That’s how you come off a two-week break.
Zach Werenski continued his 22-game home point streak with a goal and two assists and Kent Johnson scored twice as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.
The win snaps Columbus’ four-game losing streak. They’ve won five straight over Chicago.
Elvis Merzlikins made 27 saves on 28 shots. Petr Mrazek made 16 saves on 21 shots.
Very special moment inside Nationwide Arena as the crowd sings little Johnny Gaudreau a happy first birthday. The Gaudreau family is in the building tonight. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/X0v7Qeb8Yp
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 23, 2025
Reinforcements Reinstalled
They're back and they're reloaded.
Captain Boone Jenner made his season debut, Kirill Marchenko returned to the lineup after sustaining a broken jaw in Dallas on Feb. 2, and Dante Fabbro also made his return after an upper-body injury kept him out of the lineup for the Blue Jackets as they continue their playoff push.
Joseph LaBate made his Blue Jackets debut and dropped the mitts with Nick Foligno in the first period. LaBate went seven years in between NHL appearances with his last game coming in Mar. 28, 2017, with the Vancouver Canucks. He had 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 33 games for the Cleveland Monsters.
Nick Foligno drops the gloves with Joseph LaBate pic.twitter.com/JnR6TgGYaC
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 23, 2025
| Return to Lineup | Assists | +/- | Shots | Blocked Shots | Hits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jenner, 16:56 TOI | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Marchenko, 16:17 TOI | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| LaBate, 7:19 TOI | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Fabbro, 22:41 TOI | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
No Break, No Problem for Werenski
Unlike the rest of his teammates, Werenski didn’t get a break as he was busy with Team USA in the 4-Nations Face-off where he led Team USA with six points.
Saturday night was just another night for No. 8 as he collected three more points.
#CBJ Werenski now at 18-44-62 in 56 games. He has 1-2-3 tonight, his fourth game with three or more points this season.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) February 23, 2025
Werenski has not gone without a point at Nationwide Arena since Oct. 30 and with another multi-point game on home ice, his point streak stretches another day to 22 games.
Werenski’s (43) first assist in the game came on Kent Johnson’s (18) first goal at 4:10 of the first period. Cole Sillinger (19) picked up the primary assist.
#CBJ are up 1-0 after the opening period thanks to this Kent Johnson goal, his 18th of the season. Cole Sillinger gets the primary assist (his 19th), with Zach Werenski extending his home point streak to 22 games on the other assist, his 43rd.pic.twitter.com/Rrv1WLsmkG
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 23, 2025
Then on Johnson’s (19) second goal at 1:12 on the power play in the second period, Werenski (44) had the primary assist and Dmitri Voronkov (17) picked up the secondary helper.
Here's KJ's second of the night (with anotheeeerrrrr assist from Z) that extended the #CBJ lead to 2-0. Chicago had fought back to make it a one-goal game in the middle of the second. pic.twitter.com/nbtTetsUPT
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 23, 2025
Kent Johnson now up to 2nd in 5v5 goals scored/60 this season behind just Tage. Spent so much time talking about Marchenko and Werenski but he's having a monster season too
Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) February 23, 2025
Werenski's 22-game home point streak is tied for the third-longest by a defenseman in NHL history. He also has points in three straight games overall (one goal, four assists).
#CBJ Werenski gets the secondary assist on KJ's goal. That's 22 straight home games with a point for Z, and here's the updated all-time list for longest home point streaks by d-men:
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 23, 2025
Bobby Orr: 25 (74-75)
Paul Coffey: 23 (85-86)
Phil Housley: 22 (91-92)
Werenski: 22 (Right Now)
Werenski leads the Blue Jackets with 62 points and 44 assists. Among all defensemen in the league, he trails Cale Makar (63) by one point. Werenski's 46 points in 28 home games (14 goals, 32 assists) is tied with Nathan MacKinnon (13-33) for the most points at home in the NHL.
Denton Mateychuk scored his second of the season (unassisted) at 12:42 to give Columbus the 3-1 lead. Werenski scored on a breakaway for his 18th at 13:51 of the third period. Jenner picked up his first assist and Sillinger earned his second of the game for his 20th.
Among all-time Blue Jackets, Werenski (256) is two assists behind Rick Nash (258) for No. 1 all-time. Werenski (364) is one point behind Jenner (365) for third in franchise history.
Adam Fantilli scored his 16th to make it 5-1 at 14:44. Kirill Marchenko (35) and Voronkov (18) added the assists. Marchenko is on a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists).
Werenski was the First Star of the Night, Johnson was the game’s second star, and Merzlikins was the third star.
WERENSKI GOES COAST TO COAST pic.twitter.com/BgiNFP9v00
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 23, 2025
#CBJ Werenski now at 18-44-62 in 56 games. He has 1-2-3 tonight, his fourth game with three or more points this season.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) February 23, 2025
A Critical Two Points
With the win, Columbus moves into a tie for the first and second wild card spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Ottawa Senators lost to the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 as they slid into the second wild-card spot. The Detroit Red Wings picked up a point Saturday afternoon in a 4-3 losing effort in overtime to the Minnesota Wild.
The Wings beat Columbus 5-4 on Jan. 2 at Nationwide Arena and will play one another on Thursday in Detroit leading into Saturday’s marquee outdoor matchup at Ohio Stadium.
The Boston Bruins fell in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 and are one point behind the Blue Jackets. The New York Rangers lost 8-2 to the Buffalo Sabres and are four points back of the Jackets.
Big Western Test
The Blue Jackets battle the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. ET at Nationwide Arena.
