SvoNotes: Win over Seattle just like old times in Nationwide Arena

When I wrote about Thursday's emotional Blue Jackets season opener, I called it a night the team and the fans would never forget.
Saturday's game, meanwhile, was more like the type of game we all remembered. It felt like old times, a full barn on a weekend night trying to push the team to a tight victory. And that's exactly what The 5th Line got, as Eric Robinson tied the game late and Patrik Laine won it in overtime as Columbus moved to 2-0 with a 2-1 victory over Seattle.

And it's fair to say Nationwide Arena was truly rocking for the first time in more than 18 months. All night, you could tell the packed house was looking for just about any reason to go nuts, and they finally got it with Robinson's tying goal and then Laine's winner.
"It felt awesome," said Laine, who had never really gotten to see such a scene in Nationwide considering he was acquired early last season, when the pandemic kept attendance numbers capped all year. "It's always nice to get the overtime winner, but seeing the fans for the first time when I score like this, it was a good feeling. Everybody was excited. I thought we earned the two points, and I was lucky to get that game winner."

Lucky? It was more like skill, but what he said that was true was that the Blue Jackets earned the victory. It was an easy game to get frustrated, as Seattle's disciplined team and big defensive corps limited the Blue Jackets chances much more than Arizona did in the 8-2 win to open the season.
Columbus had just six shots on goal in the first period and 25 for the game, while Seattle finished with just 20, something that was indicative of how much more difficult to gain ice than in Thursday's loosey-goosey opener against the Coyotes.
But that also was what CBJ head coach Brad Larsen was looking for after he was left disappointed by the team's play in the opening victory. He was happy the Jackets scored eight goals and came away with a convincing win -- especially on such an emotional night -- but he was left wanting to see the Blue Jackets play something much closer to their game.
That's what he got on Saturday night.
"We were a lot more plugged into this game for sure mentally," the still-undefeated head coach said. "It was a grind. We had (scoring) chances I think 2-1 or 3-1 us in the first. I think 6-4 for them (after two), and then even in the third period, I think we only gave up two chances.
"Structurally, we were better in a lot of areas we addressed as a group. We knew it was going to be a tighter game there. They're a big team. They have a big group there on the back end, heavier D. You had to fight for your ice tonight."
Slowly but surely, that's what Columbus did, starting to pry things open late in the second period after Brandon Tanev gave Seattle the lead and then really pushing for the tying goal in the third. Jack Roslovic and Gustav Nyquist each came close in the opening half of the frame before Robinson's excellent goal on the rush tied the score and brought Nationwide Arena to its feet.

From there, I wondered how Columbus would handle the transition from pushing to tie the game to making sure they were able to finish things off and get at least a point, but the youngest team in the NHL got the job done.
"I liked as a team that we grinded this one out, that we had to stick with it," Larsen said. "We had to really dig deep to try to come back in the third period here. It was a 1-0 game going to the third, so one shot away. We just said, don't get frustrated, don't implode ourselves here, stick to the plan. I liked our third. I thought we pressed. They came at us the last five minutes, which is fairly normal, but we hung in there."
And in the end, Laine got off the schneid, the Airwolf theme played and the victory streamers fell as the Jackets flew off the bench to mob the Finnish star and celebrate the victory.
"That's why we have awesome fans and special fans," goalie Elvis Merzlikins said. "I think even that atmosphere that they give us, that was the chance to finish the game well, and that was awesome. It is just beautiful, and it's always nice to be in such a nice crowd and playing at home."

Robinson gets one

Moving from The 5th Line to the fourth line, I had a feeling coming into the season that the trio of Robinson, center Sean Kuraly and winger Gregory Hofmann would be a thorn in the side of opposing teams at the start of the season.
That line has been just that, as they gave Seattle fits throughout and got the breakthrough goal midway through the third period when Hofmann got the puck on the rush to Robinson, who sped into the right circle and let go a wrister from the faceoff dot that just snuck inside the far post to tie the game.
"We have to be a high-energy line," Robinson said. "We're all pretty fast guys, so we need to be moving our legs. We had a couple of chances there in the second late there and in the third. It felt good to get one there."
And as Larsen says, while the primary goal of that unit is to use its speed to its advantage and flip the ice for Columbus, there is some offensive talent in the trio as well. Robinson had a career-high eight goals last year during the shortened season and has shown some pretty good offensive instincts even if he hasn't quite always been able to finish. Kuraly isn't a huge point scorer but has some skill to his game, while Hofmann has been a high-level scorer overseas and has the talent to move up in the lineup once his game gets acclimated to the smaller ice, Larsen said.
It should be a fun trio to watch as long as it lasts.
"I think we're on the same page," Robinson said. "We can be a really effective forechecking line, hunting D down there, getting right in their pockets and causing havoc for them and being able to spend minutes in the offensive zone that way."

Finding the Kraken

With Seattle making its first-ever visit to Nationwide Arena (and playing just its third game ever), I went to the concourse pregame and wanted to chat with a few fans wearing Kraken sweaters.
There's always excitement over an expansion team, both in the city in which they play and in the sport's fan base in general. That's especially true for a Kraken team whose logo and blue color scheme has led to a buzzing merch sale up to this point.
The first fan I found was Bowling Green, Ohio, native Devon Dohanos, a Pittsburgh Penguins fan who was sporting a white Yanni Gourde jersey.
"I thought they jerseys were cool, so I got one," Dohanos said. "I saw they were playing in Ohio so I am here."
So there was one fan on the "cool merch" list, but across the way, I saw a group of around seven or eight people in Kraken jerseys/shirts, so I figured this had to be a somewhat more Seattle-based group. And I was right, as I chatted with Eric Pettigrew, a former state legislator in Washington who came to Columbus for the game (as well as the Seahawks' Sunday Night Football contest in Pittsburgh).
It helps that Pettigrew has family in Cincinnati -- his daughter's in-laws are from the Queen City -- and he "loves the entire state" of Ohio. It was an easy trip, then, to see his first-ever Kraken game, and the original native of Los Angeles also works for the team.
"I've been a hockey fan my entire life," Pettigrew said. "I grew up an LA Kings fan. For years, I was trying to convince everyone to bring hockey to Seattle. Everybody was focused on baseball and football, so when the Leiwekes finally made the decision to come up to Seattle, I'm telling you, I was all over it."
There was no shortage of Seattle gear in the arena, and I'd expect that to be the case as we go. So shout out to the visiting fans, who at least got one point for their troubles.

Stats and Facts

• It's the fifth time in franchise history that Columbus has started a season with victories in its first two games, with the last coming in 2014-15. Has it really been that long?
• One night after opening with a 2-for-3 performance on the power play, the Blue Jackets didn't get a man-advantage opportunity against the Kraken. Seattle, meanwhile, received just one and did not score.
• Columbus has been dreadful in overtime the past two seasons, including a (6-9-3) record last year, so being 1-0 is a fine start.
• Seattle's 1-0 lead after Tanev's goal marked the first time in franchise history that the Kraken scored first.
• Columbus is now 2-1 all-time in its first-ever meeting with expansion teams. The Blue Jackets beat expansion cousin Minnesota in their first matchup during the 2000-01 season but lost to Vegas in the inaugural game against the Golden Knights in 2017-18.
• Hofmann's assist on Robinson's goal was his first-ever NHL point. The 28-year-old first-year NHLer had 324 points (165-159) in 485 games over 12 seasons in the National League A in his home country of Switzerland.
• Laine's game winner was his first with Columbus and the 19th of his NHL career.