Johnson Scores Twice, Merzlikins Sharp In Net As Blue Jackets Get 4-1 Win Over Jets In Winnipeg

By Ed Francis on December 8, 2024 at 8:49 pm
Kent Johnson scored a pair of third-period goals and Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves to propel the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.
© James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
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  1 2 3 F
CBJ 0 1 3 4
WPG 0 1 0 1

CBJ GOALS: 
Voronkov (P2, 13:53)
Johnson (P3, 7:15)
Johnson (2) (P3, 9:42) 
Kuraly (EN) (P3, 18:38)

Kent Johnson scored two third-period goals for the third multi-goal game of his career, James van Riemsdyk had a pair of assists, and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 24 of 25 shots by the Winnipeg Jets to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-1 win Sunday night.

Merzlikins lone goal allowed came on the Jets fourth power play of the night, giving Winnipeg a 1-0 in the second period. It was the 13th consecutive game in which the Blue Jackets allowed a power play goal.

But they had an answer this time — Dmitri Voronkov scored on a power play just 2:02 later to make it a 1-1 game.

Johnson scored at the 7:15 mark of the third period to give the Blue Jackets their first lead of the game. Just 2:27 later, Johnson would get another goal — his 8th of the season — to expand the Columbus lead.

van Riemsdyk assisted on both goals, his third and fourth assists of the season in a new-found role playing alongside Johnson and Sean Monahan.

"We really like that line. It's nice to have some balance," said head coach Dean Evason. "It's nice to have some depth in our forward lines."

Ivan Provorov had the secondary assist on Johnson's second goal and was a +3 plus/minus in 23:07 of ice time. Provorov was a game-time decision after leaving the game Friday night with a thumb injury.

"Nobody thought he was going to play," said Evason. "Except him."

The injury bug may have bit the Blue Jackets again Sunday: Cole Sillinger left the game in the third period after blocking a shot and would not return. The team is calling it a lower-body injury. 

Columbus concludes their five-game road trip with a 2-3-0 record, winning the first and last game of the trip. For the Jets, the loss was their third home defeat of the season.

Here are the details from Manitoba:


1st Period:

(4:41 — Fisticuffs): It was a relatively quiet opening period, but James van Riemsdyk and Neal Pionk share pleasantries less than five minutes into the game near the end of a Blue Jackets power play. Both got a roughing penalty, but van Riemsdyk got an extra two for tripping to make it a brief 4-on-4 before a Jets powerplay that they would not connect on.

2nd Period

(11:51 — WPG Goal): On their fourth power play of the night, the Jets finally connect for the first goal of the game. Kyle Connor gets his 15th of the season late in the man-advantage; no one near him on the right face-off dot and he gets a wrister off that goes right by the glove of Merzlikins.

(13:53 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets answer right back on a power play strike of their own. Ivan Provorov takes a stick to the fact from Brad Lambert to give Columbus a 5-on-4. Werenski gets a pass off to Marchenko and he gets a good look from the left dot. Winnipeg goalie Eric Comrie makes the initial save but lets it trickle behind him and Voronkov is right there to put it away and make it a 1-1 game.

3rd Period

(7:15 — CBJ Goal): Johnson gets his first (but not last) goal of the game by being in the right place at the right time. van Riemsdyk throws the puck at net, seeing that both Sean Monahan and Johnson are near the net with plenty of traffic in front of Comrie. KJ puts it away on a backhander to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead.

(9:42 — CBJ Goal): van Riemsdyk and Johnson take advantage of a Winnipeg turnover and quickly create a 2-on-1. The veteran finds the youngster for a one-timer and he beats Comrie's stick-side to make it a 3-1 Columbus lead. 

(18:38 — CBJ Goal): Kuraly adds the empty-netter to give Columbus a 4-1 win — their first time scoring four goals this season. 


CBJ GAME STATS WPG
28 SHOTS 25
34% FACEOFFS 66%
1/2 POWER PLAY 1/4
3/4 PENALTY KILL 1/2
25 HITS 11
17 GIVEAWAYS 17
5 TAKEAWAYS 7
24 BLOCKED SHOTS 17
ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS
2.89 EXPECTED GOALS 2.69
59 SHOT ATTEMPTS 68
25 SCORING CHANCES 25
6 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 11
 DATA VIA:
NHL.COM & NATURALSTATTRICK.COM

Stat Chat:

  • The Blue Jackets only won 34% of the faceoffs, their lowest percentage of the season.
     
  • The 4-1 final gives the Blue Jackets their first game this season in which they scored exactly four goals. An oddity, consider they average four goals a game.

Up Next:

After more than a week on the road, the Blue Jackets return to Nationwide Arena for a three-game homestand that kicks off Tuesday when they welcome the Philadelphia Flyers to town. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m.
 

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