A come-from-behind victory.
Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine each scored their 13th goal of the season and the Blue Jackets overcame a rough first period to beat the San Jose Sharks 5-3 at Nationwide Arena Saturday.
1st Period
The Sharks nearly capitalized on an Erik Gudbranson defensive zone giveaway at 5:36 but Logan Couture's shot was denied by Joonas Korpisalo.
Korpisalo denied Couture again at 6:59 with San Jose on the power play on a rebound from the doorstep.
The Sharks broke through at 10:49 when Timo Meier received a nice pass from Noah Gregor after he got behind Vladislav Gavrikov and beat Korpisalo with a backhand shot.
#SJSharks Meier goal pic.twitter.com/v7UzPueYg3
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 22, 2023
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| SJ SHARKS | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Gustav Nyquist had a chance to tie the game late in the period but his shot from the doorstep went wide.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission with a 14-2 edge in shots on goal.
2nd Period
San Jose doubled its lead at 5:39 on Nick Bonino's backhand wrap-around from below the goal line.
#SJSharks Bonino goal pic.twitter.com/ryaiPfDAbf
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 22, 2023
On the ensuing face-off, Mathieu Olivier dropped the gloves with San Jose's Jonah Gadjovich.
#CBJ Olivier fight pic.twitter.com/rSVhFvHiN2
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 22, 2023
The Jackets cut their deficit in half on the power play at 11:19 on a Gaudreau wrist shot from the right circle off a cross-ice feed from Laine.
#CBJ Gaudreau (13) goal pic.twitter.com/1AartjNJhD
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 22, 2023
Columbus tied the game on a two-on-one rush at 12:31 when Kent Johnson's feed found Boone Jenner who beat Kaapo Kahkonen from the right slot.
#CBJ Jenner (12) goal pic.twitter.com/NVjqA3doVM
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 22, 2023
The teams were tied at two heading into the third period with San Jose leading 20-14 in shots on goal.
3rd Period
Nico Sturm gave San Jose a 3-2 lead at 1:53 finishing off a net-mouth scramble caused by a shot by Mario Ferraro that hit the post.
#SJSharks Sturm goal pic.twitter.com/pMsfpJZjaR
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 22, 2023
Columbus tied the game at 3:04 when Laine finished a one-timer from the slot after receiving a feed from Jack Roslovic from below the goal line.
#CBJ Laine (13) goal pic.twitter.com/26km9AKqEQ
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 22, 2023
Laine nearly gave Columbus its first lead of the night at 6:29 when he hit the crossbar on a slap shot from the left circle.
Gaudreau had a chance to put the Jackets ahead at 9:40 on a two-on-one wrist shot from the right slot but he missed the net.
Nyquist put the Jackets ahead at 12:38 after an offensive zone takeaway of his own led to a feed to Johnson, who passed it back to Nyquist, who fired a wrist shot from the left circle past Kahkonen.
#CBJ Nyquist (10) goal pic.twitter.com/B3ZBxYQXfn
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 22, 2023
The Sharks pulled Kahkonen in favor of an extra skater with 2:36 to play and the Blue Jackets capitalized as Sean Kuraly scored on the empty net at 18:56 from below his own goal line.
#CBJ Kuraly (9) goal pic.twitter.com/2klIsX0awt
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 22, 2023
The Blue Jackets won 5-3 and improved to 14-30-2.
Stats
- Shots on Goal: SJS 25-29 CBJ
- Faceoff %: SJS 47.4-52.6 CBJ
- Power play: SJS 0/1-1/2 CBJ
- Takeaways: SJS 7-9 CBJ
- Giveaways: SJS 1-4 CBJ
- Blocked shots: SJS 13-4 CBJ
- Hits: SJS 15-24 CBJ
-
5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): SJS 1.75-2.01 CBJ
- Chances (CF): SJS 32-49 CBJ
- Shots (SF): SJS 22-23 CBJ
- Scoring Chances (SCF): SJS 20-27 CBJ
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): SJS 8-6 CBJ
Injury Update
No players left tonight's game with injuries.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets will go on the road to take on the Flames as Johnny Gaudreau makes his return to Calgary on Monday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and Hulu.
The club will stay in Alberta and travel to Edmonton to take on the Oilers on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
