A night removed from what would have been their most impressive victory, the Columbus Blue Jackets turned in their biggest win.
Yegor Chinakhov had two points with a goal and an assist, and Dmitri Voronkov, Ivan Provorov, Kirill Marchenko, and Justin Danforth each scored to lift the Blue Jackets over the Boston Bruins 5-2 Monday night at Nationwide Arena.
Boone Jenner had two assists, and David Jiricek, Cole Sillinger, Patrik Laine, and Sean Kuraly picked up a point.
Spencer Martin made 31 saves for his second win of the season.
Matthew Poitras and Johnny Beecher scored for Boston. Charlie McAvoy, Danton Heinen, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Trent Frederic had assists.
Jeremy Swayman made 17 saves and was pulled after allowing two goals. Linus Ullmark made 19 saves in relief.
The win is the Blue Jackets' first over the Bruins since Jan. 14, 2020, snapping an 0-3-3 skid.
Speaking The Same Language
For the second straight night, the Blue Jackets had a 2-0 lead. This time, they kept adding to it.
Voronkov started the scoring with his fourth goal of the season in the first period at 15:52, with Chinakhov picking up an assist.
Dmitri Voronkov from Yegor Chinakhov. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/qSw4pR8Otk
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 28, 2023
At 5:38 of the second period, Provorov scored his second goal of the season, with Jiricek and Sillinger picking up assists. Jiricek picked up his first point since being recalled from Columbus, breaking a seven-game drought.
Ivan Provorov from David Jiricek and Cole Sillinger. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/f8qpwh1HZ1
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 28, 2023
At 16:42, Chinakhov scored his second goal of the year and picked up his second point on the night to give Columbus a 3-0 lead off a turnover.
Chinakhov makes good on the turnover and picks up his second point of the night. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/swOZnMeYmm
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 28, 2023
In the third period, Marchenko got in on the fun with his seventh goal on the power play. Jenner and Laine picked up the assists.
Kirill Marchenko on the power play, from Boone Jenner and Patrik Laine. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/9cvnsn2gaz #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 28, 2023
Danforth scored an empty-net goal at 13:41 to make it a 5-1 game. Kuraly had an assist, and Jenner picked up his second point of the night, moving him into the team lead for points with 16.
Danforth from Sean Kuraly and Boone Jenner. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/PYeeKzAIPA #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 28, 2023
Tonight marks the first time in NHL history four different Russian-born goal-scorers scored in the same game.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 28, 2023
Dmitri Voronkov, Ivan Provorov, Yegor Chinakhov, and Kirill Marchenko. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/dHdmQpMihJ
Playing With A Lead
The Blue Jackets have scored first in seven of their last nine games and first in their previous four games, including tonight.
A night after blowing a 2-0 third-period lead to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Jackets had the three-goal lead entering the final period of play.
There would be no blowing this one.
Pascal Vincent's team kept their aggressiveness up, scoring a power-play goal in the third period to add to the lead. They capped things off with the empty-net goal.
Poitras scored at 8:24 to cut the deficit to three, but Columbus remained in control.
With tonight's win, the Blue Jackets improved to 6-4-3 when scoring first. They're now 6-3-2 when leading after one period and 5-0-2 when leading after two.
Martin Picks Up Second Win
Just because Elvis Merzlikins had the night off doesn't mean strong goaltending took a night off.
Martin made his first start since Nov. 19 and was dominant as he kept the Bruins off the scoreboard through 40-plus minutes. Martin's goals saved above expected was 1.4 per MoneyPuck. He was the game's first star of the night.
The Bruins entered the night 14-3-3 but on a two-game losing streak, allowing 12 goals in their two losses coming in. Entering play, the Bruins came in 12th in the league in goals per game (3.40).
The Blue Jackets' second-ranked penalty kill (88.9%) shut down the Bruins' ninth-ranked power play (22.7%) twice.
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Bruins had the period-by-period edge in expected goals.
- First Period: 0.89-0.72 Boston
- Second Period: 1.26-1.02 Boston
- Third Period: 0.52-0.40 Boston
- Final: 2.67-2.14 Boston
Le Canadiens
The Blue Jackets play the Montreal Canadiens at Nationwide Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 7:00 p.m. ET.
