After CBJ wins, we'll give three takeaways about what stood out or what we'll remember from the Blue Jackets' victory.
1. The Blue Jackets did what good teams do in dispatching the Blackhawks in front of a sellout crowd.
Rick Bowness has repeatedly described his new squad as a good team since he took over, and the Blue Jackets sure starting to look like it after winning their seventh game in a row and their 11th in 12, achieving both milestones for the first time since 2018.
A telltale sign of a good team is one that takes care of business against a lesser squad, and Columbus did just that in Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets took a 2-0 lead in the first period behind goals from Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov, extended the advantage to 3-0 in the middle frame on a Danton Heinen tally, then shut down Chicago in the third before adding an empty-net insurance marker from Sean Monahan.
It wasn’t always pretty – the Blue Jackets particularly frustrated Bowness by taking a trio of second-period penalties – but it also never felt like there was a stretch of the game where the Blackhawks truly threatened to get back in it, either.
And Bowness was impressed by the way his squad recognized when it got away from its game in the middle period and returned to the right track in the third.
“We weren’t great in the second period, but we corrected all those things going into the third, so there’s their belief,” Bowness said. “They know, ‘OK, we have to get back to playing Columbus Blue Jackets hockey. Let’s get back to that.’ I said this before – they're starting to identify what we look like when we’re playing well and what we look like when we’re not.
“They’re seeing that. I’m hearing comments on the bench during the play and I’m hearing comments in the locker room. They recognize it. They know what we want to do. They know what we want to look like when we’re playing well. They’ve all bought in, so you give the players a ton of credit.”
The surest sign that the Blue Jackets are locked in is that for the second night in a row, they pitched a shutout. Jet Greaves finished with 21 saves a night after Elvis Merzlikins made 24 in blanking New Jersey, marking the first time since Feb. 4 and Feb. 7, 2020, that Columbus produced consecutive goose eggs.
It was also the team’s third shutout in seven games, and the Blue Jackets have allowed just 24 goals in Bowness’ 11 games in charge.
“I think it’s been great,” Greaves said of the defense in front of him. “I think shutouts are really a team stat. I think the guys defended so well tonight and last night as well, and I think it’s been really positive for the group.”
2. The victory sent the Blue Jackets into the Olympic break on a high note.
If there’s any team in the NHL that might have wanted to keep playing right now, it’s the hottest one in the league. But the upcoming three weeks will allow the Blue Jackets to rest some weary bones, as Columbus – other than Olympians Werenski and Elvis Merzlikins – won't play again until Feb. 26 at Boston.
Bowness was quick to caution the Blue Jackets haven’t accomplished anything yet – they finished Wednesday night two points behind the Islanders for third in the Metro and four behind the Bruins for the final wild card spot – but things sure feel a lot better than they did in early January when the squad was last in the Eastern Conference.
“It makes it a lot easier,” Werenski said when asked if the hot streak allowed him to head to the Winter Games feeling good about his club team. “I think just knowing where we’re at, knowing what we’ve accomplished, knowing what we’re building, we know we’re in a great spot right now. Guys should enjoy their break. Me and Elvis can go and enjoy Milan. We know when we get back here, we’re right in it, and that’s really important.”
While players will scatter over the coming days, Bowness will return to Florida and assuredly spend some time on the boat he was on when he got the call Jan. 12 to be offered the CBJ head coaching job. Less than a month ago, he hadn’t even met most of his players, but he’s quickly learned what the Blue Jackets are all about.
“I give those players a lot of credit, man,” Bowness said. “They’ve bought in. You know what I love about them? They’re still hungry. They know they have more to give. We have to keep pushing. Good on them. They deserved a break, but when we come back, we have a lot of work to do.”
2. Werenski finished with a flourish before heading off to represent his country.
Merzlikins did his job the night before, earning the shutout in his final appearance with the Blue Jackets before playing for Latvia at the upcoming 2026 Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina.
It just felt like Werenski was going to have a highlight of his own before joining Team USA, and the defenseman delivered, scoring the opening goal 4:46 into the game. It wasn’t exactly a beauty – his centering pass from the left corner pinged off the skate of Chicago defenseman Alex Vlasic and into the net – but sometimes you catch a break when you put the puck in a dangerous area.
The goal was Werenski’s 20th of the year, allowing him to reach a few notable milestones. He became the first NHL defenseman to get to that mark on the season, and it marks his third career 20-goal campaign, making him just one of four active NHL blueliners to achieve that feat (joining Colorado’s Cale Makar, Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson and Colorado’s Brent Burns). Werenski is also one of just five defensemen to have consecutive 20-goal seasons since 2000, joining Makar, Burns, Karlsson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
“I knew he was a good player; I didn’t know he was this good,” Bowness said. “He is elite, and he’s just a wonderful, wonderful guy. Great teammate. He shows up every night to be one of the best players on the ice, and I love that about him.”
He won’t have much time to rest after that performance, though. While Team USA doesn’t begin play until Feb. 12 when it takes on Merzlikins’ Latvia squad, Werenski said he was set to board a plane Thursday morning to head to Italy for Friday night's Opening Ceremonies.
That wasn’t the original plan, but it was important for Werenski to make sure he gets the full Olympic experience, so the travel itinerary changed earlier this week.
“I actually watched The Boys of ‘80 documentary on Netflix and all the footage, and I heard those guys talk about their experience,” Werenski said of the recent Miracle on Ice documentary. “It kind of got brought up to us a few weeks ago that if you wanted to, you could go for the Opening Ceremonies. At first, I thought it would be nice to get a few days’ rest here, but this is once-in-a-lifetime and I want to be there for it and I want to experience everything I can.”
