PREVIEW: Blue Jackets continue opening homestand vs. Red Wings

Saturday night was one of the weirdest hockey games you’ll ever see, and through it all, the Blue Jackets persevered and battled their way to a victory.

There were three overturned goals in the first period of the 5-3 win over the New York Rangers, two for the visitors and one for the Blue Jackets. It was a win that required all 20 players, as starting goalie Elvis Merzlikins left after two periods with illness and Spencer Martin got the save in the last 20 minutes.

Not much went according to what you’d expect, but the one thing that was there for the Blue Jackets was the effort. Columbus wasn’t pleased with the pace of its game and its ability to win one-on-one battles in Thursday’s opening loss to the Flyers, and the Blue Jackets knew that something would have to chance to avoid falling to 0-2.

“Tonight was a big one for us,” captain Boone Jenner said after the win, in which he had a hat trick. “We didn’t like our game against Philly, and another home one here on a Saturday night, we wanted to come out with a lot better effort. I think everyone did ramp it up a little bit tonight.”

It wasn’t always pretty, particularly in the third period when Columbus was outshot 17-2, in part because the Blue Jackets circled the wagons to help out Martin. But to a man, the Blue Jackets liked the way they responded against the Rangers, something they hope to keep building on tonight against the Red Wings.

“I thought we managed the game really well the first two periods, and then we got a little bit tight in the third,” head coach Pascal Vincent said. “But it’s progress – learning how to win, bouncing back from a loss. I really like the response.”

Know The Foe: Detroit Red Wings

Head coach: Derek Lalonde (Second season)

2022-23 Stats: Goals per game: 2.89 (24th) | Scoring defense: 3.35 (22nd) | PP: 21.1 percent (17th) | PK: 78.3 percent (18th)

The narrative: Credit the Red Wings for consistency – after a historic stretch of 25 consecutive playoff seasons that ran through 2015-16, Detroit has missed the playoffs in seven straight campaigns. The Yzerplan, so named after team legend and current executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman, has yet to really get off the ground, with many expecting the Wings to still be a team on the outside looking in to the postseason. The squad is off to a 1-1 start with a loss to New Jersey and a win over Tampa Bay to start the campaign.

2022-23 leaders: Detroit returns some of its tentpole players, including captain Dylan Larkin, but there was some major upheaval yet again with the departures of such names as Dominik Kubalik and Pius Suter this offseason, plus the trades of Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Hronek last trade deadline.

Larkin is coming off another excellent season that included team-leading totals of 32 goals, 47 assists and 79 points, while veteran David Perron had a 24-32-56 line in his initial season in Detroit. Lucas Raymond, 21, had a 17-28-45 line last year in his second NHL campaign, while defenseman Moritz Seider had five goals and 37 assists. In net, Ville Husso was the top goalie with a 26-22-7 record, 3.11 GAA and .896 save percentage.

What's new: Detroit made a big move to bring in high-scoring wing Alex DeBrincat this offseason, and he’s posted a 3-1-4 line in the first two games. Fellow wing Daniel Sprong also has tallied in each game, while 2022 Stanley Cup winner J.T. Compher has a goal after being brought in to help solidify the center position. Other new faces include forward Christian Fischer, defensemen Justin Holl and Shayne Gostisbehere, and goalie James Reimer.

Trending: Detroit captured two of the three matchups last season, both in Nationwide Arena, before Columbus ended the series with a 4-3 win in the Motor City on Jan. 14 thanks in part to a hat trick from Patrik Laine. It had to feel good for the Wings, who had watched Columbus post a 17-5-1 mark over the previous six seasons.

Former CBJ: None

3 Stats to Know

• After notching just four assists in 59 games last year – and becoming the only CBJ player in team history to score at least 15 times in a season with less than 10 helpers – Kirill Marchenko has three assists in the first two games of the season.
• With his first career goal in Saturday night’s game, David Jiricek became the 14th teenager and third teenage defenseman in Blue Jackets history to score a goal.
• Milestone watch: Patrik Laine is one goal from 200 for his NHL career (199-182-381, 464 GP). … Adam Boqvist is one game from 100 for his CBJ career (16-30-46, 99 GP). ... Andrew Peeke is four games away from his 200th NHL game (9-25-34, 196 GP).

Who’s Hot

Boone Jenner notched a hat trick in Saturday’s game, the second of his career and 47th in team history. … With a team-high 26 goals last year, Jenner joined Nash, David Vyborny, R.J. Umberger, Cam Atkinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand as the only Blue Jackets with three or more 20-goal seasons. … Five players join Jenner and Marchenko with multiple points so far: Laine (1-1-2), Jake Bean (1-1-2), Johnny Gaudreau (0-2-2) and Ivan Provorov (0-2-2). … Gaudreau had 20 multipoint games last season, third in team history, and posted two primary assists in the win over the Rangers on Saturday. … Goalie Elvis Merzlikins has stopped 57 of 60 shots thus far for a .950 save percentage.

This Day in CBJ History

Oct. 16, 2019: Dallas scores two extra-attacker goals – one by Miro Heiskanen in the first period and the other by Joe Pavelski in the third – but Columbus still posts a 3-2 victory in Nationwide Arena punctuated by Sonny Milano’s between-the-legs goal in the third period.

Oct. 16, 2021: Patrik Laine’s overtime goal moves the Blue Jackets to 2-0 on the season as Columbus downs Seattle, 2-1, in Nationwide Arena in the first-ever matchup between the squads.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Adam Fantilli – Patrik Laine – Alexandre Texier
Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Kirilll Marchenko
Kent Johnson – Cole Sillinger – Justin Danforth
Jack Roslovic – Sean Kuraly – Emil Bemstrom
Jake Bean – Erik Gudranson
Ivan Provorov – David Jiricek
Adam Boqvist – Damon Severson
Spencer Martin
Jet Greaves

Scratches: F Liam Foudy, F Mathieu Olivier, D Andrew Peeke, G Elvis Merzlikins (stomach bug)

Injured reserve/Injured Non-Roster: Zach Werenski (quad contusion, out one to two weeks as of Oct. 13), Yegor Chinakhov (back strain, week to week), Jordan Dumais (upper body, day to day), Daniil Tarasov (knee, week to week)

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets made five changes to the lineup and got the win Saturday, and two more could be in the cards today as Roslovic and Bemstrom skated in place of Foudy and Olivier on Sunday. Greaves has been added on emergency recall with Merzlikins out.