When Justin Danforth finished a two-on-one short-handed rush early in the third period for the Columbus Blue Jackets, his set-up man, Cole Sillinger, skated into a hug with Danforth behind the Boston Bruins net and kissed him on the visor.
And when the final buzzer sounded a bit later in the evening, Blue Jackets winger Yegor Chinakhov spun quickly to skate toward goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, bending his knees for a massive bear hug, the type Merzlikins used to get from long-ago captain Nick Foligno.
It was a rare night of hugs and kisses for the Blue Jackets in Boston. They took an early 3-0 lead, scored two shorthanded goals and played a stingy third period to key a 5-1 win over the Bruins in TD Garden, where they hadn’t won in regulation since Feb. 22, 2016.
Five different Blue Jackets scored goals — including shorties by Mathieu Olivier and Danforth — and 10 different players hit the scoresheet for Columbus, which hadn’t won on the road (0-5-2) since an Oct. 12 win in Colorado.
But this game wasn’t exactly what the score would indicate.
The final tally, and possibly the result, would have been different if Merzlikins didn’t have a stellar outing, especially in the first period. He finished with a rather ordinary 29 saves, but he denied the Bruins on three or four wide-open chances in the first that could have dramatically changed the tenor of the game.
ELVIS‼️ pic.twitter.com/1rpSzAVem9
— NHL (@NHL) November 19, 2024
“I’d say Elvis was the difference,” Danforth told reporters in Boston. “The first period, they were on top of us for most of that period. They had four Grade A chances right in the slot. Elvis had to make four big saves to start the game, and without those saves the momentum goes the other way.
“Elvis … he really won us the game. Obviously, we scored five goals, but he was the guy to really keep us in it early and give us a chance tonight.”
The Blue Jackets have had trouble adhering to coach Dean Evason’s system this season, not just from game to game but from period to period. That’s been especially true on the road, such as in Montreal on Saturday when they came unglued in the third period and lost 5-1.
The first period on Monday could have easily gone that way, too. The Blue Jackets spilled the puck all over their own zone, feeding a Bruins club with wavering confidence during an uncharacteristically shaky start to their season.
When a goaltender is thriving, they can be the great eraser. So it was with Merzlikins, who won his second straight start.
“That’s what we talked about after the game,” Evason said. “He stood on his head, held us in, gave us an opportunity to find a way to do some right things, because we were turning pucks over and the chances they were getting … you know, they were created by (Boston), but enhanced by what we did.
“But 100 percent, he saved our asses in the first.”
The Blue Jackets also gambled by taking eight penalties, resulting in six penalty kills and nearly 10 minutes of play (9:58) spent down a skater. Even that worked out all right.
Olivier, who had a spirited fight with Boston’s Jeffrey Viel only 2:12 into the game, carried the puck on a shorthanded rush with Adam Fantilli to his left midway through the first period.
But while Fantilli pulled up at the blue line to stay onside, Olivier kept cruising. He carried the puck wide of Boston’s Charlie Coyle through the right circle and went forehand-backhand before beating goaltender Jeremy Swayman to make it 2-0 at 10:39.
A James van Riemsdyk deflection off a Zach Werenski wrister with 31.5 seconds remaining in the first period gave the Blue Jackets a 3-0 lead.
The Bruins kept hanging around. Evason could be seen shaking his head in disgust on the bench as one Blue Jackets player after another skated to the penalty box, further amping the angst. In fact, they pulled to within 3-1 with a power-play goal midway through the second.
DANNY DOES IT AGAIN!
Our 2nd shorty of the night💥@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/PYLDuLsPh7
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 19, 2024
At 6:58 of the third, Olivier was sent off for interference. But once again, the Blue Jackets made it work, thanks to a tremendous instinctive play by Sillinger.
The Bruins had possession of the puck in the Columbus zone, but when Sillinger noticed a slight bobble at the blue line by Boston’s point man Mason Lohrei, he pounced, swatting the puck behind Lohrei and starting a rush with Danforth.
“(The puck) wasn’t sitting for him, so I went and tried to get my stick in there,” Sillinger said. “(Danforth) has good legs, and he joined the rush. I tried to bait (Swayman) like I was going to shoot, and then I slid it over. I knew once it got over there it was in the net.”
Danforth’s goal at 7:19 in the third period made it 4-1 and marked only the sixth time in franchise history that the Blue Jackets have scored two shorthanded goals in a single game. Yegor Chinakhov scored from the slot at 14:10 to cap the scoring.
Nobody in the Blue Jackets’ lineup on Monday was part of Columbus’ last regulation win in Boston. It happened in John Tortorella’s first season as coach with the Blue Jackets.
“(The shorthanded goals) tell us guys were ready to go,” Olivier said. “No matter what hand you’re dealt, you deal with it and try to make the best of it. That’s what we did tonight.”
(Photo of Elvis Merzlikins and Yegor Chinakhov: Bob DeChiara / Imagn Images)
