| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
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0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
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CBJ GOALS: |
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It was good, until it wasn't — and then it got interesting again, until it didn't.
The Columbus Blue Jackets went from up two to down three in the second period of Thursday night's 7-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko each scored in the first period, one that the Blue Jackets won handily. But for as well as they played in the opening twenty, it all went away in a span of just over ten minutes in the middle frame.
Carolina would score five times — four of which came in just 4:23 — before the Blue Jackets would answer with two of their own later to make it a game heading into the final period.
But the 5-2 deficit was just too much for Columbus to overcome.
With the game at 5-4 Carolina through two periods, the Hurricanes would get their sixth goal of the night just over halfway through the third period to essentially put the game out of reach before an empty-netter in the final two minutes would officially end it.
"We didn't stay within ourselves, and they obviously had a push and we needed to be a little firmer with our structure throughout the whole second period," said head coach Dean Evason.
Here's how the loss came to be in Raleigh:
1st Period:
(7:08 — CBJ Goal): Carolina wins a faceoff in the neutral zone but the puck never makes it beyond center ice before the Blue Jackets make it 1-0. James van Riemsdyk disrupts the Hurricanes clearing attempt and chops the puck towards Luca Del Bel Belluz. Two Hurricane skaters close in on him, leaving Johnson free to skate up through the Carolina zone without anyone between him and Canes goalie Frederik Andersen. Luca sees it and dishes to KJ, who goes five-hole on Andersen to get the scoring going for Columbus.
Kent Johnson gets the scoring started for the #CBJ just over seven minutes into the first. His 14th of the season made it 1-0 (it's now 2-0).
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 24, 2025
Great work from Luca Del Bel Belluz to find KJ. Not sure LDBB ever heads back to Cleveland.pic.twitter.com/jqOr8lBBYq
(9:48 — CBJ Goal): Marchenko gets his 19th of the season after yet another good play for the Blue Jackets between and around the neutral zone. This time, Adam Fantilli gets the puck near the blue line and takes a quick peek to see Marchenko to his left. and hits him with a nice backhand pass. With both Carolina defenders focused on Fantilli, Marchenko skates right into the low slot and beats Andersen to make it 2-0 Columbus, a score that would hold through the end of the period.
End of the first period and the #CBJ are up 2-0 in Carolina. (They *just* missed making it 3-0 in the final seconds.)
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 24, 2025
Here's the second goal of the opening frame, Marchenko's 19th of the season.
Marchy is now +29 for the season, leading the NHL.pic.twitter.com/vQoQiX68DE
2nd Period
(2:48, 7:11, 7:58, 8:33, 11:34 — CAR Goals): A two-goal lead turns into a three-goal deficit in less than a half-period of action. Damon Severson goes off for a tripping call that didn't appear to be much of a trip, if one at all. In either event, Seth Jarvis gets his 17th goal of the season and that starts a sequence of five Carolina goals in a span of less than 10 minutes. Former Blue Jacket Eric Robinson ties it at the 7:11 mark of the period and the Hurricanes take the lead less than a minute later on a goal that took a review to confirm. Just 35 seconds after that, the Canes score again to make it 4-2 and they'd add another three minutes after that to complete a half-period nightmare for the Blue Jackets.
(13:21 — CBJ Goal): The Canes clearing attempt from their own zone is interrupted by good stick work from Jack Johnson. He gets it to Kent Johnson, who dangles the puck around the Carolina defense in the high slot for a moment before firing it through traffic. One of those creating traffic is van Riemsdyk, who tips it in for his 10th goal of the season and make it a 5-3 Hurricanes lead.
Seven goals in the second period, which comes to an end. Carolina scored five straight to take a 5-2 lead but the #CBJ have cut it to a 5-4 deficit with 20 minutes to go.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 24, 2025
Here's goal #3 of the night for Columbus, the 10th of the season for JVR:pic.twitter.com/z3GXOwbpoE
(14:43 — CBJ Goal): Just over a minute after trimming the deficit to two, the Blue Jackets make it a one-goal game with another tip-in goal. This time it's Dmitri Voronkov's tipping it into the net after getting a piece of Werenski's floating shot through traffic. The Blue Jackets would finish the second period with just three shots on goal, but this was one of the two that found the back of the net.
Third period ready to start with the Jackets down 5-4. They were up 2-0, then down 5-2, and this is Dmitri Voronkov's 18th of the season that put Columbus back to within one.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 24, 2025
Shots in the second: 24-3 Canes. That's a yikes, but #CBJ have a chance here.pic.twitter.com/SwMkOMI2iS
3rd Period
(11:13 — CAR Goal): Jesperi Kotkaniemi beats a diving Tarasov to put Carolina in front 6-4 after Dante Fabbro has trouble playing the puck near the Columbus net.
(18:08 — CAR EN Goal): The Hurricanes wrap up their victory with an empty-net tally from Seth Jarvis, his second goal of the night.
| CBJ | GAME STATS | CAR |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | SHOTS | 43 |
| 42% | FACEOFFS | 58% |
| 0/2 | POWER PLAY | 1/3 |
| 2/3 | PENALTY KILL | 2/2 |
| 22 | HITS | 16 |
| 19 | GIVEAWAYS | 14 |
| 6 | TAKEAWAYS | 4 |
| 21 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 6 |
| ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS | ||
| 1.33 | EXPECTED GOALS | 5.83 |
| 37 | SHOT ATTEMPTS | 85 |
| 9 | SCORING CHANCES | 44 |
| 6 | HIGH-DANGER CHANCES | 22 |
| Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com | ||
Stat Chat:
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van Riemsdyk's 10th goal of the season makes it a 16th straight season of 10+ goals for the veteran. He's scored at least 11 goals every year of his NHL career.
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The Blue Jackets blocked 21 shots for the night, or the score could've been worse. Carolina ended up with 76 shot attempts at 5-on-5, compared to the Blue Jackets 33. Carolina ended up with 83% of the game's 53 scoring chances, and 22 of the 28 high-danger opportunities.
- Defenseman Jordan Harris played 8:49 for the night, but some of that time was spent as a forward. The Blue Jackets were only playing with 11 forwards to start and after Justin Danforth missed most of the second period with a hand injury, Evason inserted Harris — the extra defenseman for the game — as a fourth-line forward. "Thought he did a real good job (as forward)," said Evason.
Up Next:
The Blue Jackets return to Nationwide Arena after the road-trip, but the competition doesn't get any easier: they'll face the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m. Saturday night.
