They might run out of cannonballs if this keeps up.
The Columbus Blue Jackets came flying out of the gate and didn't look back, hanging five goals on the New York Islanders at Nationwide Arena.
Sonny Milano lit the lamp for the first time in his career, just 67 seconds into the game. Cam Atkinson followed him a few minutes later to give the Jackets a 2-0 lead, which they took into the first intermission.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| ISLANDERS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
And they did *not* let up after that.
Ryan Murray nailed a one-timer to the near post early in the second to put the Jackets up 3-0. Zach Werenski followed suit, taking a thunderous slap shot from the blueline through traffic to make it 4-0, and then Pierre-Luc Dubois sniped his first career goal to chase Thomas Greiss and make it 5-0.
Of the five goals scored on the night, four of them came from former CBJ first-round picks.
And boy, what a debut for Artemi Panarin. The shiny new toy in the CBJ lineup notched three assists – two of them primary – in his club debut, and played some stellar defensive hockey to boot. Panarin stopped a shorthanded rush with a slick steal and had a couple of nice hustle plays on the backcheck. His performance earned him first star honors.
Simply told, the Blue Jackets were stellar all night long in every facet. Sergei Bobrovsky wasn't particularly challenged – a result of some strong defensive play – but he rose to the occasion, pitching a shutout and stopping all 29 Islanders shots.
Next Up
It's a quick turnaround for the Blue Jackets, as they'll head out tonight and face a tough road test tomorrow night in Chicago. The Blackhawks dominated a Pittsburgh Penguins team on the second end of a back-to-back last night, so the Jackets may have their work cut out for them.
After that, they'll head down to Raleigh for another roadie against the upstart Hurricanes on Tuesday.
