It's an odd feeling to have confidence in the Columbus Blue Jackets when they are trailing in the third period.
But they're making comebacks their thing.
Trailing in the third period for the third consecutive game, the Blue Jackets again used an offensive barrage in the final frame to defeat the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 4-2. Columbus grabbed another two points to match their franchise high with 14 points through the first ten games of the season.
Here are three things from a supremely satisfying Saturday victory at Nationwide Arena:
A MONSTER THIRD PERIOD (AGAIN)
In the last 41 minutes and 12 seconds of third period and overtime hockey against the Avalanche, the Blue Jackets have scored seven goals. Seven! Three of them have come from the youngest player in the league, Cole Sillinger, and all of them were vital in the Blue Jackets' eventual victory. Saturday, it was Sillinger scoring his fourth of the season on a deflection off a shot by another rookie — Yegor Chinakhov — to give Columbus a lead with just over one minute to go.
THE KIDS CONNECT WITH A MINUTE TO GO! CHINAKHOV WITH THE SHOT...SILLINGER WITH THE TIP! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/k25lr7lcK7
— SpecmenceCBJ (@SpecmenceCBJ) November 7, 2021
C'mon, Sillinger — let Chinakhov have a little game-winning fun!
ELVIS GOT WHAT HE DESERVED
The Blue Jackets third period flurry would not have been possible without Elvis Merzlikins. It's rare that a goalie gets the first star honors when he gives up multiple goals, but Merzlikins did just that tonight. He stopped 34 of 36 saves, which resulted in a .944 save percentage — higher than his impressive season average of .939.
Dig a little deeper, though. The Avalanche finished with an expected goal total of 3.69, and had six high-danger chances that resulted in an xG of 1.87. Of those six chances, none of them reached the back of the net. In other words, Merzlikins made the saves he shouldn't have. If even one of them get through, the final result is likely very different. Elvis kept his team in the game, they capitalized on it, and the goalie with his sights set on "winning the f**king Vezina" delivered another outstanding performance.
NO LAINE? NO PROBLEM!
Okay, that might be a little bit of a stretch. But in the team's first game without their star forward, they looked at ease. Considering that they replaced Laine with 20-year-old rookie Yegor Chinakhov, that's really saying something.
Chinakhov had a pair of assists, but it was how poised he looked in his first game playing big minutes that was most impressive. He had over 16 minutes of ice time, shattering his previous high of an even 12 minutes. Nearly all of those 16 minutes came against the top two lines for Colorado, a pair of highly-skilled lines that can take over a game in the flick of a wrist.
This team will miss Laine (as it's missed Adam Boqvist and Max Domi in recent games), but if this gives players like Chinakhov and Sillinger the experience they need to get to the next level — in their rookie seasons, nonetheless — Laine's absence may bring an unexpected reward.
