Werenski Caps Off Career Night With Overtime Winner As Blue Jackets Outlast Bolts 7-6

By Will Chase on November 21, 2024 at 9:57 pm
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (8) looks on against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period at Nationwide Arena.
© Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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If you like goal-scoring, this one was for you.

The Columbus Blue Jackets overcame a 3-0 first-period deficit to outlast the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-6 in overtime on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.

  1 2 3 (OT) F
CBJ 3 2 1 (0) 6
BOS 1 4 1 (1) 7

CBJ GOALS:
Monahan (P1, 13:35)
Voronkov(P2, 0:28)
K. Johnson (P2, 1:55) (PP)
Werenski(P2, 3:42)
Chinakhov (P2, 5:26)
K. Johnson (P3, 10:39) (SH)
Werenski (OT, 1:26)

Zach Werenski scored the overtime game-winner and set a franchise record becoming the first Blue Jackets defenseman with five points (two goals, three assists) in a single game. Sean Monahan scored as part of a four-point night (one goal, three assists) and took over the team lead for goals. Werenski (six goals, 13 assists) and Monahan (seven goals, 12 assists) co-lead the Blue Jackets with 19 points.

Kent Johnson returned from an upper-body injury after missing the previous 14 games and scored a power-play goal and short-handed goal. Johnson is on a five-game point streak (four goals, three assists).

Elvis Merzikins made 24 saves for his third straight win. Jonas Johansson made 36 saves in defeat.

Here's how it all went down:

1st Period:

(1:51 — TBL Goal): Brayden Point started the goal fest with his 11th tally of the season on the power play. Nikita Kucherov (16) and Jake Guentzel (11) picked up the assists. Point has five goals in his last four games.

(11:52 — TBL Goal): Cam Atkinson scored his first of the season and his first as a member of the Lightning. Victor Hedman (14) and Mitchell Chaffee (3) had the assists. Atkinson sat out the last three games coming in as a healthy scratch.

(13:35 — CBJ Goal): Columbus stopped the bleeding as Monahan scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season to break a nine-game goalless drought. The goal was the beginning of Monahan's four-point (one goal, three assists) night — Dmitri Voronkov (2) and Damon Severson (5) assisted on the play. The point was the 300th of Severson's career.

2nd Period:

(0:28 — CBJ Goal): Voronkov started the second period just as the Jackets needed with his fourth goal of the year. Monahan (10) added his second point of the night with the assist and Werenski (11) had his first point of the night with an assist. 

(1:55 — CBJ Goal): Kent Johnson returned to the lineup and picked up right where he left off with his fifth goal of the season to tie the game 3-3 on the power play. Werenski (12), Kirill Marchenko (11) assisted.

(2:11 — TBL Goal): Chaffee's fifth goal of the season gave Tampa the lead back to make it 4-3. Conor Geekie (3) had an assist.

(3:42 — CBJ Goal): Werenski added his third point of the evening with his fifth goal on the season to make it a 4-4 hockey game. Kirill Marchenko (12) and Monahan (11) added the assists.

(5:26 — CBJ Goal): Yegor Chinakhov's sixth goal gave Columbus a 5-4 lead. The assists went to Cole Sillinger (8) and Mathieu Olivier (3).

(5:26 — TBL Goal): Cirelli (6) tied the game at 5-5 as the assists went to Hagel (10) and Kucherov (18).

The Blue Jackets had a season-high 21 shots for a period in the second frame.

3rd Period:

(10:39 — CBJ Goal): Kent Johnson added a short-hand goal for his second goal of the game and his second career multi-goal game. Werenski (13) and Monahan (12) each added their third assist for the game.

(11:23 — TBL Goal): Geekie's third of the season on the power play made it a 6-6 game with assists to Gage Goncalves (1) and Janis Moser (6).

Overtime:

(1:25 — CBJ Goal): Werenski capped off a career night with his first-career five-point game as he scored the overtime winner to cap off the wild 7-6 victory. Sillinger (9) had his second assist and Ivan Provorov (5) assisted on the play. Werenski led the game with eight shots — the second time this season he's had eight shots in a game — and he led the way in ice time (27:24)

TBL GAME STATS CBJ
30 SHOTS 43
57.1% FACEOFFS 42.9%
2/2 POWER PLAY 1/1
0/1 PENALTY KILL 0/2
21 HITS 28
10 GIVEAWAYS 17
3 TAKEAWAYS 5
32 BLOCKED SHOTS 20
ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS
2.35 EXPECTED GOALS 4.23
60 SHOT ATTEMPTS 92
20 SCORING CHANCES 48
11 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 20
DATA VIA:
NHL.COM & NATURALSTATTRICK.COM

Stat Talk:

  • The Blue Jackets have scored at least five goals in seven of their eight victories. They beat the New York Islanders 2-0 at Nationwide Arena on Oct. 30 and they beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 last time out in Boston on Nov. 18.
  • Kent Johnson's third-period short-handed goal gives Columbus three short-handed goals in their last two games. Mathieu Oliver and Justin Danforth each scored shorties against the Bruins.
  • The 7-6 comeback victory marks the seventh time in franchise history — third time at home — the Blue Jackets have overcome a three-goal deficit to win. The last time the Blue Jackets won a game that way was over the Washington Capitals 7-6 in overtime on Mar. 21, 2023, in D.C. The last time at home was 5-4 over the Detroit Red Wings on Apr. 3, 2018.

Up Next:

The homestand continues as the Blue Jackets play the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes with the puck drop set for 7:00 p.m.

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