Worth the wait: Werenski's goal sinks Vegas, lifts him to new heights

Zach Werenski doesn't take slap shots.
He doesn't feel like his slapper is all that great, for starters, and he'd rather keep his eyes on the net when he shoots rather than peeking down to make sure he hammers the puck. The Blue Jackets' second-year defenseman has also played much of this season with a nagging upper-body issue that might take a little steam off the fastball.
Regardless, Werenski has taken a few slap shots in recent games and scored a huge goal using one Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena - giving Columbus a 2-1 lead in the second period of a 4-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights.
"The second one's the big one," Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "I think we're kind of holding on when it's 1-1. They're getting some chances, [Joonas Korpisalo's] making some saves, we don't have a lot of flow offensively and really, quite honestly, we didn't have a bunch of energy in a number of those minutes. But the second [goal] was key for us, to score the second one before they did."

It was also big for Werenski from an individual standpoint.
It was his 13th goal of the season, which is the most any Blue Jackets defenseman has ever scored in one season. Only two others have reached 12, and one of them is Seth Jones, his defense partner.

Jones scored 12 goals last season to tie former Blue Jackets defenseman Bryan Berard, who set the mark in 2005-06. Werenski came into this season eyeing up that number of goals, with his objective to set a new mark.
Mission accomplished, even if it was a little delayed.
"The way I started, scoring a lot of goals off the bat, I kind of thought I would've gotten there a little quicker than I did - but it's part of the game," said Werenski, who has four points (two goals, two assists) in the past four games. "A lot of good players go through it, where they go into slumps like that, but I'm happy to be out of it. Hopefully I can keep scoring some goals and helping this team here in this playoff race."
At one point earlier this season, it looked like Werenski might reach 20-or-more goals. Now, he'd have to net seven goals in the final 15 games to reach that mark. The slump he mentioned is the biggest reason he fell behind pace.
Werenski scored his 10th goal on Dec. 14 in the Blue Jackets' 6-4 win against the New York Islanders at Nationwide Arena. He then scored No. 11 on Dec. 29 in Ottawa, after missing four games to rest his upper-body injury.

Werenski then went 25 more games without a goal before scoring his 12th this past Friday in Anaheim, tying Jones and Berard.
"I think right now, when we're not scoring that many goals, it's nice when defensemen can contribute and try to help this team win," Werenski said. "We're in a tight playoff race. Every game matters, every point matters and if I can contribute offensively, I'm going to try and do that."
The other side of the ice became a discussion topic Tuesday morning, after Werenski didn't get off the bench for the final 5:57 of the Blue Jackets' 4-2 victory Sunday in San Jose.
Was he injured? Did the Blue Jackets' top-pairing defenseman do something wrong?
Neither, as it turned out.
"That's not my role," said Werenski, whose 13 goals are tied for third in the NHL with Florida's Aaron Ekblad and Boston's Torey Krug. "I know what my role is, and I think you've got to kind of embrace it. I think in those last five minutes, if we're down 3-2, I'm playing every other shift. It's part of the game. I'm not the coach. I don't make the calls on who [plays]. I don't have a say in that. Whenever they put me out there, I'm going to go out there and try to do my best, whether it's to protect the lead or score a goal, and just do whatever I have to do."
Werenski, in his second NHL season, knows there are more experienced players on the Columbus blue line now, especially after the Blue Jackets added veteran Ian Cole at the NHL Trade Deadline.
He's not unhappy about it. He just accepts it as fact and wishes others would do the same.
"I got a text after the game [in San Jose], kind of asking what that was about, and when you look at the roster and what we've got … with [Ryan Murray] being healthy and Cole coming in, it's not my role," he said. "I think people have to realize that. [The coaches] feel more comfortable with other guys out there to protect the lead and I can't blame them. It's just how the game is. It's people accepting their roles at this time of the year and I know what mine is."
It's to score goals down the stretch, no matter what kind of shot he uses.