Columbus Blue Jackets down Edmonton Oilers in 6-1 blowout: 3 takeaways
This is becoming a trend.
After each of the Blue Jackets’ three losses, they’ve responded with impressive victories the next game while scoring six goals to prevent a second straight loss. The Edmonton Oilers were latest overwhelmed by a Columbus rebound Monday at Nationwide Arena, leaving town after a 6-1 shellacking by the Blue Jackets with an injury to captain Connor McDavid and the sound of cannon blasts still in their ears.
The Blue Jackets (4-3-1) scored three goals in the first period, again, just like they did a week ago in a 6-2 rout of the Toronto Maple Leafs. That one was a rebound effort following a humbling 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild. This one was a strong response to the Jackets' 4-3 overtime loss Saturday in Nashville, which they fumbled away with sloppy play.
As a result, they're impressing early in the season while still missing four injured regulars, including Boone Jenner and Kent Johnson.
"You want to play with the lead, but what I liked tonight was that we stayed on the hunt," forward Cole Sillinger said. "We were on the Jackets' side (of the puck). We weren't cheating for extra goals or anything like that. It's clichè, but we played the right way most of the night and it showed. We got rewarded."
Here are three takeaways from another fun night for Blue Jackets fans:
It’s raining goals for the Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets have scored six goals in their four wins, which appears to be their key to victory.
That’s six goals in each win, not total, in case you're wondering. That won't last all season, but it’s a noteworthy accomplishment, especially this early. They’ve already scored six goals in half of their games, totaling 33 goals for a blistering 4.1 goals per game average. That’s a franchise high for goals through the first eight games of a season, which might shock the rest of the NHL if anybody outside of Columbus ever paid attention to them.
Edmonton was the fifth of the Jackets’ eight opponents to conclude a back-to-back set that started with a game just 24 hours earlier, but that isn’t the only reason Columbus has lit goal lamps so much. It could also be that opposing teams are looking past the Blue Jackets, a lottery team in the past four drafts.
“I hope not,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said of being overlooked. “I hope that we’re playing the way that we play, the standard that we set. We’re trying to meet that every night, regardless of who we play and what their mentality is. We’re going to play hard every night, and we’ll see where we sit.”
Pyyhtia’s first NHL goal caps exciting night for Columbus Blue Jackets
Scoring goals is fun. Scoring them in bunches is even more enjoyable. Helping an unheralded, friendly Finnish rookie like Mikael Pyyhtia score his first NHL goal, however, was the perfect capper for the Blue Jackets on their latest blowout of a playoff team.
After nearly scoring on Sillinger’s goal late in the first to make it 3-0, Pyyhtia netted his first career goal for a 5-0 lead late in the third off Adam Fantilli's fantastic feed from the left wing.
“It feels awesome,” Pyyhtia said. “First goal, you’ll remember that all your life.”
Sillinger got the second assist, giving him and Fantilli three points each with a goal and two assists. Both had encouraging words for Pyyhtia before the game.
“I was pumped about it,” Fantilli said. “I walked in before the game and I told him I was thinking about it all day, like, he had to get one tonight. And he was like, ‘I’m actually feeling it too.’ As soon as he tucked it in, I was pumped behind the net. I was pointing at the net, making sure someone picked (the puck) up. I’m pumped for him. You never forget your first goal.”
Columbus Blue Jackets might have found their best forward setup
The Blue Jackets’ coaching staff discussed the composition of forward lines at the morning skate, and Evason eventually made a tweak.
Sillinger was flipped from left wing on the top line to the same side of Fantilli’s second line, moving Yegor Chinakhov back to the top line with Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko. The moves worked out great, reuniting a dominant top group that produced Monahan’s team-leading fourth and fifth goals while sparking the second three-point game of Fantilli’s young career.
“That (top) line’s been so good with Chinny, Monny and Marchy, so it’s to put them back together, and honestly, if you put Cole Sillinger with anybody, it’s a pretty good line,” Evason said. “We felt very comfortable that would work.”
It did with Monahan's line returning to its earlier effectiveness while Sillinger, Fantilli and Pyyhtia showed chemistry as the second line. Should that continue, the Blue Jackets could have two relentless “top six” lines plus two effective checking lines to round out the forwards.
“Coaches are such nerds,” Evason said. “You get in there and we’re fiddling with our (player) magnets all morning, right? We get in there, in our meeting, and you start with the lineup, and you go through a process ... and we had magnets all over the place. Then, we settled on that.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets leave Edmonton Oilers in the dust: 3 takeaways
