The Blue Jackets improved to 4-2 in the preseason with a solid 3-1 victory at St. Louis on Tuesday night.
Game in a Paragraph
Columbus put together an excellent defensive performance against a strong Blues lineup to pick up the victory. St. Louis got the opening goal early in the second, but the Blue Jackets tallied twice to take the lead into the final frame and then got the empty-net goal to finish things off in the third.
Quote of the Game
Head coach Dean Evason: "Honestly, I think it's our best game so far. We did a lot of really good things, corrected a lot of stuff that we've had happen to us early here as far as having the lead, getting pucks out in those tough areas, those hard areas, making that simple play, putting it into areas we could be aggressive. We didn't have an NHL-heavy group and yet they just competed their butts off."
CBJ Standouts
- Yegor Chinakhov and Gavin Brindley each scored their first goals of the preseason.
- Mathieu Olivier notched an empty-net goal for his fourth tally of the preseason.
- Adam Fantilli had a pair of assists.
- Jet Greaves played the whole game in net, stopping 22 of 23 shots against.
How It Happened
Neither team got on the board through 20 minutes, but there were chances for each side. The line of Fantilli, Yegor Chinakhov and Dmitri Voronkov created the best looks for Columbus, with Blues goalie Joel Hofer turning aside a couple of hard Chinakhov wristers during the frame. On the other side, Greaves had to be sharp as well, and he got some luck when Zack Bolduc hit the post late in the period.
Things opened up some more in the second, and the Jackets took a 2-1 lead in the middle frame while also holding a 12-6 edge in shots on goal in the period. The teams traded power-play goals in the opening eight minutes, as St. Louis scored at 3:21 when Justin Faulk ripped a slap shot past Greaves on a nice passing play, but the Jackets tied things at 7:43 when Chinakhov calmly deposited the rebound of a Fantilli shot. Brindley then broke the tie with 6:18 left in the period when he scored right off a faceoff win by Luca Del Bel Belluz.
In the third period, the Blue Jackets were stifling defensively, giving St. Louis just nine shot attempts in 16 minutes of 5-on-5 play. Columbus also withstood a 6-on-5 look for the Blues in the final 90 seconds and got the icing on the cake in the final second when Olivier tucked the puck into the empty net.
Notable
Olivier and Fantilli are now tied for the NHL lead in preseason goals with four. ... Columbus finished with a 35-23 edge in shots on goal, with Chinakhov and Trey Fix-Wolansky leading the way with six apiece. ... Columbus scored on its only power-play chance, while St. Louis was 1-3. ... A night after scoring a goal vs. Washington, Del Bel Belluz added an assist tonight. ... Per Natural Stat Trick, the Blue Jackets had a 16-4 edge in shots on goal with defenseman Denton Mateychuk on the ice, plus a 14-6 advantage with his partner David Jiricek on the ice.
Roster Report
Here is the roster the Blue Jackets used for the contest. It was a mix of NHLers and players looking to make an impact and catch an eye with the regular-season opener just nine days away.
Up Next
Columbus is off Wednesday and returns to the ice Thursday at home against Pittsburgh in the last preseason home game of the year. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m.
