CBJ 5, DET 2: Van Riemsdyk, Jenner, Tarasov Lead The Way In Blue Jackets' Big Win Over Red Wings

By Ed Francis on February 27, 2025 at 9:44 pm
The CBJ grabbed a huge two points in the standings Thursday, led by two goals from James van Riemsdyk, a three-assist effort from Boone Jenner, and a sharp night from Daniil Tarasov in a 5-2 win over the Red Wings.
© Tim Fuller-Imagn Images
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  1 2 3 F
CBJ 0 4 1 5
DET 0 2 0 2

CBJ GOALS: 
van Riemsdyk (P2, 4:16)
Kuraly (P2, 9:43)
Johnson (P2, 12:08)
van Riemsdyk (2) (P2, 15:01)
Marchenko (EN) (P3, 19:03)

James van Riemsdyk scored twice, Boone Jenner had a three-assist night, and Daniil Tarasov stopped 29 of 31 shots as the Columbus Blue Jackets won their third straight game Thursday night, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 5-2.

The win puts the Blue Jackets into a tie with the Red Wings for the top wild card spot in advance of their Saturday rematch at Ohio Stadium.

After a scoreless first period, the two teams combined for six goals in the middle period. Detroit struck first before Columbus would pick up four unanswered goals, including both of van Riemsdyk's strikes on the night. Sean Kuraly and Kent Johnson also scored in the flurry of second-period scoring and the Blue Jackets held a 4-1 lead at one point before the Red Wings would close the gap to 4-2 by the end of the frame.

In the third period, the Blue Jackets played perfect lock-down defense, keeping the puck away out of danger areas to hold on to their lead. Tarasov turned away all 12 shots in the final frame; allowing two goals or less for the fourth time in his five starts in the 2025 calendar year.

The solid third period was another sign of growth for a young team that is learning how to win on the road and learning how to preserve leads.

"Lots of blocked shots, good sticks," said head coach Dean Evason. "We did a good in that area."

Cole Sillinger played just two shifts before leaving the game in the first period. He briefly returned and skated two more shifts, but did not come back out for the second period. The team is calling it an upper-body injury and Evason had no update on his status after the game.

Jenner took Sillinger's place and won nine of 15 faceoffs in his first action at center this season.

van Riemsdyk was elevated from the fourth line to take Jenner's spot at wing, rejoining Kent Johnson for the first time in several games.

"I've had some good chemistry with KJ for most of the year and then obviously with Booner ... he's a guy who is very predictable out there," said van Riemsdyk. "I thought we played to our strengths as players."

Johnson echoed those sentiments, adding what it means to have a guy like JVR on the team.

"He's meant a lot to me and I think to the room as well," said Johnson. "When you talk about veteran leadership, he's exactly that."

"I think he's still got a ton of game left," added Johnson.

Kirill Marchenko scored an empty-net goal to put the game to bed. It was his team-leading 24th goal of the season. 

Here's how the Blue Jackets picked up a big two points in the Motor City in advance of Saturday's Stadium Series showdown:

1st Period:

No scoring in the first period, but not for a lack of trying. Each team hit a goal post and the Blue Jackets had 10 high-danger scoring chances compared to Detroit's one. Shots on goal were even at 9-9, though Columbus had a distinct advantage in attempts (26-13). Each team also came up short on a power-play attempt.

2nd Period

(0:27 — DET Goal): It doesn't take long for Detroit to break through in the second period, with Alex DeBrincat capitalizing on a Columbus turnover for his team-leading 27th goal of the season.

(4:16 — CBJ Goal): The master of the tip-in does it again. van Riemsdyk takes Jake Christiansen's shot from just inside the blue line and deflects it past Detroit goalie Cam Talbot at the last second to tie the game at 1-1. Jenner sets up Christiansen for the first of three assists on the night for Boone.

(9:43 — CBJ Goal): Kuraly is sure he has the goal here, but the officials are not — the original call on the ice is that he deflected it in with his hand. The discussion doesn't last long: Kuraly's goal is not deflected in with the hand and is a good goal, giving the Blue Jackets their first lead of the game at 2-1. Joseph LaBate gets the secondary assist on the goal for the first point of his NHL career.

(12:08 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets strike for the third time in less than eight minutes on Johnson's 20th of the season. Jenner has the puck in the corner and finds Fabbro at the right point. He fires and Johnson redirects it just a few feet in front of Talbot, giving the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead.

(15:01 — CBJ Goal): Make it four goals in less than 11 minutes as van Riemsdyk connects for his second of the night. This one starts with some good play around the boards from the Blue Jackets, with Jenner, Fabbro, and Johnson all touching the puck in quick succession. It ends up on the stick of Jenner behind the net, who finds JVR cutting through the Detroit defense right in front of the net. He has no problem burying it to make it 4-1 Columbus.

(16:39 — DET PP Goal): Detroit cuts the Columbus lead to 4-2 with a quick response, something that has been a weakness for the Blue Jackets for long stretches throughout the season. This one, from JT Compher, comes on the power play just 1:38 after JVR's second of the night had made it a three-goal lead.

3rd Period

(19:03 — CBJ EN Goal): With the net empty, Marchenko makes a beautiful effort to poke the puck away from Red Wings defenseman Mo Seider and lunge the puck towards the net. It goes in, sealing the deal with just under a minute left. 

CBJ GAME STATS DET
30 SHOTS 31
48% FACEOFFS 52%
0/2 POWER PLAY 1/3
2/3 PENALTY KILL 2/2
16 HITS 14
15 GIVEAWAYS 13
2 TAKEAWAYS 4
10 BLOCKED SHOTS 9
ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS
6.58 EXPECTED GOALS 2.59
70 SHOT ATTEMPTS 54
42 SCORING CHANCES 24
26 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 7
Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com

Stat Chat:

  • Sometimes it's not how many shots end up on net, but the quality of shots. Detroit had a 31-30 edge in shots on goal, but the Blue Jackets dominated the scoring chances (42-24) and had 26 of the 33 high-danger chances in the game.
     
  • For the second straight game, at least 10 Blue Jackets ended up with at least a point — and for the second straight game, Zach Werenski was not one of them. 
     
  • Aside from JVR and Jenner's multi-point nights, Johnson also had two points on the night. He's now riding a four-game point streak.

Up Next:

These two teams meet again Saturday as part of The Stadium Series. Puck-drop scheduled for just after 6 p.m. Saturday in front of 90,000+ at Ohio Stadium in Columbus' first-ever outdoor game.

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