Just another bump on the schedule.
Zach Werenski extended his home point streak to 18 games with an assist as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1 Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets have won a season-high six straight games, its longest win streak since Jan. 2020.
Elvis Merzlikins made 18 saves and was named Third Star of the Night. Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves.
Marc-Andre Vlasic played in his 1,300th career game.
Werenski Pushes Streak To 18
Adam Fantilli's 11th goal of the season opened the scoring at 12:11 of the first period to make it 1-0 for the Blue Jackets, extending his career-long point streak (four goals, four assists) to seven games. Fantilli is a point per game player for January with the streak coinciding with every game this month.
Zach Werenski sets up Adam Fantilli for the opening goal! pic.twitter.com/bGBjLAR2b2
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 17, 2025
Werenski picked up the primary assist for his team-leading 51st point and 36th assist to push his home point streak (12 goals, 23 assists) to 18 games. Werenski leads all defensemen in goals and points.
Zach Werenski assisted on the @BlueJacketsNHLs 1-0 goal by Adam Fantilli and became the sixth defenseman in NHL history with an 18-game home point streak.#NHLStats: https://t.co/Px7DmZTdwl pic.twitter.com/dTEw0jKjDz
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 17, 2025
KJ's Two-Point Night
Kent Johnson scored his 12th of the season to make it 2-0 Columbus at 16:17 of the first. Sean Kuraly added his seventh assist of the year.
Columbus with a 2-0 lead after the first twenty. Here's the second goal, Kent Johnson's 12th of the season.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 17, 2025
Another solid period for the #CBJ. pic.twitter.com/FIvj32zDTD
Johnson also had an assist to conclude a two-point night and secure the Second Star of the Night honors.
JVR x2
James van Riemsdyk had his second multi-goal game this month.
He scored his seventh of the season at 6:37 of the second period to make it 3-0 Jackets. Damon Severson (13) and Kent Johnson (14) added the assists.
Just the tip.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 17, 2025
Damon Severson's shot is tipped perfectly by James van Riemsdyk, who gets his 7th of the season to put the #CBJ up 3-0.
pic.twitter.com/6nDGH1BDBY
Then with a 3-1 lead late, van Riemsdyk added his second of the game and eighth of the season with the empty net at 17:59 to make it 4-1. Kirill Marchenko added his 31st assist.
Empty net goal for Columbus!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 17, 2025
Scored by James van Riemsdyk with 02:01 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Kirill Marchenko.
Columbus: 4
San Jose: 1#SJSvsCBJ #CBJ #TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/3VvMcokMKs
van Riemsdyk was named First Star of the Night. Columbus has taken over the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, leading the Boston Bruins by one point.
The #CBJ have allowed two or less goals in four straight games for the first time since Feb. 4th-10th, 2020.
— Ed Francis (@BlueJacketStats) January 17, 2025
In a twist, the Blue Jackets lost two of those games and didnt score more than twice in any of them.
Columbus is 4-0 this time around.
Road Test
The Blue Jackets look to extend their winning streak to seven games and make it three in a row on the road when they battle the New York Rangers from Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. ET.
