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Another big night for the Columbus Blue Jackets on home ice.
Denton Mateychuk scored the first goal of his NHL career as part of a four-goal second period from the Blue Jackets en route to a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken.
The victory puts Columbus two games above .500 as they continue to dominate at Nationwide Arena, where they now have a record of 14-5-3.
It was also the 10th time this season they've scored six or more goals, already the most in a season since 2018-19 for Columbus.
Mateychuk's goal came on a great look from James van Riemsdyk, who chipped the puck towards Mateychuk with a backhand, goalmouth pass.
"He knew where I was," said Mateychuk. "I just kind of kept sliding and then sure enough he put it through the back there and I was able to put it in."
Six goals didn't seem likely through the first period. Sean Kuraly had the lone Columbus goal of the opening frame, one that the Kraken would get back just 10 seconds later.
It was a rare weak moment for goalie Elvis Merzlikins, who was named the Third Star of the night and made multiple key saves in the first when the Columbus offense started off sluggish. He finished with 29 saves on 31 shots.
The Blue Jackets would find their mojo in the middle frame. With the game tied 1-1 early in the period, Luca Del Bel Belluz would get a goal in his first game of the season, something he did in the 2023-24 season finale — the NHL debut for Del Bel Belluz. He would also pick up an assist on the Mateychuk goal, giving the 21-year-old his first NHL assist and first multi-point game.
Head coach Dean Evason was pleased with the effort from Del Bel Belluz.
"We were happy with (Del Bel Belluz)," said Evason. "The way he competed, his attention to detail... his skill set is really good."
Zach Werenski and Kent Johnson also scored in the Blue Jackets second period, their 13th and 11th goals of the season, respectively. Werenski's goal extended his home point streak to 16 games, the longest in the NHL by a defenseman since Hall of Famer Ray Bourque scored in 17 straight at home in the 1992-93 season.
Here's how the Blue Jackets got to 19-17-6 through 42 games:
1st Period:
(11:58 — CBJ Goal): Kuraly gets credit for his first goal in just over a month after he tips Ivan Provorov's shot at the net. Provorov dumps it in from about halfway down the ice and Kuraly does a good job of getting the puck back out to the blueline from the corner. It ends up back on the stick of Provorov, whose shot is deflected perfectly by Kuraly to put the Blue Jackets up 1-0.
(12:08 — SEA Goal): Ten seconds is all it would take for the Kraken to get the goal back. Seattle wins the faceoff, gets it down the ice, and Eeli Tolvanen takes a pass from Shane Wright to whip a one-timer past Merzlikins to tie the game at 1-1.
2nd Period
(3:29 — CBJ Goal): Del Bel Belluz scored in his first game (and NHL debut) last season and he does it again here, this time putting the Blue Jackets back in front, 2-1. LDBB gave a nod to James van Riemsdyk after the goal for the nice backhand chip to towards the net from the corner, which led to the goal. He gets the primary assist, with Severson getting his 12th apple of the year for the secondary assist.
Luca Del Bel Belluz scored in his first game (and NHL debut) last season... and scores again in his first game this season, this time putting the #CBJ back in front, 2-1.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 10, 2025
Assists to JVR (7) and Severson (12) at 3:29.pic.twitter.com/0lJEH9t3b5
(10:53 — CBJ Goal): This goal-scoring sequence starts with a nice look from Dmitri Voronkov to Adam Fantilli, who fakes a shot before getting an even nicer look over to Werenski for Z's 13th goal of the season to extend the Columbus lead to 3-1. Fantilli's primary assist gave him a point in his fourth straight game, a season high for the sophomore player who is quickly coming into his own this year.
The 13th goal of the season for Zach Werenski extends the #CBJ lead to 3-1.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 10, 2025
The last time a defenseman had a point in 16+ games at home? Ray Bourque, 32 years ago. That is what we call good company.
Also: sick feed from Mo. pic.twitter.com/CcIEy5y152
(12:27 — CBJ Goal): Mateychuk's first career goal puts Columbus ahead 4-1 less than two minutes after Werenski's strike had made it 3-1. It starts with really nice work from van Riemsdyk behind the net before JVR goes to the left of Grubauer and sees Matecyhuk to the netminder's right. He finds him with the goalmouth pass and from there, it's time for Mateychuk to celebrate his first career goal.
End of the second period and the #CBJ had a, uhm, very good twenty minutes. The four-goal period makes it 5-1 Blue Jackets.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 10, 2025
Amongst the goal scorers? Denton Mateychuk. Here's his first career goal: pic.twitter.com/mI06hicULn
(15:45 — CBJ Goal): Columbus' fourth goal of the period is the 11th of the season from Johnson. He takes a pass from Werenski between the blue lines and then pulls off a nifty move on Seattle's Brandon Montour, getting by him and firing from the left dot to beat Grubauer. This goal would be the end of the night for Grubauer, who gave up five goals on just 19 Columbus shots.
Almost time for the final period, with the #CBJ up 5-1 after scoring four times in the middle frame.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 10, 2025
The last of those goals was the 11th tally of the season from Kent Johnson. Here she is:pic.twitter.com/y6Yd5oQZmN
3rd Period
(8:44 — SEA Goal): Tolvanen gets his second goal of the night to bring Seattle to within three, at 5-2. Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour pick up the assists.
(19:31 — CBJ Goal): Kirill Marchenko joins the scoring party, an empty-netter with in the final 30 seconds that gave the Blue Jackets another six-goal game.
| SEA | GAME STATS | CBJ |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | SHOTS | 24 |
| 55% | FACEOFFS | 45% |
| 0/3 | POWER PLAY | 0/1 |
| 1/1 | PENALTY KILL | 3/3 |
| 16 | HITS | 7 |
| 15 | GIVEAWAYS | 16 |
| 5 | TAKEAWAYS | 4 |
| 13 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 23 |
| ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS | ||
| 2.53 | EXPECTED GOALS | 2.16 |
| 75 | SHOT ATTEMPTS | 48 |
| 19 | SCORING CHANCES | 19 |
| 7 | HIGH-DANGER CHANCES | 7 |
| Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com | ||
Stat Chat:
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The 75-48 advantage for the Kraken on shot attempts is a bit misleading. Columbus went into a prevent defense in the final period, with Seattle picking up 24 of the 30 shot attempts in the last 20 minutes of the game.
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In his last eight games, Werenski has been held off the scoresheet just once and has five multi-point games. He had a goal and assist tonight and is now on pace for what would be a franchise-best 94-point season.
- The game was also the NHL debut for Owen Sillinger, the older brother of Cole Sillinger and who took Cole's spot in the lineup (illness). He played 13:09.
Up Next:
The Blue Jackets head on the road for a battle against the St. Louis Blues for the second time in a week. Puck-drop from the Enterprise Center is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be aired on both the FanDuel Sports Network and ABC6.
