COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cole Sillinger scored an empty-net goal on a long-range lob with 4:28 remaining, putting a cap on the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 6-2 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins and blowing the lid off a simmering spat between Sillinger and most of the Penguins.
As Sillinger turned to celebrate with teammates and head back to the bench, Pittsburgh’s Michael Bunting started jawing with Sillinger in front of the Penguins’ bench. The two were separated by NHL officials, but Sillinger’s description of the interaction was a verbal jab to Bunting’s chin.
“He wasn’t offering me an invitation (to fight),” Sillinger said. “He had a couple of slur words for me and, I don’t know, the horn was going off. I didn’t really hear him.”
Forgive the Blue Jackets if the end of a six-game losing streak (0-5-1), an abundance of goals, and a rare lopsided win against their closest Metropolitan Division opponents left them a bit chesty.
Zach Werenski and Dmitri Voronkov had a goal and an assist, Zach Aston-Reese, Mathieu Olivier, Damon Severson and Sillinger scored goals, and Sean Monahan had two assists as the Blue Jackets finally broke through offensively, thanks mostly to a dominating third period.
The Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 19-4 in the third period, scoring three goals to pull away for their first regulation win over Pittsburgh since Nov. 29, 2019, when John Tortorella was the Columbus coach.
“We had some pucks that got through that haven’t gone into the net for us, which was wonderful,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “But after that, it’s how we responded, especially in the third period. We had plenty of opportunities to score, but we didn’t sacrifice anything.”
Beautiful.
No notes. 🤌@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/JB1X1fiwfh
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 16, 2024
Blue Jackets-Penguins games always draw large crowds in Nationwide Arena. Friday drew a standing-room-only crowd of 18,348, but by the end of the game, most of the black and yellow sweaters had left the building to begin the drive east.
They weren’t around to hear the chants of “Pittsburgh Sucks!” midway through the third and “CBJ!” as the final minute ticked away.
The relief in the Blue Jackets’ postgame dressing room was palpable, too. The Blue Jackets’ last win was last month: Oct. 30 vs. the New York Islanders.
“It was huge. Six losses in a row,” said Aston-Reese, who spent the first five seasons of his career with Pittsburgh. “We didn’t really give them a sniff. A little bit on our heels in the second (period), but we managed it fine. That’s going to happen. Decent damage control.
“It’s a team that I know well, and they get frustrated when they get shut down, when you play stingy against them. I think we did just that.”
Elvis Merzlikins, who lost six straight games to Pittsburgh to start his career, beat them for the second straight time, making 21 saves.
The Blue Jackets returned from their five-game road trip feeling snakebitten offensively. Worse, they had to be wondering just where this season was headed, especially players who have been in the organization for the last few seasons.
In each of the last two, the Blue Jackets have endured long, demoralizing losing skids early in the season, ending all hopes of a successful campaign before the first measurable snowfall.
“It’s never been easy playing against (Pittsburgh),” Merzlikins said. “The most important thing here is this was a huge win to break that losing streak. Now we have the taste of winning back.
“The last two years, as soon as we were losing two games, the snowball was rolling bigger and bigger down the hill. It was different (this time), you could tell in guys’ faces, how they were acting. We, together, didn’t want to get in that snowball again. We wanted that win, to break the losing streak.”
Aston-Reese deflected a Jake Christiansen shot past Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry only 2:20 into the game, and the Blue Jackets made it 2-0 at 8:39 when Werenski scored off a slap shot only seven seconds into a Columbus power play.
OLLIE TAKES BACK THE LEAD🚨@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/ykz0ofu41R
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 16, 2024
The Penguins pulled even midway through the second, but Olivier scored off the rush coming through the right circle, set up perfectly by a Werenski pass at 16:27. It was Olivier’s fifth goal of the season, already matching his career high.
Olivier’s goal seemed to lift the Blue Jackets. They dominated the rest of the way. Voronkov made it 4-2 early in the third, while Severson pushed it to 5-2 midway through the period.
Then came Sillinger’s goal, a 110-foot launch. It was his first goal in eight games, and a fitting end to the evening.
Sillinger incensed the Penguins earlier in the game by taking an extra jab on Jarry after a puck stoppage. He had a back-and-forth with Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby, even enticing Crosby into a third-period slash that wasn’t called. Then came the empty-net goal and back-and-forth with Bunting.
“It’s just hockey,” Sillinger said with a smile. “I’m a guy who plays better with emotion. I like to add that to my game. I’m not afraid to … when something’s going on, I’m just a hockey player doing my thing. It’s all part of the game. Always gonna be, too.”
(Photo: Russell LaBounty / Imagn Images)
