Baked beans are good, but Jaked Beans are better.
On Wednesday night against the Avalanche, Jake Bean had the best game of his career thus far: two goals, and three blocked shots in 25:24 of ice time as the Blue Jackets won in overtime, 5-4. Bean had never scored two goals in a game before, and his ice time was also a career-best.
The 22-year-old defenseman was drafted by Carolina in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft at 13th overall. The Hurricanes have had a loaded blue line for quite some time, so a trade made sense for both parties, especially with the chance that the Hurricanes could lose Bean in the expansion draft this past summer. The Blue Jackets were able to bring Bean into the fold for a 2021 second-round pick, which is looking like a bargain more and more every time Bean plays.
On his first goal, Bean took advantage of a missed assignment from Tyson Jost. From the right circle, Bean fired a wrister that deflected off of Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson before trickling past netminder Jonas Johansson. Then, in overtime, Bean was the recipient of a beautiful pass from Jakub Voracek, who drew two defenders to free up space for Bean. The young defenseman picked his spot and won the game for the Blue Jackets.
"That low glove spot is a good place to shoot when you're not too sure where to shoot, so it worked," said Bean with a smile on Wednesday night after the game. "This year we can spend a bit more time together than last year. It's a lot of good team-building, being on the road. You're just hanging out with each other so that's good. Getting this win was huge to make it a 2-1 road trip. That's a positive road trip for us."
#NHL GameScore Card for Columbus Blue Jackets @ Colorado Avalanche on 2021-11-03:#CBJ #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/GneyIswEVv
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) November 4, 2021
Bean wasn't the only Blue Jacket with two goals last night. Cole Sillinger notched his first multi-goal NHL game as well. There was talk this week about Sillinger being sent to the AHL or juniors to stop the clock from beginning on Sillinger's contract, but it's clear that the 18-year-old Sillinger belongs at the highest level. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported that Sillinger will be staying with the Blue Jackets this season. Per Portzline, the Blue Jackets informed Sillinger on Tuesday, before his big game on Wednesday night.
"It's awesome," said Bean of Sillinger's play. "He's incredible. I can't believe he's 18 years old. It's special. I'm not making any decisions for anyone but that's a pretty special ninth game. If I was 18 years old, I'd be pretty happy with it."
