They're a wild ride, this Columbus Blue Jackets team.
Oliver Bjorkstrand score in the opening two minutes of the game and Patrik Laine scored in the final seconds of regulation as the Blue Jackets picked up a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Here are three things from some Saturday afternoon hockey north of the border:
LAINE + POWER PLAY = HOT!
Laine made it six straight games with a point when he picked up his third power play goal of the season (all in the last three games) with just under ten seconds left in the final period of a tie game. Elvis Merzlikins said it best after the game. "I’m going to be honest, the goalie had no chance," said Merzlikins.
"Even if we had both been in that net, no chance."
Six straight games with a point for Patrik Laine. pic.twitter.com/OAobKN9d8J
— NHL (@NHL) February 12, 2022
It's the longest point streak for Laine since the 2017-18 season, his second year in the league, when he tallied a point in 15 (!!) straight games for the Winnipeg Jets. In all, Laine has a stat line of 7g-4a-11p in the six-game streak.
The goal also made it four of the last eight power plays in which Columbus scored, sending their conversion rate on the season from 14.8% to 17.2%. When the main unit is healthy and stable, this power play is showing they can be dangerous.
ELVIS WAS GOOD, TOO.
Goaltending stole the show in this one, and full credit to Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault — he was outstanding the entire game and deserved a better fate than he got. Despite the loss, the Canadien netminder was given the first star of the game.
The second star didn't go to Laine, though — it went to Merzlikins, who made 30 saves on 31 shots. The .968 save percentage was his fifth-best outing of the season, and while the opponent does need to be taken into consideration, the Canadiens generated multiple quality scoring chances in the final two periods of the game and ended with an expected goal total of 2.64.
23-22-1
The Blue Jackets are in a rebuild, but they may not be as far off as some may think. This was supposed to the toughest year of the rebuild, and here we are, in the middle of February, with the Jackets above .500 (.511 point percentage). Kent Johnson is coming, Kirill Marchenko is coming, and with the team owning Chicago's first-rounder (top-two protected), Columbus is very likely going to own two draft picks in the range of 8-14. This team isn't bad enough for a top-five selection, and not good enough to make a postseason run. It's a bit of a no-man's-land, and winning will do more for moral than having a chance to pick a couple spots higher for a player who likely won't help until 2024-25. So let's have some fun — winning is fun.
