The cannon blasted early and it blasted often in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ season-opening 5-0 win vs. the New York Islanders on Friday, and for the first time, its concussion reverberated around Nationwide Arena for Artemi Panarin.
For that, the talented winger acquired this past offseason was grateful – and slightly more prepared than usual.
“I got lucky I was able to get used to it in the preseason games,” he said through an interpreter after the game. “When I used to come here with Chicago, I wasn’t ready for it.”
Instead of being taken aback by the blasts, Panarin is now helping to set them off, and it didn’t take the Bread Man long to enter Yeast Mode in his first game with the Blue Jackets.
Billed as the game-breaking offensive threat the team needed to go to the next level, the Russian was exactly that in his debut while earning first star honors. Panarin became the first-ever Blue Jacket to notch three points – all of which were assists – in his CBJ debut as the Jackets cruised to the shutout win.
It might be saying too much to suggest Panarin was inspired by watching the man he was traded for this offseason, Brandon Saad, notch a hat trick on Thursday night, but for head coach John Tortorella, the comparison was apt.
“Saader lights it up there, and they have a good player in Chicago,” Tortorella said. “We have a pretty damn good one here too. We’re really excited about what he brings in the full package.”
The only thing missing was a goal, but Columbus certainly couldn’t complain about a night that left the left winger on pace for a 246-point season.
We kid, of course, but Panarin passed both the eye test and the stats test when it came to being a different kind of player on offense than the Jackets had a year ago.
He was confident bordering on daring with the puck from the first shift, looping all the way through the offensive zone behind the net from right to left before trying to find a Blue Jackets teammate.
That pass went awry, but soon they would find their mark with regularity. His first assist came on a picture-perfect passing play with linemate Cam Atkinson, as the Jackets forwards forced a turnover in the neutral zone before breaking in with speed. Atkinson’s drop pass found Panarin in stride, and the winger careened toward the net along the left wing before centering across the crease for the puck to carom in off Atkinson’s skate making it 2-0.
“That’s just great transition,” Tortorella said. “It’s not a fancy play. (Panarin) makes a play across the blue (of the crease), throws it in the blue, where sometimes I think other players at that skill level would try to make something more out of it. That’s a big goal to get us running.”
Panarin was also brought in to resuscitate a power play that largely went missing in the second half of last season, and he did exactly that. With Columbus skating with a 6-on-5 advantage on a delayed penalty, Panarin passed out from behind the net for Ryan Murray to drill in from a sharp angle to give Columbus a 3-0 lead 6:57 into the second period.
Less than four minutes later, with the Jackets on their first actual power play, Panarin picked up assist No. 3. He fed Alexander Wennberg for a blast that rebounded all the way off Thomas Greiss’ pad out to Zach Werenski at the center point, and the defenseman was able to bury the rebound before the goaltender could get reset.
Those are the types of goals the Blue Jackets will be expecting from their top players, a grouping that now includes Panarin.
“I knew that it is a very fast team,” Panarin said when asked about his new teammates. “There are some very skilled players who have scored 30-plus goals.”
Tortorella also made sure to point out Panarin wasn’t just good in the offensive zone. While his panache is undeniable and reputation as a scorer has been cemented by consecutive 30-goal seasons to begin his NHL career, the winger has surprised his new head coach with the depth of his game.
“He’s known for his scoring, the high-flying line with him, (Patrick Kane) and whoever else is playing with them,” Tortorella said. “I didn’t realize how much work he puts into the other part. I thought it was going to be a little bit of a learning curve of what we want out of him in that part of the game, but from day one, he’s been involved, he’s asked questions. We haven’t had to go to him. He came to us. And he had a couple of great backchecks tonight.”
