Merzlikins Gives Up Six, Blue Jackets Fall 6-2 To Jets In Most Lopsided Loss Of The Season

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CBJ GOALS:  Kuraly (P1, 11:02) Monahan (P2, 16:30) CBJ ASSISTS:  Marchenko, van Riemsdyk, Werenski

The Columbus Blue Jackets four-game point streak came to an end Friday night at Nationwide Arena at the hands of the best team in the NHL.

Nik Ehlers had a hat trick as part of a four-point night and Eric Comrie stopped 20 of 22 shots for the Winnipeg Jets, who move to 10-1-0 on the season with a 6-2 win over the Blue Jackets.

Sean Kuraly and Sean Monahan scored for the Blue Jackets, but that was it for the Columbus offense. The Blue Jackets were outshot 44-22 and lost the shot attempts battle by an even wider margin (72-45) as part of the four-goal loss, their biggest of the season.

Elvis Merzlikins, after a pair of sensational starts Monday and Wednesday, gave up six goals on 44 shots. The Jets peppered Merzlikins throughout the night, getting off at least a dozen shots in each period.

Here's how it unfolded Friday night: 

1st Period

(5:13 — WPG Goal): The Jets take a 1-0 lead at 5:13 when Nik Ehlers launches a huge slapper past Merzlikins. He was the only Winnipeg skater on that side of the ice against three Blue Jackets and rather than wait on reinforcements or dump it, decided to fire it as hard as he could. It worked.

(11:02 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets kick it up a notch with the attack after the Ehlers goal and it pays off less than six minutes later as Sean Kuraly gets his first tally of the season. As the trend has been for the Blue Jackets' bottom six, it's a goal that comes via hard work, grit, and size all paying off. James van Riemsdyk wins a board battle against three Jets behind the net and finds Kuraly right in front of the net to beat Winnipeg goalie Eric Comrie.

Sean Kuraly ties it up at one with his first of the season. pic.twitter.com/7jsdmK2bxA

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) November 1, 2024

(15:14 — WPG Goal): Ehlers again here to put the Jets back in front, 2-1. It starts with Winnipeg winning the faceoff and an impressive keep-in by defenseman Dylan Samberg. It ends up on the stick of Ehlers who rips it past Merzlikins' glove-side from the right face-off dot for his sixth of the season and second of the game.

2nd Period

(2:20 — WPG Goal): The Jets extend their lead to 3-1 early in the second period. There's plenty of traffic between Jets forward Mason Appleton and Merzlikins, and Appleton takes a good look from defenseman Neal Pionk and rips it perfectly between said traffic.

(16:30 — CBJ Goal): The power play strikes for the Blue Jackets to cut Winnipeg's lead in half for the second time of the evening. It took just seven seconds for Columbus to win the draw, get three passes off in quick succession, and Werenski to get a clean shot off. It was tipped by Monahan, who gets credit for the goal — his team-leading sixth.

Power play goal for Columbus!

Scored by Zach Werenski with 03:30 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Kirill Marchenko and Yegor Chinakhov.

Columbus: 2
Winnipeg: 3#WPGvsCBJ #CBJ #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/mis2cobTR1

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 2, 2024

(18:51 — WPG Goal): Just two minutes after the Blue Jackets brought the Nationwide Arena crowd back to life, Ehlers takes the life out of the barn again. He gets his hat trick goal with just over a minute left in the second period to reestablish a two-goal Winnipeg lead, making it 4-2 Jets with 1:09 left in the second. 

3rd Period

(11:39 — WPG Goal): Josh Morrissey connects for a power play goal, just the second allowed by the Blue Jackets over their last 14 opportunities. 

(14:54 — WPG Goal): Gabriel Vilardi scores to make it 6-2 Jets, with Kyle Connor getting the assist. Connor's only point of the night keeps his streak going: he's gotten onto the scoresheet in every game this season. 

Up Next:

The Blue Jackets play the second half of their first back-to-back of the 2024-25 season when they travel to the Nation's Capital to face off against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Puck drop is an early one, scheduled for 5:00 p.m.