunne each finished the game plus-5. … Svozil finished with two assists, while Ben Boyd got in his first fight of the weekend. … Dunne finished as the tournament's leading scorer with a 3-4-7 line in four games, while Chinakhov (6-0-6), Angle (2-4-6) and Toronto's Mikhail Abramov (1-5-6) tied for second. ... Svozil led Columbus with a plus-7 rating in the tournament.

Roster Report

Powell native and CBJ signee Carson Meyer returned to the lineup after missing two games with an upper-body injury. Chinakhov and Sillinger were held out as healthy scratches after scoring a combined 11 points in the first two games.

Up Next

Columbus heads home to begin training camp on Wednesday. Team media day is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.