CBJ: 7, VAN: 6 (SO): Jenner's Two-Goal Night Leads Blue Jackets To Maniacal Shootout Win Over Canucks

By Ed Francis on March 28, 2025 at 10:55 pm
In a game that had everything, Boone Jenner's two-goal effort helped the Columbus Blue Jackets outlast the Vancouver Canucks in a 7-6 shootout victory Friday night..
© Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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  1 2 3 (OT) (SO)  F
VAN 3 1 2 (0) (0-0-0) 6
CBJ 0 3 3 (0) (1-0-0) 7

CBJ GOALS: 
Jenner (P2, 0:34)
Marchenko (P2, 4:54)
Fabbro (P2, 8:42) 
Mateychuk (P3, 7:03)
Jenner (2) (P3, 16:46)
Olivier (P3, 17:08)
(Shootout Goal: K. Johnson)

It was a game that had everything.

In the end, it had two points for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Boone Jenner scored twice and the Blue Jackets overcame a 3-0, first-period deficit Friday night to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 7-6 in a shootout.

The first of Jenner's goals came just 34 seconds into the second period, and was the first of three Columbus would score in the first 8:44 of the middle frame to tie the game.

Kirill Marchenko would pull Columbus closer at the 4:54 mark of the second with his team-leading 27th goal of the season and Dante Fabbro would tie it at 8:44, picking up his sixth of the campaign.

Vancouver would bring momentum back to their side with a short-handed goal less than four minutes after Fabbro tied it.

The Canucks expanded their lead to 5-3 early in the third period before the Blue Jackets would again strike for three goals, this time to take their first lead of the night.

Denton Mateychuk would cut the lead to 5-4 before Jenner's power-play goal would tie the game at 5-5 with just over three minutes left in regulation. Just 22 seconds later, the Blue Jackets would go up 6-5 on a rebound goal from Mathieu Olivier — but that lead would last just 23 seconds before the Canucks would respond right back, tying the game at 6-6.

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With nothing doing for either team in overtime, the game would go into a shootout. 

Kent Johnson scored the lone goal there, as Elvis Merzlikins turned away all three shots in the shootout in what was otherwise a rough night for the goaltender. He finished with 31 saves on 37 shots.

"I don't think it's a shock that this team handles adversity well," said head coach Dean Evason. 

The win helps Columbus keep pace in an ever-evolving Eastern Conference wild card picture. 

Here's how the Blue Jackets picked up two points in delirious fashion:

1st Period:

(8:51 — VAN Goal): The Canucks go up 1-0 on a power play goal. Vancouver uses good puck movement to get the Columbus penalty kill out of position, and Linus Karlsson takes the goalmouth pass from Kiefer Sherwood and tips it in to give the Canucks an early lead.

(10:35 — VAN Goal): Vancouver gets the puck in their own end and quickly move up ice. Quinn Hughes leaves the puck for Brock Boeser, who skates in untouched and fires a shot from the left dot. It beats Elvis on his glove side with ease to make it 2-0 Vancouver. There's a scrum after the goal that results in a Columbus power play, but they come up empty.

(13:26 — VAN Goal): Another power play goal for the Canucks, this one to extend their lead to 3-0. Jake DeBrusk scores on a rebound following a Boeser shot that took an odd bounce off Dante Fabbro. Elvis makes the save on the deflection, but DeBrusk gets his 24th of the season on the put-back.

2nd Period:

(0:34 — CBJ Goal): Just what the Blue Jackets needed to get back in the game: a goal in the opening minute. Denton Mateychuk takes a D-to-D pass from Erik Gudbranson and fires from the left point. Right in front of Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen is Jenner, who uses his body to deflect it at the last moment and into the net, cutting Vancouver's lead to 3-1. 

(4:54 — CBJ Goal): Marchenko brings the Blue Jackets to within one. Monahan plays the puck perfectly behind the net and slips over to the left circle, where he's drawn the attention of three Canuck skaters. He threads the needle perfectly and gets a pass over to Marchenko, who glides into the right circle and fires a shot through traffic and past Lankinen to trim it to a 3-2 game.

(8:42 — CBJ Goal): The third goal in a span of 8:08 for the Blue Jackets ties the game at 3-3. In his first game back, Cole Sillinger picks up a clutch assist. He plays gritty along the boards and gains control of the puck, then sees Fabbro at the left point with no one near him. Fabbro then fires it past Lankinen, whose view is obstructed by players on both sides, to tie the game.

(11:23 — VAN Goal): The Blue Jackets have all the momentum in the world and are on a four-minute power play — but it's the Canucks who break the tie and take a 4-3 lead with a short-handed goal. A really good chip from the boards by Sherwood lands perfectly on the stick of Tyler Myers and the puck trickles past Elvis to regain Vancouver's lead.

3rd Period:

(6:42 — VAN Goal): Not Elvis' best moment. Vancouver makes it a 5-3 game on Aatu Raty's fourth goal of the season. There's no extraordinary effort here — he skates into the zone with one defender in front of him, fires from distance, and it beats Merzlikins. 

(7:03 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets need a quick response to stay in the game — and they get it. Just 21 seconds after the Canucks score, Mateychuk skates into the zone and takes Jenner's pass from the corner, firing a slapper past Lankinen to again make it a one-goal game; this time 5-4.

(11:53 — CBJ Goal Overturned): Another game, another big goaltender interference challenge. Justin Danforth scores to tie the game at 5-5, but the Canucks challenge for goalie interference and the officials rule that Olivier's contact with Lankinen was enough (and not caused by Vancouver's Marcus Pettersson) to take the goal away. After the game, Olivier confirms that the right call was made, saying he was pushed into Lankinen but also made contact with the goalie on his own.

(16:46 — CBJ Goal): They can't take this one away — and there's no better time to end an 0-for-25 streak on the power play than right here. The Blue Jackets win the faceoff, and Marchenko gets the puck near the boards. He fires from an unusual angle but the puck — for the second time in the game — deflects off Jenner and into the net, tying the game at 5-5.

(17:08 — CBJ Goal): From down to 3-0 to up 6-5, the Blue Jackets take their first lead of the game just 22 seconds after knotting it up at 5-5. Fabbro fires a shot from the high slot. Lankinen makes the initial save but gives up a rebound that goes right to an awaiting Olivier, who cleans it up to put Columbus in front.

(17:31 — VAN Goal): Raty gets his second goal of the period and temporarily deflates the energy inside the building, tying the game at 6-6 just 23 seconds after Columbus had taken a lead. He's right in front of the net and takes a feed from Dakota Joshua, slipping it past Elvis to bring the game back even.

Overtime + Shootout:

Columbus is outshot 4-1 in the extra five minutes, with Merzlikins — who struggled throughout the night — coming up large. Elvis stops all three shots in the shootout as well, meaning that this Johnson goal was all the Blue Jackets would need to grab the all-important victory:

VAN GAME STATS CBJ
37 SHOTS 38
32% FACEOFFS 68%
2/2 POWER PLAY 1/4
3/4 PENALTY KILL 0/2
23 HITS 22
13 GIVEAWAYS 15
4 TAKEAWAYS 6
14 BLOCKED SHOTS 12
ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS
2.51 EXPECTED GOALS 3.36
58 SHOT ATTEMPTS 68
25 SCORING CHANCES 28
10 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 15
Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com

Stat Chat:

  • Erik Gudbranson got the secondary assist on Boone Jenner's second-period goal, the 100th assist of his NHL career.
     
  • The Blue Jackets dominated the fourth-ranked Canucks at the faceoff dot. They won 68% for the game, headlined by Monahan winning 20 of 24.
     
  • Zach Werenski ended a six-game drought without a point with a secondary assist on Jenner's power play goal. 

Up Next:

Columbus heads north of the border for a Saturday night battle against the surging Ottawa Senators. The Blue Jackets are 1-8-0 this season on the second half of back-to-backs. Puck-drop is slated for 7 p.m.

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