Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers (13-16-2) made their lone trip to Nationwide Arena for the season and left with a blowout win, downing the Blue Jackets (19-11-1) by a 7-2 score.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OILERS | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
IN A PARAGRAPH
That was bad.
NOTABLES
- Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his first goal since Nov. 6 and added an assist, giving him four points in the last four games.
- Jack Johnson scored for the first time since Oct. 17.
- CBJ captain Nick Foligno and forward Brandon Dubinsky each fought for the first time this year. They were just the fourth and fifth fights for a Columbus player this season and first since Oct. 30.
STAT ATTACK
Edmonton went 2 for 4 on the power play despite the fact the Blue Jackets entered the game with a penalty-killing percentage of 95.2 at home and had given up a power-play goal in just one of the first 16 games at Nationwide Arena. ... The shorthanded goal allowed was the third of the year for Columbus. ... The Blue Jackets fell to 11-6-0 in Nationwide Arena. ... Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled from a game for the first time all season. ... McDavid had a goal and three assists for Edmonton to jump from 10th to third in the NHL in points. ... Former CBJ defenseman Kris Russell blocked three shots for the Oilers. ... Columbus gave up seven goals for the first time since a 7-3 loss to Ottawa on Oct. 14, 2015. The previous high in goals allowed this season came in a 6-4 loss to Los Angeles on Oct. 21. ... The Blue Jackets lost by five goals for the first time since a 5-0 loss at Washington last year that snapped the team's 16-game win streak.
WHAT HAPPENED
With "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky looking on at Nationwide Arena, Edmonton took a 1-0 lead at the 5:55 mark. Perhaps fitting, it was a former Blue Jackets No. 55, Mark Letestu, who made it happen, holding the puck in at the blue line and advancing at the net in a 2-on-1 situation before feeding a wide-open Zack Kassian to put past Bobrovsky.
Perhaps Columbus' best chance at tying the score in the first came when Panarin danced his way around Jesse Puljujarvi and shot from the slot, but it soared over goaltender Laurent Brossoit.
Edmonton made it 2-0 with a power-play marker 6:27 into the second period with David Savard in the box. Mike Cammalleri faked a shot from the left circle and fired through the defense to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who essentially had an open net to fire into from the right dot.
From there, a third goal seemed just a matter of time as Bobrovksy made a number of excellent saves to keep the Oilers off the board, but finally at 16:41 Edmonton got one by the netminder. McDavid deked his way into the zone only to have the puck poked off his stick by Seth Jones, but it went right to Matthew Benning in the high slot, and his shot got through the wickets of the clearly frustrated Bobrovsky.
Things didn't get much better as Edmonton added another power-play goal with 50.3 seconds left in the frame to make it 4-0. Columbus was pushing for a short-handed goal and the Oilers took advantage, with Leon Draisaitl feeding McDavid for a 2-on-1 that Milan Lucic finished with ease.
And then, the cherry on top of the period came with just 0.2 seconds left on the clock as Letestu made it 5-0 with a shorthanded tally. The Jackets had an offensive zone faceoff after Jujhar Khaira took an interference penalty with 9.2 seconds left, but Letestu intercepted a blind pass by Zach Werenski and skated in alone on Bobrovsky before beating him short side by the glove.
Edmonton outshot Columbus 18-6 in the second frame.
Joonas Korpisalo was summoned to mind the net in the third, playing well as Edmonton continued to push for more early in the frame including a 2-on-0 chance that was fired wide. Somewhat predictably, a fight was in the cards as well at the 5:56 mark, as Foligno and Khaira emerged from a scrum in the corner with gloves dropped.
Just 32 seconds later, Columbus got on the board, as Markus Nutivaara entered the zone and found Bjorkstrand for a shot that got past Brossoit's blocker. Johnson then made it 5-2 with 11:01 to play, blasting a shot from the left hashmark shortside past the screened Brossoit.
But any hope of a rally was short-circuited as Jesse Puljujarvi scored for Edmonton with 6:16 left past his fellow countryman. McDavid made that play happen as well, firing the initial shot before Puljujarvi banged a second rebound behind Korpisalo.
Finally, McDavid got his goal with 2:14 to play, completing an odd-man rush by burying a pass from Puljujarvi with ease.
ROSTER REPORT
Cam Atkinson returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch Saturday, and Tyler Motte entered as well. They replaced Sonny Milano (returned to AHL Cleveland) and Markus Hannikainen (healthy scratch). ... Dubinsky fought Kassian with 1:35 to go and suffered a cut near his eye that caused him to go straight to the locker room.
NEXT UP
The Blue Jackets finish a three-game homestand with a game Thursday at Nationwide Arena vs. the Metro Division rival New York Islanders at 7 p.m.
