Blue Jackets score eight in Larsen's debut, defeat Coyotes in opener

COLUMBUS -- Oliver Bjorkstrand had two goals and two assists, and Brad Larsen won his NHL coaching debut for the Columbus Blue Jackets, 8-2 against the Arizona Coyotes at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

It was the season opener for each team.
"It was a special night," Larsen said. "It was a strange night in a lot of ways. There were a lot of exciting things for the fans back in the stands and we talked about the energy from that."
Max Domi scored and had two assists, and Elvis Merzlikins, wearing the No. 80 of the late Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, made 36 saves.
Carter Hutton made 18 saves in his first game for the Coyotes in the NHL coaching debut of Andre Tourigny.
"I don't think the score reflected the game," Tourigny said. "We had breakdowns defensively, yes. At some point we got emotional and got off our game but if you look at the way we played it's a better thing than the score showed."

Merzlikins said it was emotional wearing the No. 80 of Kivlenieks, who died in a fireworks accident on July 4. The Kivlenieks family was present for a pregame tribute. Merzlikins normally wears No. 90.
"It was my most important game," Merzlikins said. "I was obviously very nervous, because I didn't want to embarrass the number the first and last time I wear it."
Alexandre Texier scored 40 seconds into the season to make it 1-0. He tipped a backhand shot from the top of the right circle by Domi.
"Getting that first one, first shift was definitely part of the game plan," Domi said. "We came out of the gates flying and just kind of rolled with it through some ups and downs during the game."

Bjorkstrand's power-play goal made it 2-0 at 14:05 of the first period.
Jakub Voracek had the second assist in his first game since being acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers on July 24.
Newly named captain Boone Jenner gave Columbus a 3-0 lead after 35 seconds of the second period.
Domi entered the zone down the right side off a turnover and moved around the net to get Hutton out of position. His shot hit Hutton and landed at the skates of Jenner.
Anton Stralman cut the Blue Jackets' lead to 3-1 at 1:03. The defenseman was acquired from the Florida Panthers on July 26.
"It gave us a little bit of a momentum for a little bit but unfortunately we threw it away," he said. "We definitely know what we did wrong. It's nothing that's unfixable."
Bjorkstrand made it 4-1 at 11:10 and Jake Bean scored in his Columbus debut at 14:16 of the second for a 5-1 lead.
Bjorkstrand said he thought a lot about Kivlenieks leading to the game.
"This was for him and I think we did a good job of finishing out this game in a good way," he said.

Werenski made it 6-1 at 4:33 of the third period on the power play.
Domi's goal at 8:48 made it 7-1. Cole Sillinger, the No. 12 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, got an assist in his NHL debut.
"It took me a couple of shifts to realize I was playing in the NHL but after that as the game got on, I got more comfortable," Sillinger said.
Clayton Keller scored at 16:46 on the power play at 16:46 to make it 7-2.
"We've got 81 more games to go so onto the next one," Keller said. "You learn from it. It's a long season and move on from it."
Gustav Nyquist made it 8-2 at 18:36.
NOTES: This was the 11th time coaches have made their NHL debuts against each other, the most recent being Randy Carlyle of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Trent Yawney of the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 5, 2005. … Sillinger is the son of former Blue Jackets forward Mike Sillinger. … The Blue Jackets placed forward Emil Bemstrom on injured reserve with a left oblique strain. He is expected to miss four to six weeks. … Blue Jackets forward Gregory Hofmann also made his NHL debut, playing 16:48. … Shayne Gostisbehere had an assist in his Coyotes debut.