RESULT: The Columbus Blue Jackets did the ridiculous and scored 10 goals in an NHL game.
DATE: Nov. 4, 2016
LOCATION: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
WHAT HAPPENED: They scored 10 actual goals.
It was a couple quick ones. Then a third goal. And a fourth.
By the middle of the second period, you're starting to do the math and think that what you're seeing could end up being something you may not see again. As it turned out, on this night, we were correct.
Cam Atkinson scored on the power play and then Seth Jones scored. Matt Calvert made it 3-0 and it felt like goals were coming easily (because they were), and poor Al Montoya was helpless as his head coach left him in the net for the duration of a game they'd like to erase from the record books. The Blue Jackets shot the puck and it went in the net -- there's really no other explanation for what happened -- and it wound up as one of the more historic offensive outings of our generation.
Columbus put up 10 goals that night, fulfilling the Nationwide Arena crowd's request for just that. "We want 10" chants rang through the building in the third period as the score went from 7-0 to (oh, crap) 8-0 and then (ok, this might really happen) 9-0 and when Josh Anderson beat Montoya for the Blue Jackets' 10th goal, we heard the loudest cheer of the night.
Ten freakin' goals.
It is/was the most goals the Blue Jackets have ever scored in a game and that record may never fall. The fact it happened against a good Canadiens team made it all the more bizarre, and on top of that, it wasn't just a one-off offensive outburst for Columbus; the Blue Jackets later scored eight goals against the St. Louis Blues and seven goals against the Pittsburgh Penguins before the Christmas break.
This was a night we'll remember for a long time.
Not only was it record-breaking and historic for the Blue Jackets, but it was the start of their push toward "arrival" status early in the season. If you weren't paying attention them prior to this game, a 10-0 win over a presumptive top team in the NHL certainly made your head turn -- especially when they're featured on SportsCenter, FOX Sports, NHL Network and virtually every sports website as a result.
