Coming into the season, we wondered how Cole Sillinger would rebound after struggling in 2022-23.
After scoring his second career hat trick in Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild, it looks like the third-year player is finding his groove.
Sillinger started the scoring at 8:09 of the first period to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead.
Sillinger's fifth of the season, assisted by Bean and Boqvist! pic.twitter.com/p5FsRqs1mf #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 7, 2024
His second goal at 17 seconds of the second period gave Columbus a 2-1 lead.
Sillinger's sixth of the season, assisted by Marchenko. pic.twitter.com/x4rRsnECsl #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 7, 2024
At 14:15 of the third period, Sillinger completed the trifecta, securing his second career hat trick and more importantly giving the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead.
The second career hat trick for Cole and his seventh goal of the season. Assist to Boqvist. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/vhXAs8LF4t
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 7, 2024
His first hat trick came against the Vegas Golden Knights on Mar. 13, 2022.
Sillinger has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) on the season after a disappointing 11-point season a year ago in which he only scored three goals. In his rookie campaign in 2021-22, he broke out with 31 points (16 goals, 15 assists), and it looks like he's on pace to set new career highs this season.
Since Dec. 19, Sillinger has eight points (six goals, two assists).
Saturday's game and the recent string of games aside, Sillinger is among the higher performers on the team in total points/60 with 2.26 per Natural Stat Trick.
Tonight is the first multigoal game for Cole Sillinger since his rookie year, the hat trick vs. Vegas.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) January 7, 2024
Fair to say he's been NSYNC with Marchenko and Chinakhov on that new line. #CBJ
Head coach Pascal Vincent made changes ahead of Saturday's game, breaking up the "Russian line" of Yegor Chinakhov, Dmitri Voronkov, and Kirill Marchenko, with Voronkov going to the fourth line and Sillinger joining Chinakhov and Marchenko.
| Time On Ice | Shot Attempts For/Against | Shots on Goal For/Against | Scoring Chances For/Against | High Danger Chances For/Against | Expected Goals For/Against | Goals For/Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:03 | 14/12 | 8/7 | 9/7 | 5/2 | 0.77/0.58 | 2/0 |
In addition to his three-goal game, Sillinger was plus-two, led the club with five shots, had one blocked shot, and played a career-high 19:07.
Sillinger hasn't had much power-play opportunity this season but made good on his chances Saturday night, playing 3:19 and scoring the third-period go-ahead goal with the man advantage. Sillinger was 10-of-18 in the faceoff circle.
Even in a loss, it was no surprise he was the First Star of the Game.
Chinakhov was plus-two with four shots and one takeaway in 18:16 and nearly had the overtime winner before Marc-Andre Fleury flashed the leather with the game-saving stop.
Marchenko was plus-one with one assist, two shots, and two takeaways in 15:51.
After a three-goal performance by Sillinger, the line paid dividends, and we'll probably see that trio for a while.
"(Sillinger) was really good," Vincent said after Saturday's loss. "But his game has been growing the whole year into a 200-foot player, winning big faceoffs, being good on the penalty kill, (and scoring) a big goal on the power play tonight.
"But it's beyond that. It's his physicality, it's his routes offensively, defensively, and he scored 16 two years ago, so we know he can score. But he's growing into a 200-foot player and I like his leadership skills. I think he's got a lot of leadership so he was good tonight and he scored three goals, but if we take the three goals away, he had a real good game."
The Blue Jackets will be back on the ice from Winnipeg on Tuesday night from Canada Life Centre. The Jets are in first place in the entire NHL with a 26-9-4 record and 56 points.
