SALT LAKE CITY — Nothing was working for the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. Not their forecheck, not their offensive creativity, and certainly not their legs after playing — and going to overtime — only 24 hours earlier in a momentous win in Las Vegas.
Through two periods in the franchise’s first-ever game in Utah, the Blue Jackets were going down without much of a fight against the Utah Hockey Club.
“They scored early in the third to make it 2-0,” Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski said. “And there’s one of two ways you can go with that. We chose to keep digging, keep playing.”
Did they ever.
The Blue Jackets scored two ugly goals in the span of 5:17 midway through the third period, rallying from a two-goal deficit to force overtime. Werenski then finished a two-on-none rush with Cole Sillinger only 1:01 into overtime to end a 3-2 victory before a crowd of 11,131 spectators in Delta Center.
Nights like this only strengthen the feeling that this is shaping up to be a magical season for the Blue Jackets and Werenski.
They’ve improved to 5-2-1 in their last eight road games and have been on a 14-4-2 run since Dec. 17. Friday’s win pushed them into the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference, and they sit just 5 points behind the New Jersey Devils for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Marchy gets us on the board! 🚨@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/jkt4hgZyxb
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 1, 2025
The Jackets also conquered one of their biggest challenges this season: They won a second game in a back-to-back after losing their first seven such games this season. If you go back to last season, they had lost 12 straight games in the second half of back-to-backs.
“They’re hard, right? Back-to-backs are tough, especially when the other team is rested,” Werenski said. “Everybody in the league goes through them, though, and it’s one of those things, if we’re going to get to where we want to go, these are the games we have to win.
“You can’t win them all, but you can’t be 0-7, right? This is a huge step forward for our group.”
Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson scored the third-period goals to tie it up, and goaltender Daniil Tarasov had 31 saves.
There were gutsy performances all over the ice, but none more impressive than by Blue Jackets winger James van Riemsdyk, who took a nasty high-stick to the face in the first period and skated slowly off the ice, a trail of blood leading to the bench until teammate Dmitri Voronkov met him in the neutral zone with a towel.
Van Riemsdyk missed the rest of the first period and all of the second to get repairs in the dressing room, but he was back on the bench for the third period, wearing a bubble guard around his face to protect the area from contact or further damage.
“He’s a hockey player, right?” coach Dean Evason said.
Through two periods, Utah had an 18-2 edge in five-on-five scoring chances and an 8-0 edge in high-danger scoring chances. The Jackets had no oomph, no spark, no energy.
But here’s what’s changed for Columbus from previous seasons and even earlier this season: When the Jackets have bad periods, it’s not 3-0 or 4-0. Friday was a great example. It was scoreless after a less-than-enthusiastic first period and only 1-0 after a dull second.
Utah scored only 29 seconds into the third period to make it 2-0, and you wondered if that might be enough.
But at 6:25 of the third period, Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli fired a puck on net from high in the zone, and it was deflected into traffic. The puck appeared to glance off Marchenko’s stick — which is why he was credited for the goal — but it went into the net off Michael Kesselring’s stick to make it 2-1.
KJ NETS THE EQUALIZER! 💥@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/lsRcyAgGpO
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 1, 2025
The score was tied on a similarly greasy goal at 11:42.
Van Riemsdyk, bubble and all, went hard to the net just as Johnson was firing from the left circle, an odd-angle shot that Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka couldn’t quite glove. The rebound glided into the net off the skate of defenseman Nick DeSimone as he was backed into the cage by van Riemsdyk.
These goals might not have been aesthetically pleasing, but they’re exactly how the Blue Jackets needed to score on a night when nothing seemed to click.
“Those are the goals we needed to score because it wasn’t coming naturally,” Evason said. “It wasn’t coming in tic-tac-toes. They play a stingy game through the neutral zone. It’s tough to get in on the forecheck.
“What was exciting is we go to the net, we catch a couple of breaks — a bounce, two bounces — and then that last goal was a pretty goal.”
That “last goal” was Werenski’s in overtime.
UTAH THAT RIGHT!
Z ENDS IT IN OT💥@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/JWijpYq7u4
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 1, 2025
Weresnki made a strong play to strip Barrett Hayton of the puck, swatting it off the wall and gathering it behind Hayton before taking off down the ice. Sillinger, on the opposite side of the ice, blew past his man at three-on-three and joined Werenski all alone behind Utah’s skaters.
Between the blue line and Vejmelka, Werenski and Sillinger passed it back and forth four times. The fourth pass had Werenski reaching back to score it past a scrambling Vejmelka.
It was Werenski’s seventh career overtime winner, his second this season.
“I thought when I gave it back to him, he was going to shoot it,” Werenski said. “I was almost below the goal line (on the winning shot). He made a good pass to me. It would have looked pretty dumb if we missed it.”
(Photo of Zach Werenski in the third period: Chris Nicoll / Imagn Images)
