Behind two goals from Yegor Chinakhov and Adam Fantilli's third goal in two games, the Blue Jackets beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2 at Nationwide Arena on Friday.
1st Period
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| STL BLUES | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Kirill Marchenko opened the scoring at 1:42 when he finished off a rush started by Chinakhov, who danced around Scott Perunovich and dished to Dmitri Voronkov, who found Marchenko at the right doorstep for the goal.
#CBJ Marchenko (9) goal pic.twitter.com/wRnH2TNP1o
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 9, 2023
Robert Thomas tied the game on a breakaway at 14:36 after he raced past Ivan Provorov.
#STLBlues Thomas goal pic.twitter.com/5ARRfjNHtM
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 9, 2023
After he received a sweet feed from Kent Johnson, Fantilli ripped a left-slot wrist shot past Joel Hofer at 17:01.
#CBJ Fantilli (8) goal pic.twitter.com/bFmPa0saSW
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 9, 2023
The Blue Jackets took a 2-1 lead into the second period while trailing 12-8 in shots on goal.
2nd Period
The best chances of the second period came on the Blues' power play from 14:37 to 16:37, highlighted by Jake Neighbours' chance from in-tight at 15:13 that Jet Greaves denied.
Columbus led 2-1 after two frames while trailing 19-16 in shots on goal.
3rd Period
The Jackets doubled their lead at 6:26 after Voronkov forced a Jordan Kyrou turnover leading to a Blue Jackets rush where he found Marchenko in the right slot, who slid it over to Chinakhov, who scored from the left doorstep.
#CBJ Chinakhov (4) goal pic.twitter.com/fWLILkCCLe
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 9, 2023
Marchenko's bid for his second goal of the game came on the power play where he drove to the net but was denied by Hofer at 11:40.
Chinakhov scored his second of the game on the same power play, firing a rocket of a slap shot from the high slot past Hofer at 12:21.
#CBJ Chinakhov (5) goal pic.twitter.com/JW0EW1eumb
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 9, 2023
Thomas scored his second of the game with the Blues' goalie pulled at 17:41 from the left doorstep following a net-mouth scramble.
Alexandre Texier sealed the game at 19:56 when he beat a Blues defender to the puck and scored on the empty net.
With the win, the Blue Jackets improved to 9-15-5.
Stats
- Shots on Goal: STL 43-22 CBJ
- Face-off %: STL 39.3-60.7 CBJ
- Power play: STL 0/3-1/2 CBJ
- Giveaways: STL 3-4 CBJ
- Takeaways: STL 3-6 CBJ
- Blocked shots: STL 8-17 CBJ
- Hits: STL 8-14 CBJ
-
5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): STL 1.80-1.44 CBJ
- Shot Attempts (CF): STL 41-33 CBJ
- Shots on Goal (SF): STL 27-17 CBJ
- Scoring Chances (SCF): STL 17-16 CBJ
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): STL 9-8 CBJ
Injury Update
- Patrik Laine and Erik Gudbranson missed their second straight game with illnesses.
- Elvis Merzlikins was placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 5 with an illness.
- Adam Boqvist was placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 5 and will miss approximately four weeks with a shoulder strain.
- Damon Severson was placed on IR retroactive to Nov. 19 and will miss approximately six weeks with an oblique injury.
- Jack Roslovic has been on IR since Nov. 13 with a fractured ankle that will sideline him for four to six weeks.
- Cole Sillinger was placed on IR retroactive to Nov. 26 and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
- Boone Jenner left the game after being struck with a puck in the second period and did not return.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets are back at it on Sunday when they host the Florida Panthers at 1 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
The club heads to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
