SvoNotes: Blue Jackets' never-say-die attitude nets another win

One year ago, NHL teams were 91-521-52 when trailing after two periods, meaning teams won just 13.7 percent of the time in that situation and got points in just 21.5 percent of those instances.
This year, teams not named the Columbus Blue Jackets are 22-96-14 in that circumstance, a winning percentage of 16.7 percent and points in 27.2 percent of games.

Meanwhile, after Saturday's come-from-behind 4-2 win over Colorado in Nationwide Arena, the Blue Jackets have won four of the six games they've played in which they trailed after two periods. That's a 4-2-0 record that gives the team a 66.7 percent winning and points percentage when down after 40 minutes.
That tells you two things. First, what the Kardiac Jackets are doing so far with comebacks is certainly unsustainable.
But it also tells you this team seems to have a never-say-die attitude that serves it well in the crucible of competition.

As we've said often in the early going, there's a long way to go, and with a 7-3-0 record through 10 games, the Blue Jackets are both a surprise in the early going and a team that still has a heck of a lot to prove. But those four comeback wins also show this squad expected to finish last in the Metropolitan Division by just about everyone is capable of some pretty fun things.
"I think we start believing in ourselves, in our skills, and we believe that the game is not over and we can come back," said goalie Elvis Merzlikins, who improved to 5-1-0 with the win. "There is no frustration. I think we believe in ourselves and we believe in the comebacks, and the comebacks are coming."
With Saturday night's fightback, the Blue Jackets now have three straight wins, and all came with the team trailing by a goal going into the final 20 minutes. It's the first time in club history and the 25th instance in NHL history of a team winning three consecutive games and overcoming a deficit entering the third period in each contest.
On this night, it looked like it might not happen, as Colorado goalie Darcy Kuemper was shutting the door through the first 13 minutes of the final period, with excellent stops on Jakub Voracek, Cole Sillinger and Kevin Stenlund in the early minutes of the frame.
Colorado is a good team, a likely Stanley Cup contender, and the Avs had to be smarting from losing the lead three nights ago to the Blue Jackets and had a reinforcement of talent coming back from injury Saturday. That included forward Andre Burakovsky, who scored a pair of goals to give the Avs the 2-1 lead they were trying to shepherd home in the final minutes.
But Alexandre Texier tied things up with 6:23 to go, skating onto the end of a clever pass from Eric Robinson and slipping a quick shot by Kuemper. With about two minutes left, off a draw, Avs star Nathan MacKinnon had a good look but Jake Bean blocked it up into the netting, and with 1:02 to go, Sillinger deflected a shot by fellow rookie Yegor Chinakhov past Kuemper to give Columbus the lead.
Add in Oliver Bjorkstrand's empty-net goal and cue up Airwolf for another comeback win.
"I thought Kuemper was playing really well for them," head coach Brad Larsen said. "It can kind of deflate you, but again, we were one shot away. And I loved how we came out for the third. We came to win the game. That's a good sign. We stayed on our toes. We weren't passive in anything we were doing. They wanted to go get that win."
With the win, the Blue Jackets improved to 7-3-0, tying a franchise record for the best start through 10 games with the 2017-18 squad. It is also the first-ever 5-1-0 start in Nationwide Arena.
Again, there's a long way to go. But through the 10-game threshold, the young Blue Jackets feel pretty good about what they've been able to accomplish thus far.
"They are one of the teams in the running with the potential to play for the Stanley Cup," Sillinger said. "For us to have that benchmark early in the season, beating them twice, it's good. I think the biggest thing is we were down in the third period both games, but we find a way to win. I think it's just the understanding of how we win, playing within our structure and playing as a group and obviously playing with speed. It showed tonight and in Colorado."

A Dangerous Trio

Much of the pregame chatter revolved around how the Blue Jackets would replace the offensive production of Patrik Laine, who had been scoring at a point-per-game place through the first nine games but went on injured reserve Friday after suffering an oblique injury in the first meeting between the teams Wednesday.
Voracek had been playing with captain Boone Jenner at center and Laine on his opposite wing through most of the first stretch of the season, but Larsen switched the 18-year-old Sillinger into that mix on Wednesday. And the team's oldest player saw his line get even younger Saturday, as Larsen chose to elevate Chinakhov to Laine's spot.
The joke is obvious, pairing the 32-year-old Voracek with two players in Chinakhov (20) and Sillinger (18) whose combined ages are creeping up toward the Czech winger's on his own. But on this night, it was Voracek who looked like he had youthful exuberance, as he was all over the ice causing turnovers and trying to feed his young linemates.

"I said to Jake, it looked like he had the legs of a 20-year-old tonight," Larsen said. "He was flying. He said something else (back), but I won't share that, but yeah, I thought he helped drive that line. Chinny was playing well and Silly was being himself and playing a solid game. The thing is, it felt like they got better and better as the game went.
"You could feel it. You could feel the chatter on the bench with that line. Jake was feeling it. He was standing up half the time. I had to tell him to sit down a few times just because, you can tell when he wants to get out there and he's feeling good. They were clicking tonight. I felt like they were generating a lot. It was a good first night for that line."
For the game, the three combined for 12 shots on goal and numerous chances as the night went on, and the reward came on the game winner with just 62 seconds to go. It looked like a fairly innocuous play as Vladislav Gavrikov rimmed the puck into the zone, then Sillinger sent it back to him along the right wall. The CBJ defenseman pinched in and Chinakhov helped out, grabbing the puck at the half wall and circling back to the top of the zone.
From there, his shot from the center point toward Kuemper changed directions when Sillinger tipped it at the hashmarks, with the deflection sending the shot into the top left corner past the helpless Colorado goalie.
"Chinny made a great play," Sillinger said. "I tried to find that hole and get to the net. He's got a great shot, so he shot it. It deflected off my stick, just changed the angle a little bit and went into the net."
In all, according to Natural Stat Trick, that trio played 10:46 of 5-on-5 time, with edges over the Avs in shot attempts (13-7), high-danger chances (4-2) and expected goals (0.79-0.28) when it was on the ice.
"Jake is such an awesome veteran and linemate to Chinny and I," Sillinger said. "He didn't overwhelm us before the game on what to do. He kept it light and relaxed, and even during the game, little tips that helped us, and the next time they worked, right? He's been in the league a long time. He knows how to get the job done, especially trailing in the third period. He's such a great player and such a great person, so it was awesome to get the chance to play with him tonight."

Texier's Big Goal

There's no hiding the fact it wasn't the start the season that Texier wanted.
The first minute was good -- he tallied on the first shift of the campaign for the Blue Jackets -- but five games in, the 22-year-old forward had just two shots on goal for the season and was minus-3.
In the last five, things have started to look up a bit. In that span, Texier has a pair of goals, has 12 shots on goal and is plus-2.
If you've been paying attention to the Blue Jackets, you know what has changed. After starting the season as the top-line center between Laine and Voracek, Texier found himself on the team's energy line for game six, skating with speedy winger Eric Robinson and center Sean Kuraly.

It's been a match made in heaven to this point, with that role helping Texier find his swagger and find his game.
"I think we have a lot of speed and we just play fast," Texier said. "We just try to get the puck to the net. We don't make really nice plays, but we just play hard, and even if it's not a nice goal, we take it and we want that. It's nice to play with them. They work pretty hard. They play physical as well. They just helped me get my game going a little bit."
It has felt the past few games like Texier was close to breaking out, and that was doubly true on this night as he was noticeably all over the ice both at 5-on-5 and the penalty kill.
As for his game-tying goal, he's being a little bashful, as it was quite a nifty finish. After Merzlikins rimmed the puck out to Robinson in the neutral zone, the CBJ winger played the puck into space off the boards in the right corner of the offensive zone.
It was the perfect play, as that gave Texier the chance to use his speed to skate onto the carom as the puck came off the wall and toward the net. The French winger had little time to contort his body and shoot it from a sharp angle low on the right, but his flick of the puck to the far post seemed to cross up Kuemper and the puck fluttered past him to tie the game with just over six minutes to play.
While the play might have looked like a bit of luck, Texier said he and Robinson discussed making it happen after the previous shift. Then, a dump in by Robinson left Texier to retrieve the puck on his backhand, and Texier said this approach might give him a better chance to make something happen offensively.
"Actually, we were talking about this play on the shift before," Texier said. "We just used our speed, and Robby made a pretty nice play. To be honest with you, I didn't think too much. I just put it to the net and it went in, so that's good."

Stats and Facts

• We got this far without mentioning Gabriel Carlsson's opening goal off a delightful feed from Voracek. It was just the second goal of Carlsson's career and came a game after he notched an assist on Sillinger's third-period goal that gave Columbus the lead. It is the second two-game point streak of his career.
• With that helper, Voracek is the third player in CBJ history with 10 assists in his first 10 games. Alexander Wennberg had 1-11-12 through 10 games in 2016-17 and Artemi Panarin had 5-10-15 to start 2018-19.
• Chinakhov also got an assist on the Carlsson goal. Added to the helper on Sillinger's winner, he finished with the first two points in his NHL career and also thus earned his first-ever multipoint game.
• Merzlikins' assist was the second of his NHL career and the Jackets' first goalie point of the season. "I am waiting for the goal," he said postgame. It says here he will get one at some point in his NHL career.
• The victory, with 34 saves made, boosted Merzlikins to 5-1-0 on the young season, including 5-0-0 at home. He has a 1.98 goals-against average and .940 save percentage.
• Zach Werenski had 10 shots on goal, tying a CBJ record for most in a game. The previous player to do it was Oliver Bjorkstrand on Dec. 5, 2019, vs. the New York Rangers. Werenski also had 10 shots on goal in a Dec. 5, 2017, game against New Jersey, and he's the only defenseman in CBJ history to do it. He is also the first Jackets player to notch 10 shots in a win since Rick Nash on Jan. 17, 2008, against Phoenix - and yes, the last shot on goal was "The Goal."
• With his goal, Bjorkstrand (5-8-13) has the third most points for a Jackets player through 10 games in team history. As noted above, Panarin had 15 in 2018-19, while Nash had a 6-9-15 line through 10 games in 2009-10.
• Gavrikov finished with two assists and was plus-3, another solid night for the Russian defenseman.
• CBJ winger Stenlund played 7:55 in his season debut, posting a pair of shots on goal.
• Natural Stat Trick had the Avs with a 3.28-2.19 edge in expected goals at 5-on-5, but it was a 3.71-3.60 edge for Colorado in all situations.
• Columbus is now 8-3-1 in its last 12 games against Colorado. The Blue Jackets swept the season series against the Avs for the fourth time (4-0-0 in 2008-09 and 2-0-0 in 2015-16, 2018-19 and 2021-22).