That's how you break out offensively and end a losing streak.
Elvis Merzlikins made 21 saves in his 200th career game and 15 players registered a point as the Columbus Blue Jackets won decidedly, 6-2, over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night at Nationwide Arena to end a six-game losing streak.
The Blue Jackets have won four of their last five at home.
Merzlikins Wins 200th Career Game
With Merzlikins winning his 200th career game, he improves to 3-5-1 in nine starts on the year with a .898 save percentage and a 2.92 goals-against average. In nine career starts against the Penguins, Merzlikins is 2-6-0, .896, 3.78.
Tonight will be the 200th appearance of Elvis Merzlikins' career. He's the fifth #CBJ goalie to reach that mark following Sergei Bobrovsky, Marc Denis, Steve Mason and Joonas Korpisalo. pic.twitter.com/NfCnxwYsip
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) November 15, 2024
"It's never been easy playing against them," Merzlikins said. "They're a great team. They're fast. They have really skilled players. They're physical.
"The most important thing here is this was a huge win to break that losing streak that we had."
Elvis Merzlikins on #CBJ breaking its losing skid:
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) November 16, 2024
The last two years, as soon as we were losing three games, the snowball was rolling bigger and bigger down the hill. Here, it was different. You could tell in guys faces and how they were acting, together, we didnt want it
Rare Win Vs Pittsburgh
For the first time since 2019, the Blue Jackets beat the Penguins at home in regulation. The four-goal margin of victory was the Jackets' largest over Pittsburgh since that 5-2 win at Nationwide Arena on Nov. 29, 2019.
Columbus beat Pittsburgh 4-3 at home in a shootout on Mar. 30, 2024, and has beaten Pittsburgh in consecutive games for the first time since 2015 when they won 2-1 in Pittsburgh on Nov. 13, 2015, 2-1 in overtime at Columbus on Nov. 27, 2015, and 5-3 at Nationwide on Apr. 4, 2015.
| Date | Opponent | Result |
| Nov. 27, 2015 | Pittsburgh | W, 2-1 OT |
| Nov. 27, 2015 | Pittsburgh | W, 2-1 |
| Nov. 27, 2015 | Pittsburgh | W, 5-3 |
| Nov. 27, 2015 | Pittsburgh | L, 5-3 |
| Nov. 27, 2015 | Pittsburgh | W, 2-1 |
| Nov. 27, 2015 | Pittsburgh | W, 4-3 SO |
Asked what Michael Bunting was saying to him following his empty-netter, Cole Sillinger said he wasn't sure.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 16, 2024
"The horn was going off, I didn't really hear him. It was kind of like when someone's talking to you but a train's going by and you're just like... standing there." #CBJ
Another Six At Home
The Blue Jackets needed a win in the worst of ways and they ended a six-game losing streak with a boom — six cannon booms for those counting.
With Friday's win, the Jackets improved to 6-8-2. Of their five home victories, they've scored exactly six goals in four of those wins. The outlier was the Jackets' 2-0 win over the New York Islanders on Oct. 30.
Mathieu Olivier tied a career-high with his fifth goal of the season at 16:27 of the second period, making it a 3-2 game. It goes down as the game-winner, his second of the year, and sets a personal best.
Olivier's 5th goal of the season to tie a career high. Dante Fabbro picks up the secondary assist; his first point as a #CBJ. Columbus back in front 3-2 late in the second frame.pic.twitter.com/v55uYDhZEI
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 16, 2024
Sean Monahan had two assists to notch career No. 300 and 301.
| Blue Jackets Scorers | Goals | Assists |
| Zach Aston-Reese | 1 | 0 |
| Yegor Chinakhov | 0 | 1 |
| Justin Danforth | 0 | 1 |
| Adam Fantilli | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Labanc | 0 | 1 |
| Kirill Marchenko | 0 | 1 |
| Sean Monahan | 0 | 2 |
| Mathieu Olivier | 1 | 0 |
| Cole Sillinger | 1 | 0 |
| Dmitri Voronkov | 1 | 1 |
| Jake Christiansen | 0 | 1 |
| Dante Fabbro | 0 | 1 |
| Ivan Provorov | 0 | 1 |
| Damon Severson | 1 | 0 |
| Zach Werenski | 1 | 1 |
We wrote about the Jackets' tough 0-4-1 road trip on Friday and their inability to score goals but highlighted the good things the team had been doing, indicating that the goals wouldn't be far behind. Friday's game broke a streak of seven straight games of two or fewer goals.
As the final score indicates, the Jackets continued their recent road trip trend of outshooting their opponent and having the 5v5 advantage in shot attempts (64-50) and scoring chances (28-26) per Natural Stat Trick. Pittsburgh had the 5v5 edge in expected goals.
Columbus outshot Pittsburgh 39-23 and 19-4 in the third period. Tristan Jarry made 33 saves.
Back On The Road
The Blue Jackets head back on the road for a tilt with the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7:00 p.m. ET from Bell Centre.
