A career night for the Ohio kid!
Looking to stop a seven-game skid, the Columbus Blue Jackets battled the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center. It's the first of a home-and-home for the two teams.
After making his NHL debut on Monday night at home against the Boston Bruins, Carson Meyer had something for the away crowd in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| FLYERS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Meyer had his first two career points including a goal and assist in the first period. Brendan Gaunce and Justin Danforth also scored. Sean Kuraly had a two-point night with an empty-net goal and assist. Eric Robinson had two first period assists for his fourth multi-point game this season.
Elvis Merzlikins stopped 47 shots as he started his seventh straight game.
Noah Cates scored his first career goal and James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Flyers. Carter Hart made 26 saves.
To the first period we go.
Gaunce squeaked through his fifth of the season past Hart at 2:38 with assists to Meyer, who earned his first career point, and Eric Robinson.
Columbus jumped on the forecheck and swarmed Hart, who had a rebound end up behind him and couldn't thwart the ensuing multiple chances as Gaunce kept whacking at the puck and found an opening on his second try.
Gaunce from Meyer and Robinson. It's Meyer's first career point in his second career game! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/rRYxPi8sQn
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 5, 2022
If one point in his second career game is good, two points in two games, including his first career goal is a story to call home about.
Already with an assist earlier in the period, Meyer connected on a two-on-one with Zach Werenski to bury his first career goal at 13:23. Robinson also picked up his second assist. Meyer only played 3:16 on Monday and had surpassed that in the first period alone as he played 9:10 tonight. He was +2 with one shot, two hits, and one takeaway.
Two career points in his second career game! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/E1QqJEQwLc
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 5, 2022
Carson Meyer (Powell, Ohio) scored his first NHL goal while skating for his hometown @BlueJacketsNHL. He became the fourth former Ohio AAA Blue Jackets player to skate for Columbus.#NHLStats: https://t.co/p0rKorn8yX https://t.co/4sKhpnPORR
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 6, 2022
That wasn't all the scoring in the first period.
A night of firsts continued when Patrick Brown found Cates in the slot, and Cates sent home his first career goal to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 17:35.
Philadelphia found the equalizer in the second period at 13:16 with van Riemsdyk scoring his 18th. Kevin Hayes found Ronnie Attard who let it rip from the point, and van Riemsdyk was on Merzlikins' doorstep, tipping it through and getting credit for the goal. Attard earned his first career point in his third career game.
There was no review from the bench for goaltender interference but camera angles suggested there could have been contact between van Riemsdyk and Merzlikins.
Either way, we had a brand new game through two periods. Philadelphia held a 34-16 shots advantage.
Tonight marks the 60th time out of 71 games #CBJ has allowed 30 shots or more in a game.
— Mark Scheig (@markscheig) April 6, 2022
They've allowed...
Over 60 shots once.
Over 50 shots two other times.
Over 40 shots 13 other times.
Flyers at 34 and counting tonight.
The Blue Jackets regained the lead at 13:16 of the third period.
Danforth's eighth of the season—three goals in four games—was of the greasy goal variety. Jake Bean took a shot from the blue line, with the puck finding a path to Sean Kuraly, who got a part of it, and Danforth being the last to get his stick on it before falling through the blue paint on the goal. The goal was Danforth's first career game-winner.
Grinding through the slot for his 8th! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/bukL8NDCi5
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 6, 2022
Kuraly picked up his second point and career-best 12th goal of the season on the empty net to seal the deal for the Blue Jackets with 20 seconds left. Cole Sillinger and Gus Nyquist picked up assists.
Columbus snapped a seven-game (0-5-2) losing streak with the win.
- Shots: 49-30 Flyers
- Hits: 21-21
- Faceoff Wins: 30-24 Flyers
- Blocked Shots: 20-14 Flyers
- Power Play: Flyers 0-for-4, Blue Jackets 0-for-1
- Elvis Merzlikins had nine shorthanded saves
- Patrik Laine and Ivan Provorov co-led the game with six shots each
- Provorov led the game with six blocked shots; Vladislav Gavrikov led the Blue Jackets with four blocked shots
- It's the first time the Blue Jackets have allowed fewer than three goals in a game since Mar. 16, a 4-1 win, at the Ottawa Senators
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Keith Yandle returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for two games, stopping his 989-game ironman streak. He was -2 (10:47).
Back Home
The Blue Jackets (33-32-6, 72 points) complete the home-and-home and season series with the Flyers (22-37-11, 55 points) on Thursday from Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets are 2-0-0 against the Flyers this season. Puck drop is at 7:00 pm ET.
