Despite the fact that the Blue Jackets were dominated by the Stars on Monday night, one positive takeaway was the play of the team's third line of Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, and Dmitri Voronkov.
The three forwards contributed on Voronkov's first career NHL goal in the first period. It started with a no-look backhand feed from Johnson to Sillinger, who found Voronkov in front of the net for the goal.
#CBJ Voronkov (1) goal pic.twitter.com/UoV6rAB357
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 31, 2023
According to moneypuck.com, the line played 5:13 at five-on-five and registered an expected goal percentage of 54 with all three on-ice shots on goal coming from the Blue Jackets.
It'll be interesting to see if this line sticks together in the future because they do not necessarily play with the pace of the rest of the team. According to the puck and player tracking data from NHL EDGE, the Blue Jackets have the second-most 20-plus mph speed bursts in the league, but Johnson, Sillinger, and Voronkov have combined to register just six speed bursts of 20-plus mph this season.
Even though they played for less than six minutes, it's promising that this line was able to generate offense against one of the league's top teams.
Will Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent keep them together in the future?
