| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
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1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
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2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
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CBJ GOALS: |
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Put another one in the win column.
Kirill Marchenko scored twice as part of another six-goal outburst for the Columbus Blue Jackets' in their 6-4 defeat of the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, with Marchenko scoring in the opening minute for his team-leading 22nd goal of the season.
Mathieu Olivier doubled the Columbus lead at the 4:37 mark of the first period before Dallas would get one back exactly five minutes later, sending the game into the first intermission at 2-1.
Marchenko would get his second of the night early in the middle frame, taking a great feed from Adam Fantilli to extend Columbus' lead to 3-1. Ivan Provorov made it a 4-1 game before the Stars would cut the Blue Jackets' lead to 4-3 after scoring two goals just over four minutes apart in the middle of the period.
Dallas had a huge chance to do more damage after a Denton Mateychuk double-minor for high-sticking with just over four minutes left in the period, but the Blue Jackets penalty kill came up huge to preserve the lead.
Columbus would restore their two-goal lead less than three minutes into the third with a James van Riemsdyk tip-in goal, giving Columbus a 5-3 lead they would hang on to until Dallas would pull to within one in the final minutes of the game with their net empty. They made it a 5-4 game with 2:07 left, creating a tension in the arena for the final two minutes.
With Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger again pulled, Fantilli would score with :32 seconds left to seal the deal and give Columbus another crucial two points in the standings.
Defeating a team like the Stars, who own the third-best record in the league and are amongst the league's best road teams, was not lost on Provorov.
"It's good to get a win like that against a team that's been in the playoffs and knows how to win. It's another step for our team in the right direction," said Provorov. "We're growing, we're learning, and we're getting better as the games go on."
Here's how the Blue Jackets took another step in the right direction:
1st Period:
(0:30 — CBJ Goal): The fastest goal of the season for the Blue Jackets, as it takes Marchenko just 30 seconds to get Columbus on the board. Ivan Provorov's shot leads to a rebound and Marchenko is right there to beat a sprawling Jake Oettinger in the Dallas net to put the Blue Jackets up 1-0.
Ivan Provorov's shot leads to a rebound from Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger and Kirill Marchenko is right there for the put back to give the #CBJ a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds into the game. Both teams have scored since then; it's 2-1 mid 1st.pic.twitter.com/ethrt8rtyd
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 26, 2025
(4:37 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets double their lead to 2-0 less than five minutes into the game on Olivier's 11th of the season. Damon Severson fires from just inside the blueline and Olivier is in the low slot, in perfect position for the tip-in goal. This was Olivier's first goal since Jan. 4th.
#CBJ lead it 2-1 after the first. Mathieu Olivier's tip-in goal from Damon Severson's shot is Olivier's 11th of the season and gave Columbus a 2-0 lead before Dallas would respond to cut into the lead.pic.twitter.com/EYF4Jx92OH
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 26, 2025
(9:37 — DAL Goal): Jamie Benn picks up his 15th goal of the season on Dallas' first shot of the game. An impressive pass from Wyatt Johnston sets it up to cut the Columbus lead to 2-1.
2nd Period
(1:11 — CBJ Goal): Marchenko gets his second of the night, another early-period strike, on a beautiful look from Fantilli. The sequence starts with Marchenko keeping the puck in the zone and getting it over to Fantilli, who then threads the needle and gets it back to Marchenko. He fires past Oettinger to make it 3-1 Columbus.
Take your pick here of what the best part of this play is: Marchenko's keep, his feed to Fantilli, Fantilli's feed back to Marchenko, or Marchy's shot that finds the back of the net to make it 3-1 #CBJ. They're all beautiful.pic.twitter.com/xEm8xTMhxK
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 26, 2025
(8:46 — CBJ Goal): Columbus' fourth goal of the game comes just before the mid-point of the game, and it's Provorov getting a little bit of puck luck from a shot from distance. He fires through traffic from just inside the blueline and it takes a fortuitous bounce off a Dallas sweater and past Oettinger to give the Blue Jackets a 4-1 lead.
Provorov's seventh goal of the season gives the #CBJ a 4-1 lead, but the Stars have answered twice to cut it to a 4-3 game. pic.twitter.com/nUAq0A330S
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 26, 2025
(9:38 — DAL Goal): It takes less than a minute for Dallas to get one back; Roope Hintz walks into the zone and fires from the face-off dot. He gets his own rebound in the slot and fires again, this team beating Merzlikins to make it a 4-2 game.
(13:57 — DAL Goal): Not an ideal play from Merzlikins here, who puts rookie defenseman Denton Mateychuk in a tough spot by flipping the puck his way in the corner. He's quickly closed in on by two Dallas skaters, and the loose puck ends up on the stick of Jason Robertson in the slot. He scores, cutting the lead to 4-3.
3rd Period
(2:37 — CBJ Goal): van Riemsdyk doing van Riemsdyk things here; his 12th goal of the season comes via the tip-in. Kuraly does a great job of disrupting the Dallas clearing attempt, and he quickly fires the puck at the Dallas net. JVR is right in front and gets the perfectly-placed tip past Oettinger to put the Blue Jackets back up two, 5-3.
JVR's tip-in goal extends the Blue Jackets lead to 5-3 early in the third. We're still there, now with just under minutes left in the period. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/IVO1cFx8H1
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 26, 2025
(17:53 — DAL Goal): With Oettinger pulled, the Stars get an extra-attacker goal to cut the lead to 5-4 with just over two minutes left. Mavrik Bourque is just outside the crease for his 9th goal of the season.
(19:28 — CBJ Goal): Fantilli gets his 17th of the season via the empty-net to seal the deal for the Blue Jackets.
Empty net goal for Columbus!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) February 26, 2025
Scored by Adam Fantilli with 00:32 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko.
Columbus: 6
Dallas: 4#DALvsCBJ #CBJ #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/mz6tsuLh4j
| DAL | GAME STATS | CBJ |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | SHOTS | 29 |
| 53% | FACEOFFS | 47% |
| 0/3 | POWER PLAY | 0/2 |
| 2/2 | PENALTY KILL | 3/3 |
| 10 | HITS | 21 |
| 16 | GIVEAWAYS | 15 |
| 3 | TAKEAWAYS | 3 |
| 13 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 24 |
| ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS | ||
| 4.53 | EXPECTED GOALS | 3.78 |
| 65 | SHOT ATTEMPTS | 55 |
| 37 | SCORING CHANCES | 24 |
| 17 | HIGH-DANGER CHANCES | 13 |
| Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com | ||
Stat Chat:
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Eleven different Blue Jackets got a point, but Zach Werenski wasn't one of them. His home point streak comes to an end at 22 games, tied for the third-longest of all-time amongst defensemen.
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Down two for a majority of the period, the Stars out-attempted the Blue Jackets 27-8 in the third and 2.07 of their 4.53 expected goals came in the final frame. Merzlikins was shaky for the first 40 minutes but came up big in the third period, allowing just the extra-attacker goal. He finished with 19 saves on 23 shots.
- Dmitri Voronkov assisted on the first and last goal of the game, giving him a second straight game with two assists. He's got four total two-assist games on the season.
Up Next:
The Blue Jackets begin a home-and-"home" with the Red Wings starting Thursday night in Detroit. That game is slated for a 7 p.m. puck-drop. The second game will come Saturday at Ohio Stadium, with a crowd of 90,000 expected for the Blue Jackets' first-ever outdoor game. Puck-drop for The Stadium Series is scheduled for around 6:30 p.m.
