Blue Jackets shut out Blackhawks for 7th straight win

COLUMBUS -- Jet Greaves made 21 saves and the Columbus Blue Jackets won their seventh straight, 4-0, against the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationwide Arena on Wednesday.

“It was important for us to go into the (Olympic) break on the right note,” Greaves said. “That was something we talked about coming into the game today and I thought we did a good job of it. The start was good and we just built on that throughout the game.”

It was the first time the Blue Jackets (29-20-7) had back-to-back shutouts by different goalies. Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves in a 3-0 win at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Columbus last gave up a goal at 13:35 of the second period in its 5-3 win against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

“It's awesome,” Greaves said. “These things, they're not just about Elvis either, but really about the whole group. The guys have been doing a great job in front of us. They've defended really well.”

Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov, Danton Heinen and Sean Monahan scored and Charlie Coyle had two assists for the Blue Jackets, who have won 11 of 12 and are 10-1-0 since Rick Bowness was hired on Jan. 12.

“You can’t ever, I guess, predict that but I definitely felt like we had the team here to do it,” Werenski said of the past dozen games. “We’ve had a lot of home games and we're usually a good team at home. We beat some good teams on the road and took care of business. ... I feel like when we play the way we've been playing with the guys we have in this room it definitely doesn't surprise me.”

Spencer Knight made 16 saves for the Blackhawks (22-26-9), who are 1-4-2 in their past seven games.

“I thought there was a level of urgency, alertness that we didn't have that we need to have,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “It's just every game matters, man, and I just thought there was just a little bit from too many guys that didn't have their urgency level.”

Werenski made it 1-0 at 4:46 of the first period when his shot from the left circle was tipped by Chicago's Louis Crevier and then went in off the skate of Chicago's Alex Vlasic for Werenski's 20th goal of the season, most among NHL defenseman.

Provorov scored at 12:50 to make it 2-0 with a wrist shot from low in the left circle after a cross-ice pass by Adam Fantilli.

“Just didn't have the urgency, didn't have the compete level that we needed to have,” Chicago captain Nick Foligno said. “So, it's disappointing, especially going into a break where you're going to have tons of time. … We're fighting to be a relevant team; to be in the mix here and you can't have an effort like that.”

Heinen extended the lead to 3-0 at 5:17 of the second period, scoring from the left side off a Coyle pass, going short side with the puck glancing off Knight's shoulder.

Monahan scored an empty-net goal at 15:33 for the 4-0 final.

“It feels really good to go in with a little winning streak and feeling good about our game. It's our best hockey we've played,” Coyle said. “We've strung a lot of wins together, which is huge to try to get us back in a position, in the mix, which we have done.

“I don't think it's been perfect, which hockey never is, but there's still things that we can do better and clean up, which is a really good sign for us, that we're getting the wins that we get. We're getting great goaltending. That always helps.”

Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser limped off at 7:19 of the first period after getting tangled with Werenski and teammate Colton Dach exited at 2:55 of the second after being checked into the boards.

“If we were playing tomorrow, Dach wouldn't play, but he'd be kind of day to day-ish,” Blashill said. “Kaiser would be out for a little bit. Kaiser, I don't want to put out an exact timeline. We'll know more after getting examined tomorrow, but we'll see after the break.”

NOTES: This was the second time Blue Jackets earned shutouts on consecutive days (Feb. 22-23, 2019). … The Blue Jackets have three shutouts since Bowness took over. … Werenski has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in a seven-game point streak. … Coyle has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in the past 12 games. … Forward Kirill Marchenko, second on the Blue Jackets with 19 goals, missed a second straight game due to illness.