Blue Jackets cruise past Blackhawks for 7-3 win

COLUMBUS -- Boone Jenner scored twice, Zach Werenski had four assists, and the Columbus Blue Jackets ended a nine-game skid with a 7-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationwide Arena on Wednesday.

Werenski set the franchise record for assists in a game by a defenseman.

“I was moving my feet, trying to make plays, felt good tonight,” he said. “Obviously, some lucky bounces on guys’ tape and whatnot. … I felt like I was skating well, and hopefully I can build on that and keep it going moving forward.”

Kirill Marchenko and Cole Sillinger each had a goal and an assist, and Adam Boqvist had two assists for the Blue Jackets (5-11-4), who were 0-7-2 in their previous nine, tying the longest slide in their history. Elvis Merzlikins made 34 saves.

“We played the right way,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said. “We managed the blue lines. We are tracking what's right, our ability to create plays, but it was coming from hard work. I felt that we had those pieces of our games in the past. We just didn't connect offensively and today we did. So many good things happened today. We played well as a team. Elvis made some key saves at key times.” 

Connor Bedard scored his 10th goal for the Blackhawks (5-12-0), who have lost five straight. Petr Mrazek made 13 saves on 18 shots before being replaced by Arvid Soderblom, who made six saves.

“Not a fun one, that’s for sure,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “For whatever reason, we just didn’t move our feet well early in the game and they were motivated. A couple of weird bounces on the goals, that didn’t help either in the first period.

“The second period, there’s really no excuse for that. I think we collapsed and started chasing around on the wrong side of the puck. Pretty much everything we’re not supposed to do we fell into the trap of doing.”

Jenner made it 1-0 at 2:57 of the first period by stuffing the puck between the right post and the pad of Mrazek.

Erik Gudbranson increased the lead to 2-0 at 6:46, and Jenner made it 3-0 on the power play at 13:55. It was the Blue Jackets’ first goal in 22 power plays over a span of nine games. 

“Tonight was a team effort and everybody chipped in,” said Jenner, the Columbus captain. “You can see it throughout the game. It was a good team game that everyone came and were ready, focused and went and executed. Something to build on.” 

Bedard cut it to 3-1 at 15:41 with a snap shot to the upper right corner. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft joined Patrik Laine (14 games), Steve Yzerman (15), Dale Hawerchuk (17) and Ted Kennedy (17) as the fifth player age 18 or younger in NHL history to reach 10 NHL goals in 17 games or fewer.

Sillinger made it 4-1 at 7:32 of the second period with a tip of a Werenski shot for his first goal of the season in his 20th game.

Dmitri Voronkov extended the Blue Jackets lead to 5-1 on a rebound at 12:16, and Marchenko’s tap-in of a Boqvist pass pushed it to 6-1 at 16:28.

“Obviously, it’s been tough the past few weeks,” Werenski said. “[We] scored some goals. Guys got on the score sheet, power-play goal. Just a big night for us.”

Laine, returning from being a healthy scratch for the first time in the NHL during a 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, gave Columbus a 7-1 lead at 18:40.

Jason Dickinson cut it to 7-2 at 6:06 of the third period, and Ryan Donato scored at 18:41 for the 7-3 final.

“I did like a little bit of their fight in the third period,” Richardson said. “It’s a first step in what we said we have to do to get back to how we’re going to play.”

NOTES: Blackhawks forward Corey Perry was a healthy scratch, “Just an organization decision,” Richardson said. The 38-year-old has nine points (four goals, five assists) in 16 games. … The Blackhawks used 11 forwards and seven defensemen, with defenseman Nikita Zaitsev taking Perry’s place. … Chicago forward Taylor Hall (undisclosed) did not play. … Bedard has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past six games. … It was the first time Bedard faced forward Adam Fantilli, the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft. Fantilli also had an assist. … Columbus defenseman Ivan Provorov had an assist to give him four points (goal, three assists) in a four-game point streak. … Jenner has four points (three goals, assist) during a three-game point streak. … Laine was plus-1 with two shots on goal in 15:59.