SvoNotes: Hofmann headlines eventful night for Blue Jackets

For some reason, Gregory Hofmann could see it coming.
Maybe that's just how goal scorers are. But on a night in which the 28-year-old first-year NHLer was moved up to play with two of the Blue Jackets' top offensive weapons in Jack Roslovic and Oliver Bjorkstrand, Hofmann could feel his first NHL goal coming as he sat in the locker room between the first and second period.

Maybe he should have played the lottery Monday night, too. Just 9:21 of gameplay later, Hofmann became the oldest CBJ player ever to score his first NHL tally, ripping a shot past Braden Holtby to give Columbus a 2-0 lead -- and the game-winning goal in what would become a 4-1 win over Dallas.

For whatever reason, when Hofmann was thinking about the game after 20 minutes, he could feel a goal coming in his sixth NHL game. And when he scored, he wanted to make sure his celebration included goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, a friend from their days playing together in Switzerland and an even better one now for the way Merzlikins and his wife, Aleksandra, have welcomed Hofmann and his pregnant wife Jessica to Columbus.
"It's funny because I was thinking after the first period that, I don't know, something is going to happen tonight and maybe I am going to score that first one," a smiling Hofmann said postgame. "I was thinking in the break after the first period that I am going to go to Elvis because of just the way he helped me. It's a close friend and I've known him a long time. It was kind of a respect for what he did for me."
So Hofmann did just that, first breaking into a huge smile before being mobbed by his linemates along the wall. After going to the bench to tap gloves with his teammates, Hofmann continued on down the ice and gave Merzlikins a high-five on the far end of the ice while Dallas called a timeout to stem a rising CBJ tide.
Hofmann told the truth, though, and admitted he nearly missed the chance to celebrate with Merzlikins.
"I almost forgot," he said before adding, "It was special."
Postgame, you could tell Merzlikins felt the same way.
"I was really waiting for his first NHL goal," said the Latvian goalie, who played with Hofmann with HC Lugano in the Swiss National League from 2015-19. "I know he's capable. I know that he belongs in this league. Obviously he just needs a little time like I needed in the start of my first year here.
"I was really happy. This morning I saw the line changes … and I am just saying, it's a different feeling for a player. This is huge for him. I hope now from this goal he can fly, he can go, because I know he can do that and he is capable of doing that."
Credit CBJ general manager Jarmo Kekalainen for making what appears to have been a shrewd move when he traded a seventh-round pick to Carolina for the rights to Hofmann midway through last season. The winger had just never stuck with the Hurricanes the times he had come overseas to battle for a job, but the trade gave him a fresh start when it comes to NHL hockey, and he came to Columbus training camp intent on earning a spot.
Goal-scoring has been his calling card -- he had 72 goals and 139 points in 136 games the past three years in Switzerland, not to mention six goals in eight games at the IIHF World Championship in May -- but he was placed on an energy line to start with Eric Robinson and Sean Kuraly.
Hofmann notched an assist in the team's second game vs. Seattle, but with the CBJ attack a bit stale in the past few games, head coach Brad Larsen thought it was time for Hofmann to get a chance to play with some more offensive players.
"I thought he was good," Larsen said of Hofmann's showing postgame. "I would have loved to have gotten him a little bit more ice time, but we were rolling four (lines) pretty good tonight, some situational stuff happened, but I thought he was good. He played really well."
Hofmann notched an assist in the first period as Bjorkstrand scored, then made it 2-0 with his tally. Bjorkstrand knocked the puck off the stick of Dallas forward Radek Faksa right to Hofmann in the slot, and like a true goal scorer, he knew what to do with it. From there, Hofmann let go a quick shot that went off the left arm of goalie Braden Holtby and into the net, setting off the Swiss native's impressive celebration.
Afterward, Hofmann said the puck -- which immediately was grabbed by Bjorkstrand -- will go to his father back home.
"I haven't seen my phone yet, so I'm probably going to have some text messages," he said. "But yeah, a great night, a really special night. I'm really happy."

Ups and Downs for 90

On the ice, just about everything went right for Merzlikins. Not only did he watch a good friend score his first NHL goal, he made 31 saves on 32 shots against while becoming the fifth NHL goalie this year to improve to 4-0-0.
But Merzlikins wanted the Dallas goal -- Tyler Seguin's tally with 2:19 to on a rebound off the back wall -- back, and it wasn't just for his stats. Merzlikins said that as he was taking the ice for warmups ahead of the game, a Dallas fan made a comment about the offseason passing of friend and teammate Matiss Kivlenieks that he could hear.
Rather than get mad, though, Merzlikins got even with the win. He also believes he had some help from above from Kivlenieks, especially after the Stars hit the post or crossbar three times in the first period.
"I was expecting a shutout because I believe in karma," Merzlikins said postgame. "There are some stupid people in this world. That was really bad what happened in the tunnel when I was walking out. There was a fan from Dallas who provoked me about Matiss. After the first period, the three posts that I got, I really believed in karma and I saw (Kivlenieks) was really there. I am just honest -- I was gassed on the goal. I couldn't reach it."

As for whether he replied to the fan about the comment, Merzlikins said. "Stupid people don't come into my head. I didn't get upset, I just realized how stupid people are."
The situation was unfortunate, but credit to Merzlikins for not letting one bad apple ruin the orchard. He was tremendous throughout the night, in particular with Dallas on the power play in the second period, a span between a disallowed goal off the stick of Cole Sillinger (more on that in a second) and Hofmann's tally. Merzlikins also made two great saves early in the third on Miro Heiskanen and Denis Gurianov, moments before Zach Werenski tallied to give the CBJ a 3-0 lead.
"They always say it's the saves at the right time," Larsen said of his goalie, who also boasts a 1.47 GAA and NHL-best .952 save percentage.
The goalie was also his usually chatty self after the game, crediting what was a smallish but rowdy crowd of 5th Liners for helping push him to earn the win.
"Of course," he said when asked if he pulls energy from the Nationwide Arena crowd. "This is why I always say -- it's not (just) because I want to be friends with the fans. What I am saying is true. They are helping me. … This building is loud. It is really nice to play here."
He also credited the team in front of him for not just playing well in front of him but for making it fun to come to the rink each day.
"Right now, we are a really strong family and this is awesome," he said. "It's different than last year. We have different leaders, we have different new players, and we created a completely new locker room. Not because of (the new) hot tub and cold tub, but I mean, like the players. It is a different feeling coming in the morning to the rink. It really is nice and you come in and you walk in with a smile."

A Strong Showing

There were plenty of smiles to go around after this one. It might have been Columbus' best performance of the year, as not only did the Jackets win convincingly on the scoreboard, the team controlled a lot of the play.
The
advanced stats on Natural Stat Trick
were quite complementary to the team, with the Blue Jackets holding an 11-4 edge in high-danger scoring chances in the game at 5-on-5, not to mention 62.2 percent of expected goals (2.00-1.21) as well at even strength. In addition, 15 of the 18 CBJ skaters saw the team finish with xGF percentages above 50 percent when they were on the ice at 5-on-5.
"I thought we had a solid game all the way through," Larsen said. "I am trying to think of anybody I didn't really like. Their compete level tonight was very high, Elvis was good all the way up through our D, our forwards. We had contributions from everybody. It was a good night for us."
Larsen also might have wanted to join Hofmann in the lottery line after some pregame changes to the lineup. His shakeup of the lines proved fruitful, as the Hofmann-Roslovic-Bjorkstrand trio netted two goals while the new fourth line -- Robinson and Kuraly were joined by Alexandre Texier -- also scored twice when Texier potted an empty-netter (and could/should have had a shorty but hit the post on an open net off a feed from Boone Jenner).
Meanwhile, the defensive corps also was solid as Gabriel Carlsson and Dean Kukan went in for Scott Harrington and the injured Adam Boqvist. Just about every roll of the dice worked out, but Larsen deflected a little of the praise about the lines.
"I wish I was that smart," he said when asked if he saw something in Hofmann that made him have chemistry with Roslovic and Bjorkstrand. "We jumbled the lines again tonight, and going into this game, like I said, I hoped I didn't have to change them, and I didn't. I thought they played well."

A Silly Evening

Just look at the final stat sheet and you might not realize quite the impact Sillinger had. He finished with four shots on goal and took two minor penalties in 13:41, but that doesn't really tell the story.
First, early in the second period, it looked as though the 18-year-old center had notched his second NHL goal and doubled what had been a 1-0 CBJ lead. Fellow rookie Yegor Chinakhov forced a turnover, Gus Nyquist put the puck toward the front of the net and Sillinger was there to backhand a shot that seemed to creep through Holtby and barely cross the goal line.
Sillinger celebrated like he scored and the ref pointed to the net to signal a goal, but upon review from the league office, the entire puck didn't quite cross the line before it was pulled away by Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell. It was no goal by about a millimeter, much to the chagrin of the Nationwide Arena faithful and Sillinger.
"I thought it did cross the line, but I guess not," he said. "Chinny, he made a great play. The puck was bouncing and I tried to backhand it on net. From my angle, it looked like the puck was across, so that's why I celebrated and stuff. Their D made a great play of keeping the puck out."
Tha was far for the only moment in which Sillinger made his presence felt. In the late moments of the second, he delivered a hit on Joe Pavelski that sent the veteran into the boards, and Gurianov immediately approached Sillinger looking for a little retribution.
The two dropped the gloves for a quick moment -- it didn't go well for Gurianov -- and Sillinger ended up with a double minor for roughing. Perhaps most importantly, though, it was another incidence in which the league's youngest player didn't back down from a challenge, much to the delight of the CBJ fans in Nationwide.
"I wouldn't say I was waiting for a moment like that, but I hit a player in Pavelski who is a pretty well-known guy," Sillinger said. "I was kind of expecting something. From my angle, I didn't really think that was the worst hit. I just tried to hit him. Maybe it looked uglier than it was. I'm glad he's OK, but I had to be ready for something. He dropped his gloves, and I wans't afraid to do it as well."

Stats and Facts

• He didn't end up on the stat sheet, but Patrik Laine had a tremendous night including a team-best six shots on goal and nine shot attempts overall.
• With his assist on Hofmann's goal, Bjorkstrand notched his 100th assist in CBJ colors one game after Voracek did the same. The two are now tied for 18th in franchise history at the century mark.
• Werenski, Hofmann and Bjorkstrand each finished with matching 1-1-2 lines. In six games this season, Bjorkstrand (3-6-9 on the season) now has a four-point game, a three-point game and a two-point game.
• Dublin native Sean Kuraly notched his first point in a CBJ uniform, assisting on Werenski's goal in the third that made it 3-0 by working a nice give-and-go with the defenseman. He was awarded the Kepi hat postgame by Sillinger.
• The previous CBJ record holder for the oldest player to notch his first NHL goal in a union blue uniform? Lasse Pirjeta, a Finnish forward who also was 28 when he tallied Nov. 22, 2002, vs. Buffalo.
• The Columbus power play had a number of good looks but did not score, finishing 0 for 4. It was the first game this season in which the team had a power play but did not notch a power-play goal.
• One game after allowing three power-play goals to Carolina, the Columbus PK was 3 for 3 on the night.
• For the first time ever, Columbus has eight points in its first five home games on the year (4-1-0).
• The Blue Jackets are 8-1-1 in their last 10 home games against the Stars.