CBJ 5, SEA 2: Five Different Blue Jackets Score, Werenski Has Another Three-Assist Night As CBJ Defeat Kraken To Continue Win Streak

By Ed Francis on March 21, 2026 at 7:31 pm
Another night, another two points. Five different Blue Jackets scored in front of an over-capacity crowd Saturday evening as the CBJ defeat the Seattle Kraken by a final of 5-2.
© Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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  1 2 3 F
SEA 1 1 0 2
CBJ 3 1 1 5

CBJ GOALS: 
Danton Heinen (1st, 2:48)
Damon Severson (1st, 8:58)
Mathieu Olivier (1st, 15:16)
Kent Johnson (2nd, 9:33)
Cole Sillinger (EN) (3rd, 17:34)

Put another one in the win column for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Danton Heinen, Damon Severson, and Mathieu Olivier scored first-period goals Saturday evening as the Blue Jackets jumped out to an early lead in a 5-2 defeat of the Seattle Kraken.

Zach Werenski picked up the secondary assists on all three goals, giving him six points over the last two games.

It was Columbus' fourth consecutive win and their 12th straight game with points, going 8-0-4 since a regulation loss in their first game out of the Olympic break.

It was also their 12th game in a row with at least a point, tying a club record from the 2012-13 season.

After the trio of goals from the Blue Jackets, the Kraken were able to answer back late in the period to send the game into the first intermission at 3-1. 

The Kraken would cut the Jackets lead to 3-2 with a power play goal, but Kent Johnson — whose high-sticking penalty led to Seattle's goal — scored less than three minutes later to restore Columbus' two-goal lead, this time at 4-2.

It was Johnson's first goal since Jan. 31, a span of 13 games.

"It always feels great (to score), but yeah, (that one) definitely felt really good," Johnson said. "Just wanted another after."

Cole Sillinger added an empty-net goal, ending an even longer goalless drought at 17 games. He had last scored Jan. 24.

Sillinger now has points in three straight games.

Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins finished with 15 saves on 17 shots, and the club now has a point in each of his last six starts (4-0-2). Kraken netminder Joey Daccord made 23 saves on 27 shots. 

Here's how the Blue Jackets wrapped up a perfect, 3-0 homestand:

1st Period:

(2:48 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets go up less than three minutes in on the second goal in three games from Heinen. Columbus establishes the puck in the zone before Boone Jenner gets a pass off from the faceoff dot to the point to Heinen. He flicks a wrister through traffic and beats Daccord to make it 1-0 Columbus.

(8:58 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets score again on a textbook slapshot from Severson. He's set up nicely by Cole Sillinger, who fakes a shot from just outside the circle before dishing it to Severson. He skates in just a bit, winds up, and fires past Daccord to make it 2-0 Columbus.

(15:16 — CBJ Goal): Quite the interesting goal here to put the Blue Jackets up 3-0. The puck bobs around a bit before Sillinger corrals it and throws the puck into the crease. Olivier is there waiting for a tip that never comes, but instead the puck gets loose in front of Daccord and Olivier pushes it past him from a blind angle for the third Columbus goal of the period.

(16:17 — SEA Goal): The Kraken get one back in the closing minutes of the frame. Dunn takes a feed from Kakko and fires a slapshot past Merzlikins for his 11th goal of the season to cut into the Blue Jackets lead, 3-1.

(8:31 — SEA Goal): The Kraken pull to within one on a power play goal. They win a faceoff in the offensive zone and briefly move the puck around before Kakko shoots from a tough angle on the short side. Merzlikins puts himself into position to make the save but it slips by him to make it a 3-2 game.

(9:33 — CBJ Goal): Less than three minutes after committing a high-sticking penalty that led to the Kraken power play goal, Johnson redeems himself with a big goal. The Jackets quickly move up the ice and Garland jumps ahead of the Kraken defense, skating in before dishing a nice backhand, goalmouth pass to Johnson. He gets off a quick snapshot that beats Daccord to make it 4-2 Blue Jackets.

(17:34 —  CBJ Goal): Icing in hockey: usually a bad thing. Here, it's Sillinger putting the icing on the cake with an empty-net goal for his first goal since Jan. 24th.

SEA GAME STATS CBJ
17 SHOTS 28
43 SHOT ATTEMPTS 54
19 SCORING CHANCES 24
10 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 7
43% FACEOFF PERCENTAGE 57%
1/1 POWER PLAY 0/3
3/3 PENALTY KILL 0/1
14 HITS 15
19 GIVEAWAYS 10
4 TAKEAWAYS 5
13 BLOCKED SHOTS 13

Stat Chat:

  • Werenski's second straight three-assist night gives him 75 points in 62 games. He needs 13 points in the final 13 games to break the franchise record for most points in franchise history.
     
  • Severson's goal was the 52nd by a Blue Jackets defenseman this season and set the new franchise record. They previously had 51 in both the 2017-18 and 2024-25 seasons.
     
  • This was the fourth time in the last six games that Columbus allowed less than 20 shots on goal in regulation. It's also the only four times they've done that this season.
  • The crowd of 18,864 was the second-largest crowd of the season at Nationwide Arena, and just 61 shy of the high of 18,925 (Feb. 28 vs. NY Islanders).

Up Next:

With the three-game homestand over, it's now a three-game road trip for the Blue Jackets that kicks off in short order and with a big-time divisional matchup: Columbus heads to New York to face the Islanders. Puck-drop Sunday night is 7:00 p.m. and Jet Greaves is likely to get the start in that vital game.

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