Blue Jackets Dominate Coyotes, Start Season With Big Win

By Jacob Nitzberg on October 14, 2021 at 9:48 pm
Oct 14, 2021; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand (28) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Arizona Coyotes in the first period at Nationwide Arena.
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
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Well, that was fun.

  1 2 3 F
BLUE JACKETS 2 3 3 8
COYOTES 0 1 1 2

The Blue Jackets ran rampant over the listless Arizona Coyotes, winning 8-2 in their season opener. Goals came from Oliver Bjorkstrand (2), Alexandre Texier, Boone Jenner, Jake Bean, Zach Werenski, Max Domi, and Gustav Nyquist. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 36 of the 38 shots that he faced.

When the opening faceoff came, the Blue Jackets were ready. Just 40 seconds in, Domi found Texier with a beautiful feed. Texier swatted the puck out of midair and past Coyotes netminder Carter Hutton to give the home team a 1-0 lead. 

Per the club, Texier’s goal was the second fastest goal in a season opener in franchise history. Geoff Sanderson scored 31 seconds in against St. Louis in 2001.

Before the first period ended, the Blue Jackets padded their lead. Jenner was tripped after making an aggressive move to the net, and they capitalized on the power play. Bjorkstrand tipped home a fantastic pass from Werenski, making it 2-0, Blue Jackets.

35 seconds into the second period, the seventh Blue Jackets captain in franchise history made it 3-0. After some nifty work from Domi, Jenner settled the puck and buried it. 

28 seconds after Jenner’s tally, Anton Stralman got one back for the visitors, cutting the Blue Jackets’ lead to 3-1. Merzlikins thought he was impeded by an Arizona forward, but the referees disagreed and the Blue Jackets didn’t challenge the goal. 

Then, the floodgates opened. 

Bjorkstrand notched his second goal of the night, beating Hutton from a tough angle. 

Then, Bean scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket on a one-timer.

The third period saw even more fireworks. Werenski made it six with a wrister on the power play. 

Max Domi added the extra point with a wrist shot, and Cole Sillinger notched his first NHL point with the primary assist on Domi's goal. 

Clayton Keller added a late power-play goal to make it 7-2, but that was as close as the Coyotes would get. 

For good measure, Nyquist added a goal with 1:24 remaining to make it 8-2.

Next Up

The Blue Jackets (1-0-0) will host the Seattle Kraken (0-1-0) on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7 pm EST.

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