SvoNotes: Blue Jackets win another wild one in Arizona

If you're a fan, the Blue Jackets' 5-4 shootout win at Arizona on Thursday night was all you could ask for in a game -- if you managed to stay up until the end.
If you're a hockey coach -- say, Brad Larsen -- well, you might end up rubbing your face at the postgame press conference trying to figure out what you just saw.

It was hockey at its wild best, a sloppy game that had so many plot points and momentum changes that we're still processing them at this point. But it was great theater, with Arizona taking two one-goal leads, the Jackets grabbing two of their own, and then eventually a wild overtime and seven-round shootout.
In the end, Larsen was proud of the way his team battled to earn the win but also exasperated by the mistakes that made it a nail biter to the end.

"There's a lot that I kind of liked about it as far as what we generated, but just the puck management stuff really hurt us tonight," he said. "We have been pretty good with the puck, and tonight, we got a little bit careless with it. Especially from the red line back toward our zone, I thought we really coughed up too much, but in saying that we found a way.
"The guys worked their tails off here, and we found a way to come back -- twice in the shootout even. We were down to our last shooter there (twice) and we find a way to stay alive and get it done. Kudos to the guys. They poured it out on the ice there tonight."
Captain Boone Jenner had two goals and thought he had a hat trick until video review took his third tally off the board. Zach Werenski added a goal and an assist while Jakub Voracek and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had two helpers, and Justin Danforth chipped in his first NHL goal and could have had a few more.
Columbus outshot the Coyotes (2-14-1) by a 46-29 margin, and the advanced stats were kind to the Blue Jackets, too.
Per Natural Stat Trick
, the Jackets had an 83-53 edge in shot attempts and a 4.21-2.22 advantage in expected goals in all situations; at 5-on-5, the margins were 62-43 in shot attempts and 3.18-1.95 in xG.
But all of that almost sterilizes a game that you had to watch and feel to truly get it. There were more twists and turns than the drive up Pikes Peak, as three different times a goal was followed up by another less than a minute later.
The teams combined for four goals in the last 3:31 of the second period, as a 1-1 game turned into a 3-3 contest thanks to Phil Kessel's goal, responses by Jenner and Danforth 42 seconds apart, and Lawson Crouse's tally to knot things again. In the third period, Werenski scored on a power play with 6:23 left to make it 4-3, only to see Jakob Chychrun answer 41 seconds later.
"It was a different game that way," Jenner said. "It just seemed like whenever one team scored, the other one came right back. That's just the way it went. I think we just stuck with it there in the end and they got the late one right after it. It was just the way it was going."
The overtime was just as back-and-forth, as was the shootout. Arizona was twice just a save from goalie Scott Wedgewood away from winning it, but Voracek kept it alive in round three and Gus Nyquist did the same in round six. Then Yegor Chinakhov finally ended things, backing up an Elvis Merzlikins save on Antoine Roussel with a bullet past Wedgewood.
With that, Columbus improved to 9-5-0 on the season and won its second straight, a record that includes a 5-0 mark in extra time (3-0 in the 3-on-3, 2-0 in shootouts). The Blue Jackets have started to make late wins a habit, and it speaks to a confidence and a belief that is building within the room.
"It seems like lately there's a lot of close games," Jenner said. "There's gonna be a lot more coming up. We're comfortable in them, up one, down one or tied. I think we just keep battling, keep playing the way we can, Obviously it's a big thing. Just stay with it, stay patient and stick with it."

Another Boone's Day

There weren't a ton of Columbus fans in Gila River Arena -- or fans in general -- but the ones that were there had a fitting celebration when it appeared Jenner scored his third goal of the night in the third period to give Columbus the lead, tossing their hats on the ice surface to celebrate Jenner's second career hat trick.
One wonders if they were able to pick those hats up at guest services after the game when Jenner's hat trick was taken off the board. After video review, it was clear the captain didn't touch the puck before it went in the net, as Werenski's shot from the point hit the post, came back into the crease and was batted into the net by Wedgewood as the goalie scrambled to keep it away from Jenner.
The captain, of course, didn't seem to mind who scored, only that the Jackets picked up two points.

"I think our line, we were just getting that chemistry going and know what we can bring, try to play to our strengths and try to play down there and I think we can read off each other pretty good," he said. "(The puck) just seemed to be finding me."
As for his hot start that now includes nine goals in 14 games, he said, "I'm not sure. I think I'm just going about it here, and obviously it's finding me. I'm trying to make better plays with the puck and get open and look at stuff where you can get better. I'm always trying to improve that way."
To say the puck was following Jenner was an understatement, as he flipped a first-period goal past Wedgewood from in tight on the power play then tallied to tie the score at 2 in the second as he crashed the net and put home a rebound.
He finished with 13 shot attempts on the night, with six making it to the net, and was 14-7 on the faceoff dot. Even after his hat trick was taken off the board, he had three excellent chances to give the Jackets the win in overtime and restore the three-goal night.
One of those chances came at the end of a marathon shift of 2:28, as even at the end of a long defensive zone possession, he had the legs to get up the ice, take a pass from Werenski in the slot and fire, only to be denied by Wedgewood.
"Yeah, the puck was finding him tonight," Larsen said. "Even at the end on the 3-on-3, usually I use him for the faceoffs, but he was so good tonight. He was gassed on the one and he ends up going down and gets a shot. I think he had 13, 14 shot attempts. It was one of those nights where it was following him around -- some big goals and timely goals."

Danforth's Historic Night

Monday night, Justin Danforth became the third oldest Blue Jackets player to make his NHL debut when the 28-year-old skated against Detroit.
He didn't wait long to add more to the celebration, scoring his first career NHL goal -- and becoming the fourth CBJ player this year to do so -- when he gave Columbus a 3-2 lead late in the third period against the Coyotes.
Vladislav Gavrikov threw the puck on net from the left point, and when Wedgewood couldn't keep the cleanly glove the puck, Danforth was right there to put the spilled rebound right into the net.

"Yeah, it felt great," he said postgame. "Obviously in a tight game you have to capitalize when you get those chances. Obviously getting your first NHL goal is always a big one. It was nice to get the monkey off the back early. … It's a pretty special goal for me."
The funny part is that Danforth truly could have had a hat trick in the game. Wedgewood absolutely robbed him on the shift after the Coyotes' opening goal by former CBJ forward Ryan Dzingel, as a rebound squirted out to Danforth low on the left but he couldn't quite elevate his shot and the goalie somehow gloved it with the net mostly open.
Then, in the third period, he had another tremendous chance, as a nice passing play from Jenner to Werenski to Danforth at the left post found him again with the net open. But instead, his quick shot attempt just kissed the post and slid back out for Wedgewood to cover.
Still, to have so many chances was a good sign for his game, as one game after having six hits, Danforth finished with eight shot attempts in just over 10 minutes of ice time.
"It just felt like one of those nights," he said. "I was inches away from having a couple more, but as long as you're getting those chances and you capitalize on one out of three, you're doing pretty good."
Larsen acknowledged he's been impressed by Danforth thus far, and it's fair to say the Oshawa, Ontario, native who filled up the score sheet in Finland and the KHL the past three seasons is earning the chance at more playing time.
"I only had him on the ice for six and a half minutes through two, and I think he had six or seven shot attempts," Larsen said. "That was crazy. The puck was following him around tonight. He could have had two - in the third there, he just kind of heels it. I'm sure he wants that back, but it's always great to see guys have success.
"His is a little bit more special from his age and his journey, his path. It's neat. I think his teammates really enjoy it."

Stats and Facts

• The others to earn their first NHL goals this year? Youngsters Chinakhov and Cole Sillinger as well as the team's other European import, Gregory Hofmann. The Swiss forward, like Danforth, made his NHL debut this season at age 28.
• Speaking of Sillinger, he had to leave the game for a time in the third after dropping the gloves with Dzingel, who likely didn't earn many friends in the organization for continuing the fight even after the two hit the ice. It was the first fight of Sillinger's NHL career.
• Chinakhov, meanwhile, is starting to rack up important goals. His first career NHL tally in Monday's game tied the score in the third period vs. Detroit, while this shootout goal finished off the win.
• With his two helpers, Voracek now has a CBJ season-best seven-game point streak (1-8-9). Two other CBJ players, Eric Robinson and Alexandre Texier, saw four-game point streaks end.
• Bjorkstrand now has points in six of seven games, notching a 2-6-8 line in that span.
• With his two points, Werenski is now up to 199 points in his NHL/CBJ career (69-130-199).
• Columbus swept the season series against Arizona and has won six straight in the desert. Columbus is 10-2-0 overall in the last six games of the series.
• The CBJ power play finished 2-for-4, its first multigoal game since going 2-3 in the opener vs. Arizona.
• We got this far without really mentioning Merzlikins, who made incredible saves in the first period on Alex Galchenyuk and in the third on Dzingel. Making his third straight start -- the first CBJ goalie to do so this year -- he had 25 saves.
• Columbus has outshot five of its last six opponents.