The Columbus Blue Jackets lost their home opener Thursday night 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers in front of 18,614 fans at Nationwide Arena. They may have lost the game. However they avoided a major disaster.
Returning for the first time since last season when he had shoulder surgery, Zach Werenski took a knee-to-knee hit from Flyers’ forward Garnet Hathaway. He stayed down on the ice for about a minute or two before being helped to the bench. He hobbled into the locker room.
The Blue Jackets announced Werenski wouldn’t return with what they called a quad contusion. Head coach Pascal Vincent elaborated on that postgame and said it was a charley horse and that Werenski wouldn’t be out long term. Given how the night unfolded, that’s the best news the team could have received.
Blue Jackets Never Had the Pace
The Blue Jackets early fed off the energy of the sellout crowd. But then turnovers and sloppy play eventually caught up to them.
The first goal was as a result of a turnover while defenseman Andrew Peeke was trying to get off the ice. He tried to circle back but it was too late. There was nothing goaltender Elvis Merzlikins could do.
The Blue Jackets tied the game on a goal by Jake Bean. Adam Fantilli put a shot on Carter Hart and the rebound went right to Bean who finished. That assist was Fantilli’s first NHL point. However another turnover gave the Flyers the momentum for most of the rest of the game.
Patrik Laine’s drop pass missed Cole Sillinger. The Flyers went down and made it 2-1 thanks to Travis Konecny. The Blue Jackets could never really muster anything after that except when it was 3-1 with under a minute left. Laine scored his first goal of the season.
According to Vincent, the pace was not where it needed to be.
“Well, so we had a training camp and we said we’re gonna prepare, evaluate. We’re gonna evaluate that game,” Vincent said. “Pace wasn’t high enough. We (must) get that up.”
Pucks were fumbled a lot by Blue Jackets’ players. Puck management was another issue that Vincent cited as a contributing factor to the way the night went.
“I mean, the intentions were right. The execution was off. So if that’s the case, we can deal with that. It’s an easy fix. But you gotta read the game what’s in front of you and make the proper decisions. In the final period, I thought we didn’t manage the offensive blue line well enough and that cost us chances against, time and zone and we had to track. Yeah, there’s a component for sure.”
Fantilli’s Debut
The one positive that came from the night was the NHL debut of Fantilli. On top of recording his first point, he didn’t look out of place. Vincent really liked what he saw.
“Excellent,” Vincent said of Fantilli’s debut. “I think this guy is a driver. I think he’s a guy that will compete every shift. Everybody makes mistakes. He never makes a mistake of not working and am really impressed with him.”
Here is Fantilli’s line from his debut.
- 13:40 TOI.
- 0-1-1, +1
- 5/10 faceoffs.
- 50% CF% at 5-on-5.
Other Quick Takeaways
- Erik Gudbranson didn’t hold back on his thoughts on the Werenski hit to the knee. “It was an (expletive) dirty hit.”
- Merzlikins stopped 33/35 on the night. The two goals he allowed were a direct result of turnovers. He was named the game’s second star.
- Playing his first game since returning to the Blue Jackets, Alex Texier really stood out. He was confident. He was fast. His line early with Boone Jenner and Emil Bemstrom was their best line before the lines were shuffled in the third period.
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- Cam Atkinson scored an empty-net goal in his first game since April 2022. It proved to be the game-winning goal.
- It will be interesting to see what changes could be coming for Saturday. Kent Johnson, Adam Boqvist and Liam Foudy were healthy scratches Thursday. If Werenski can’t play Saturday, that opens a spot for Boqvist or even David Jiricek if it’s an IR situation. Considering how some players really struggled, it would be wise to expect some changes in advance of their game against the New York Rangers.