CBJ 6, NYI 1: Blue Jackets End 2024-25 Season With Emotional Victory

By Ed Francis on April 17, 2025 at 10:23 pm
Six different Blue Jackets scored Thursday night en route to an emotional 6-1 victory over the Islanders to wrap up the 2024-25 season.
© Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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  1 2 3 F
NYI 0 0 1 1
CBJ 0 5 1 6

CBJ GOALS: 
Sillinger (P2, 2:21)
Fabbro (P2, 7:43)
Voronkov (P2, 10:09)
Kuraly (P2, 15:14)
Werenski (P2, 17:27)
Fantilli (P3, 18:37)

That's how you end a season.

The Columbus Blue Jackets scored five times in a second period offensive frenzy Thursday night, easily defeating the New York Islanders 6-1 to end the 2024-25 season on a six-game winning streak.

After a scoreless first period, Cole Sillinger gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead just over two minutes into the frame on a fantastic individual effort. 

Dante Fabbro added to the lead at the 7:43 mark, the first of four more goals Columbus would scored in a span of 9 minutes, 44 seconds.

Columbus added to their lead and made it 3-0 on a Dmitri Voronkov goal, again bringing the more-than-sellout crowd to its feet.

Zach Werenski had the primary assist on the goal, tying him with Artemi Panarin for the second-most points in a season in franchise history.

After a Sean Kuraly goal made it 4-0, Werenski would get into the scoring column again — this time with a goal that extended Columbus' lead to 5-0.

The five-goal period was Columbus' highest scoring period of the season.

The Islanders only goal of the game came with just over minutes left.

Adam Fantilli responded with his 31st goal of the season in the final two minutes of the season. He finishes tied with Kirill Marchenko for the team lead in goals.

All that scoring, and the First Star of the Game was — yet again — Jet Greaves. Continuing to take the league by storm, Greaves stopped 36 of 37 shots to earn his fifth straight win in net.

In his five starts, Greaves stopped 156 of the 160 shots he faced; a save percentage of .975. Chants of "Jet! Jet! Jet!" reigned down multiple times throughout the night, something the goaltender said after the game that he's never heard on that scale before.

On and off the ice, the night was a celebration of the team's remarkable run.

On the ice, it began with forecasts of finishing at the bottom of the NHL standings and one that saw them in the playoff hunt until a Montreal Canadiens win on the penultimate night of the season officially eliminated the Blue Jackets.

Off the ice, it was a season that brought a team and a community closer together than ever after the sudden death of Johnny Gaudreau just three weeks before camp opened.

Gaudreau's jersey hung in the dressing room all season long.

Head coach Dean Evason said the end of the season will not be the end of that.

"He will not leave our dressing room as long as I'm here," said Evason. "He will be in there and he'll be a presence and he'll help us win hockey games and he'll hopefully get us to where we want to be and that's to win a Stanley Cup.”

Werenski understood the important of what the night meant.

“The fan base and this group in here, we’ve gone through a lot together over the years," said Werenski. "It feels like we’re one big family. It’s special playing in front of them."

"Tonight was extra special."

Here's how the Blue Jackets wrapped up the that extra special season:

1st Period:

For the second straight game, Columbus heads into the first intermission at 0-0. Greaves stopped all ten shots he faced in what an evenly-played opening twenty minutes: the Islanders had a slight 21-20 advantage in shot attempts and lead 10-6 in shots on goal, but it was the Blue Jackets who had the better opportunities: a 9-6 advantage in scoring chances and three of the four high-danger chances in the period. Expected goals came out in Columbus' favor, 0.81 to 0.66. 

2nd Period:

(2:21 – CBJ Goal): Sillinger gives the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead with a fantastic individual effort. It starts with him disrupting the Islanders working to move the puck around in their own zone in an effort to clear. He then steals the puck just before New York can work it out of their zone. Sillinger then skates in and fires a wrister past Hogberg to give Columbus a lead.

(7:43 – CBJ Goal): Fabbro makes it 2-0 on a sailing shot from just outside the circle for goals in back-to-back games from the soon-to-be UFA defenseman. The puck bounces around in the low slot for a bit and gets ping-ponged out on its way out of the zone until Jordan Harris makes a nice play to keep it in. He pushes it over to Fabbro, whose floater finds the back of the net.

(7:43 – CBJ Goal): Columbus wins a faceoff in the New York zone and quickly shuffle the puck around. Werenski has it near the left dot and throws it into the crease, where Voronkov is waiting to tip it home and make it 3-0 Columbus. The man known as "Big Boss" has developed a knack for this all season and does it a final time in the 2024-25 campaign.

(15:14 – CBJ Goal): In what well could be his last game with the Blue Jackets, Kuraly gets his 6th of the season (and 40th as a Jacket) on a sequence that starts with Columbus winning a faceoff in their own zone. They quickly move up the ice, with Kuraly collected the puck near center ice and nicely settling it down as he advances on the rush. He beats Hogberg from near the dot to make it 4-0 Columbus.

(17:27 – CBJ Goal): The fifth and final Columbus goal of a wild second period comes off the stick of Werenski, giving the Blue Jackets a 5-0 lead. They move up the ice on a 3-on-1 break. Sean Monahan waits, waits, waits, then moves the puck over to an awaiting Werenski at just the right time and it's an elementary from there. Z easily beats Hogberg for his 23rd goal of the season to add to his franchise record of goals from a defenseman.

3rd Period:

(14:48 – NYI Goal): Islanders score their only goal of the game and afterwards, chants of "Jet! Jet! Jet!" reign down from the over-capacity crowd, showing their appreciation for his efforts.

(18:37 – CBJ Goal): The final goal of the Blue Jackets season is Fantilli's 31st of the season. He helps himself by swiping the puck away as the Islanders are working towards a clear, with James van Riemsdyk briefly collecting the puck before an immediate touch-pass back to Fantilli. He shoots, scores, and gives Columbus a 6+ goal game for the 16th time this season.

NYI GAME STATS CBJ
37 SHOTS 26
57% FACEOFFS 43%
0/1 POWER PLAY 0/0
0/0 PENALTY KILL 1/1
8 HITS 9
10 GIVEAWAYS 13
13 TAKEAWAYS 7
18 BLOCKED SHOTS 15
ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS
2.99 EXPECTED GOALS 2.90
72 SHOT ATTEMPTS 64
34 SCORING CHANCES 25
10 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 12
Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com

Stat Chat:

  • The season concludes on Columbus' second six-game winning streak of the season. The Blue Jackets outscored their opponents 28-6 in those games. Additionally, all six wins were in regulation, which ties a franchise record for longest regulation win streak. They did it during the 16-game winning streak in 2016-17, and then again just a few weeks before the Covid stoppage in Jan. of 2020. 
     
  • This was Columbus' 16th game this season scoring six goals or more, further adding to their franchise record. That's 20% of all games they played this season. They had five goals nine times this season, meaning the Blue Jackets scored 5+ goals in 30% of their games this season.
     
  • Jack Williams had 14 shifts and played 11:09 in his NHL debut, nearly collecting an assist late in the third period. 

Up Next:

That's all, folks. 

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Three Things: Going Out With A Bang, Jet! Jet! Jet! Numbers And Nuggets

Columbus Blue Jackets center Sean Kuraly (7) celebrates his goal against the New York Islanders during the second period at Nationwide Arena.
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