It's officially a streak.
Elvis Merzlikins stopped all 26 shots he faced and Damon Severson's third-period tally broke a scoreless tie as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the New York Islanders 2-0 on Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena.
Justin Danforth scored an empty-net goal as the Blue Jackets won consecutive games for the first time this season.
Merzlikins Is Perfect
Merzlikins was nearly perfect in Monday's 6-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers before a power-play goal by Mattias Ekholm snuck past him inside the final minute of the third period.
On Wednesday, he had his redemption.
Merzlikins made all 26 saves to earn his 11th career shutout. Over his past two starts, he has stopped 57 of 58 shots on goal and improved his stat line to 2-2-0, 2.05 goals against average, and a .925 save percentage. Per MoneyPuck, Merzlikins had 3.08 goals saved above expected.
"It's obviously a nice feeling, the shutout," Merzlikins said. "It's definitely not just me. It's team. They're helping me a lot. They're really working hard for this, so this is our shutout."
These wins are nice and it helps to get the goaltender into his groove.
"It definitely helps me," Merzlikins said. "I'm not there where I want to be yet but I just have to keep playing. No pressure, just get out there and have fun. Enjoy the game, enjoy the hockey, and just live day by day."
Severson Scores Game-Winner
Columbus finally solved Semyon Varlamov (24 saves) and broke through with the game's first goal by Severson at 5:43 of the third period. It's his second goal of the season. Sean Kuraly and Kevin Labanc picked up the assists.
It took 45-plus minutes, but Damon Severson has broken the ice in Columbus. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/Hig9Rsaesj
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 31, 2024
Damon Severson https://t.co/i7PHzxWOfI
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 31, 2024
The Jackets had a goal wiped off the board late in the first period because of goaltender interference. Danforth's empty-net goal at 17:57, assisted by Cole Sillinger and Ivan Provorov, sealed the deal.
Justin Danforth: Sealer of the Deal #CBJ pic.twitter.com/ypLGR2ibVU
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 31, 2024
Blue Jackets Find New Ways To Win
A couple of early-season trends broke in this game.
Columbus didn't register six goals in a victory, and they broke the alternating loss, win, loss, win, loss, win, loss, win pattern as the Jackets are on their first two-game win streak of the year.
It was a relatively clean game, with only one penalty, and the Islanders were the beneficiaries of the lone second-period power play.
The #CBJ have picked up seven of the last eight possible points.
— CBJ Stats (@BlueJacketStats) October 31, 2024
The last time they did that: November 10th-17th, 2022.
A span of 153 games.
"It's great to get two points obviously everytime you win within the division," Provorov said. "It's a big step for your team. Obviously, it was a grinding game out there. A lot of hitting. A lot of battling. But we found a way to win and that's a big improvement compared to last year."
Whether there are many or a few goals, winning games in various ways is an important step for the club.
"We gotta learn to win different ways," Provorov said. "Not looking too far ahead, but in tight games, important games, those are the type of games you have to play in the playoffs and we're learning how to do that and today was a great step forward."
The Blue Jackets played an opponent in the second half of a back-to-back for the sixth time this season and the Islanders were the fourth straight opponent in that situation. New York lost 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
Flying High
The Blue Jackets conclude their homestand against the 9-1-0 Winnipeg Jets on Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET from Nationwide Arena.
