Well, that was fun.
It's been a while since the Blue Jackets last played. 142 days, to be exact.
Tonight, they were back on the ice, and they brought home a win in their preseason opener. Key goals from Yegor Chinakhov and Adam Boqvist spelled the offense, and timely goaltending from Jean-Francois Berube and Jet Greaves stymied the Penguins all night to earn a shutout.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| PENGUINS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Blue Jackets weathered an early storm from the Penguins, as Berube stood on his head to deny several scoring chances. Then, Chinakhov did what he does best.
Cole Sillinger found Scott Harrington on the blue line, then Harrington saw Chinakhov in space. The Russian winger moved in and uncorked a wrister from distance that beat Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry.
WHO ELSE? YEGOR CHINAKHOV 1-0 #CBJ pic.twitter.com/AD5tnfaUTx
— SpecmenceCBJ (@SpecmenceCBJ) September 27, 2021
The second period saw the Blue Jackets outshoot the Penguins, 10-9, but neither club was able to find a goal in the middle 20 minutes. The third period began with the Blue Jackets still leading, 1-0.
In the final frame, the Blue Jackets added to their lead. Alexandre Texier found Adam Boqvist with a nifty feed from below the goal line, and Boqvist provided the finish to give the Blue Jackets some breathing room.
Adam Boqvist scores his first goal as a Blue Jacket! Great set-up by Alexandre Texier #CBJ pic.twitter.com/TmE4wb7EKF
— SpecmenceCBJ (@SpecmenceCBJ) September 28, 2021
Emil Bemstrom sealed the win for the Blue Jackets with an empty-net goal to make it 3-0 with 2:17 remaining. The youthful roster saw the rest of the game out like veterans. It was an impressive win for the Blue Jackets, who put out a team with minimal NHL experience.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets will continue their preseason slate tomorrow against the Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. ET.
