Typically 1-0 games are snoozers. This one was not.
In a high-paced, back-and-forth one-goal victory, the Columbus Blue Jackets took down the Florida Panthers 1-0 in overtime on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.
In a game with more than 70 total shots, both starting goaltenders could've been co-first-stars. But someone has to win the game, and that was rookie sensation Elvis Merzlikins.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| PANTHERS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Merzlikins turned aside 32 Panther shots on the night en route to his fourth shutout of the season. Merzlikins now is 11-2-0 in his last 13 games with a stat line of .951% SV and 1.62 GAA in his last 15 games. In his last seven, the Latvian is 7–0 with all four of his shutouts. Absolutely unprecedented.
We saw a waved-off goal, a four-minute power play, and several partial breakaways, but regulation didn't give way to either club.
Overtime was somewhat brief and Zach Werenski was the hero. Almost halfway into the extra time, Werenski buried it behind Bobrovsky for his defensemen-league-leading 16th goal of the season to give the Blue Jackets the victory.
.@ZachWerenski TAKES ON BOBROVSKY FOR THE OT WINNER!!@BlueJacketsNHL take this one! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/L7SRo8GSgy
— FOX Sports Columbus (@FOXSportsCbus) February 5, 2020
That's their second win in a row, and their ninth game straight earning a point.
INJURY UPDATE
Alexander Wennberg was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday. Josh Anderson and Joonas Korpisalo have been skating, but their return dates are unknown.
NEXT UP
The Columbus Blue Jackets earn a few days of rest and are back at it on Friday night to take on the Detroit Red Wings at Nationwide Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- Columbus extended its point streak to nine games (8-0-1) with the win. It’s the club’s second-longest point streak this season (8-0-4; Dec. 9, 2019-Jan. 2, 2020).
- The Blue Jackets have now won five-straight contests at Nationwide Arena and are 9-1-1 in their past 11 home games, outscoring opponents 35-14 over that span.
- Columbus has picked up points in 14-straight games vs. Florida on home ice (13-0-1).
- With the win, the Blue Jackets won the season series vs. the Panthers (2-1-0). Columbus has won the past three season series between the two clubs and hasn’t lost a season series vs. the Panthers since 2007-08.
- It’s the fifth time in franchise history that the Blue Jackets have won a game 1-0 that required extra time. Three of those games have been decided in overtime. The last 1-0 final was Nov. 22, 2017 vs. Calgary with RW Josh Anderson scoring the overtime winner.
- The Blue Jackets have won five-straight Tuesday affairs and have points in eight of the nine Tuesday games in the 2019-20 campaign (7-1-1).
- The Blue Jackets’ point streak vs. Eastern Conference opponents climbed to 17-straight games with the win (13-0-4). It's tied for the 10th longest point streak against intraconference opponents since 1974-75 and the longest since the Boston Bruins had points in 18-straight games vs. the Eastern Conference from Dec. 16, 2017-Feb. 7, 2018 (16-0-3).
- The result made it five-straight games for Columbus decided by a single goal. The Blue Jackets have played a league-leading 33 one-goal contests (18-6-9).
- Shots in the game favored, Columbus, 45-to-32. The Blue Jackets 45 shots were their second-most in a game this season (12/5/19 vs. NYR, 47).
- Columbus went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill in the game, killing off a double-minor. The Blue Jackets have killed off 27-of-29 penalties on home ice over their last 11 home games (93.1 pct.). The club’s 93.1 pct. penalty kill rate at home since Dec. 16 leads the NHL.
- D Zach Werenski scored his second overtime winner of the season (Nov. 15 vs. STL) and fourth of his career. It was his 16th goal of the season, tying the CBJ single-season record for goals by a defensemen that he and D Seth Jones set in 2017-18. Werenski has 1-3-4 in his past six contests and 5-2-7 in his last five games vs. Florida. His six shots in the game were tied for the CBJ lead.
- G Elvis Merzlikins tied the league lead with his fourth shutout of the season with a 32-save effort. His four shutouts all have come during his current seven-game win streak that began on Jan. 11 at Vegas.
- D Seth Jones led all CBJ skaters with 26:13 TOI in the game. He had three shots, two hits, three blocked shots and a takeaway in the contest.
- Tonight’s attendance was a crowd of 17,811.
