| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
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CBJ GOALS: |
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Six. Straight. Wins.
Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson scored first-period goals and Elvis Merzlikins was nearly perfect in net to help lead the Columbus Blue Jackets a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
James van Riemsdyk scored twice for the Blue Jackets, including an empty-netter in the final minutes.
It was van Riemsdyk's first two-goal game with Columbus.
Johnson had an assist on the first on van Riemsdyk's goals, giving KJ his first multi-point effort since Dec. 10th.
Merzlikins, who picked up his fourth straight win, finished with 18 saves on the Sharks' 19 shots and earned the game's Third Star of the night.
van Riemsdyk and Johnson were First and Second, respectively.
The win kept Columbus as the hottest team in the NHL; no other team had won more than three straight entering the day. Their sixth straight win comes five years to the week after their last six-game streak, between Jan. 11th and 20th, 2020.
It was also the fourth straight game in which the Blue Jackets allowed two goals or less, something they haven't done since Feb. 4th-10th, 2020.
Zach Werenski picked up an assist on Fantilli's goal for an 18th consecutive home game with at least a point. That's the longest such streak by a defenseman since Phil Housely and Brian Leetch went on runs of 22 and 18 games in the 1991-92 season, with Werenski tying Leetch for the sixth-longest streak in NHL history.
Werenski was mum on the streak after the game.
"Honestly I don't want to talk about it," said Werenski. "It's just one of those things where I'm just going about my business, trying to help the team win."
Here's how Columbus made it six in a row in the win column:
1st Period:
(12:11 — CBJ Goal): Jan Rutta turns the puck over to Werenski, which is a huge mistake anywhere on the ice. This one is in Columbus' own zone, but Werenski is immediately off to the races with Fantilli on a two-on-two. Z finds Fantilli streaking through the slot and feeds him to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead.
Zach Werenski with a perfect feed to Adam Fantilli to put the #CBJ up 1-0.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 17, 2025
Fantilli's seventh straight game with a point and Werenski's 18th straight at home getting in the scoring column. pic.twitter.com/D2ma26Lkt9
(16:17 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets double their lead on Johnson's 12th goal of the season after he and Sean Kuraly force the Sharks into a turnover behind Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgiev. Kuraly has the puck to the dot left of Georgiev and goes across the slot with a pass to Johnson, whose shot trickles across the line for a goal and a 2-0 Columbus lead.
Columbus with a 2-0 lead after the first twenty. Here's the second goal, Kent Johnson's 12th of the season.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 17, 2025
Another solid period for the #CBJ. pic.twitter.com/FIvj32zDTD
2nd Period
(6:37 — CBJ Goal): Another one for the Blue Jackets; van Riemsdyk gives them a 3-0 lead on a perfectly-timed deflection from a Damon Severson shot. For JVR, it's his 7th goal of the season — and, for whatever it's worth — his first goal in the second period all season long.
Just the tip.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 17, 2025
Damon Severson's shot is tipped perfectly by James van Riemsdyk, who gets his 7th of the season to put the #CBJ up 3-0.
pic.twitter.com/6nDGH1BDBY
3rd Period
(7:32 — SJ Goal): Tyler Toffoli kills the bid for Elvis' second shutout of the season with his team-leading 17th goal to trim the Columbus lead to 3-1. He's right in front of Merzlikins and puts it home after picking up a rebound of a Macklin Celebrini shot.
(17:59 — CBJ EN Goal): van Riemsdyk gets his second of the night via an empty-net goal to reestablish Columbus' three goal lead and put the foil on another two-point night.
Empty net goal for Columbus!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 17, 2025
Scored by James van Riemsdyk with 02:01 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Kirill Marchenko.
Columbus: 4
San Jose: 1#SJSvsCBJ #CBJ #TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/3VvMcokMKs
| SJ | GAME STATS | CBJ |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | SHOTS | 34 |
| 60% | FACEOFFS | 40% |
| 0/3 | POWER PLAY | 0/2 |
| 2/2 | PENALTY KILL | 3/3 |
| 12 | HITS | 13 |
| 19 | GIVEAWAYS | 16 |
| 8 | TAKEAWAYS | 10 |
| 17 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 24 |
| ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS | ||
| 1.97 | EXPECTED GOALS | 4.36 |
| 57 | SHOT ATTEMPTS | 61 |
| 25 | SCORING CHANCES | 29 |
| 12 | HIGH-DANGER CHANCES | 14 |
| Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com | ||
Stat Chat:
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The Blue Jackets killed off all three of the Sharks penalties, making it 10/11 successful penalty kills for Columbus over their last four games.
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Don't let the shot attempts fool you. The Blue Jackets ended with a small 61-57 advantage, but it was 31-14 in the Sharks advantage over the final period with Columbus up two or three goals for the duration of the period and San Jose in desperation mode.
- Columbus suffocated San Jose in the second frame, giving the Sharks just two shots on goal for the period.
Up Next:
The Blue Jackets hit the road for a four-game road trip that begins Saturday night against the New York Rangers. Puck-drop at Madison Square Garden is set for 7 p.m.
