Another game, another two points.
The trio of Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle, and Mathieu Olivier combined for 11 points Wednesday night in the Columbus Blue Jackets dominant 6-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It was Columbus' fifth victory in their last six games and sends them to 6-4-0 on the season after a 1-3-0 start.
Despite giving up a pair of goals late, it was another solid night for Elvis Merzlikins, who turned away 33 of the Maple Leafs' 36 shots on goal.
Here are the three things from Wednesday's win:
Thing One: Cole & Charlie & Mathieu & A Really Good Night
Take your pick who the MVP of the line was: Sillinger scored his first two goals of the season and added an assist for a three-point night. Olivier scored the team's sixth and final goal of the evening and added three assists for a four-point night. Coyle's four assists was a career high.
A three point, two-goal night, for Sillinger #CBJ pic.twitter.com/5iQjStDJgG
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 30, 2025
The line, which had been playing well in recent games but struggled to get on the scoreboard (a combined five points in their previous six games), had a feeling that a game like this was on the horizon.
"We believed and trusted that we were going to (have a break out game) eventually," said Coyle, whose first assist of the night was the 300th of his NHL career.
Charlie Coyle (0-4-4, career high in assists), Mathieu Olivier (1-3-4, career high in assists and points) and Cole Sillinger (2-1-3, 5th career 3-point GP) combined for 3-8-11 in #CBJ's 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs.
— CBJ Public Relations (@BlueJacketsPR) October 30, 2025
The Jackets finished the month of October 6-4-0.
Sillinger echoed a similar sentiment.
“We’re three bigger dudes that play really well below the dots, and when we get the cycle going, we’re tough to knock off the puck," said Sillinger. "If teams give us time and space, we can capitalize.”
Thing Two: Defenseman Can Score, Too
Three goals came from the Sillinger—Coyle—Olivier line, but the other three came from defensemen.
Zach Werenski scored a goal at 11:16 of the first in a rare five-on-two rush. It was his third goal of the season.
Olivier hit at the blue line led the charge for a rush the other way. pic.twitter.com/wQ7iPpz4rG #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 30, 2025
Two of Columbus' three goals in the middle frame would come off the stick of a defenseman: Ivan Provorov tallied his second of the season at the 8:33 mark to extend the Blue Jackets lead to 3-1, and with assists from Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko, this was the only goal of the night by Columbus that didn't involve the Sillinger—Coyle—Olivier line.
Later in the period, Dante Fabbro pushed the lead to four goals with his first goal of the season.
The Blue Jackets and head coach Dean Evason love letting their blueliners jump into the play, and Wednesday night was just another example of that.
“If you don't take care of the puck and you don't take care of certain team’s tendencies, you can get burnt by it," said Toronto head coach Craig Berube. "That's what happened tonight."
Thing Three: Another Solid Night For Elvis
He wasn't talked about much after the game, but Wednesday's win was another good performance from Merzlikins. He finished the game with 33 saves on 36 shots for a .917 save percentage — his fourth time in five starts where he's finished a game with a save percentage of .910 or higher.
Merzlikins was especially good in the first two periods, where he stopped 26 of Toronto's 27 shots and gave the Blue Jackets plenty of time to build up a lead on the offensive side of things.
In five-on-five play this year, Merzlikins has a 2.11 goals against average versus an expected goals against of 3.17, according to MoneyPuck. That difference of 1.06 is the fifth-best in the NHL. (Jet Greaves, at +0.62, ranks 10th.)
For the season, Merzlikins is 4-1-0, has a .915 save percentage, and a goals against of 2.97. Those last two figures are the best since his sophomore season of 2020-21.
Up Next:
The Blue Jackets host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday before venturing out on a five-game road trip. Puck-drop from Nationwide Arena is 7:00 p.m.
