After a solid start in a 2-1 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Nov. 15 at Nationwide Arena, the Blue Jackets fizzled into the second period.
Their possession time disappeared, along with shots and attempts. They struggled to complete passes, chased the Rangers around and struggled stopping puck movement in their own zone.
Something needed to be done by somebody on the Blue Jackets to change it, and that somebody was Mathieu Olivier. A thundering hitter as a power forward and a sneaky productive scorer and fearsome NHL heavyweight, Olivier had finally seen enough about eight minutes into the second.
The Blue Jackets trailed 1-0 while being outshot 17-5, so he called his own number.
“He literally told the next (defensive) pair that was going out to get (the puck) in his corner,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “He was going to be physical and try to get things stirred up a bit, and he did, and it gave us a real bump … because we didn’t have it.”
First, Olivier bumped Rangers defenseman Matthew Robertson.
He smashed the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Robertson into the boards behind New York’s net with a thud heard from the rafters. It got players from both teams buzzing, but the Blue Jackets sprung to life. They battled harder, tied it 1-1 on Dmitri Voronkov’s power-play goal and stood toe-to-toe with the Rangers the rest of the night.
Olivier’s physicality wasn’t over, either.
He followed Voronkov’s goal with a decisive fight against New York’s Sam Carrick, giving swagger to Blue Jackets fans on a night with Rangers jerseys peppering a crowd of 16,298.
“We were playing good structurally, but we just didn’t have that extra pop,” Evason said. “Maybe things have caught up to us a little bit with sickness and all that kind of stuff, and maybe we wore down a little bit, but we loved the way we grinded (after Olivier’s hit).”
Since developing chemistry with linemates Charlie Coyle and Cole Sillinger, Olivier is again handling a key role for the Blue Jackets as a physical impact player and leader.
Here are three more takeaways:
Kirill Marchenko pushed his career-long points streak to 11 straight games with 4:40 left in the second, assisting on Voronkov’s tying goal.
Marchenko’s streak is now tied for third-longest in franchise history with Patrik Laine’s in 2021-22 and is two shy of tying Ryan Johansen’s 13-game streak in 2014-15 for the Jackets’ longest.
Johansen and Cam Atkinson, who had a 12-game points streak in 2018-19, are the only two Blue Jackets players with longer streaks than Marchenko, who tied Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL’s longest active points streak.
Columbus Blue Jackets keeping tight lid on goalie situation
Jet Greaves was fantastic in his fourth straight start for the Blue Jackets, making saves on 31 of 32 shots. He was the biggest reason they earned a point, going save-for-save with Rangers star goalie Igor Shesterkin until J.T. Miller beat him to win the shootout in the bottom of the third round.
After alternating starts between Greaves and Elvis Merzlikins in the first 14 games, Evason has given the former the season’s first chance to run with the ball. He’s gotten better by the game, while Evason dodges questions from those wondering why Greaves got the first chance to make consecutive starts.
Is Merzlikins sick, like a number of other Blue Jackets? Is Greaves’ run simply merit-based? Is it related to Merzlikins’ late meltdown Nov. 2 at the New York Islanders, when he smashed his stick over the crossbar, or allowing a winning goal with 5:45 left to play on a shot he probably could’ve had Nov. 8 in Vancouver?
“We talked (before) that there’s different circumstances, right?” he said. “I won’t go into all the details of why, but there (are) different circumstances why he’s played now four in a row.”
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier wins another fight handily
Why do they do it?
Opposing players continue to either give Olivier fight invitations or accept the ones he offers on shifts right after a goal is scored.
It makes no sense to do it, especially in games at Nationwide Arena, since Olivier has a propensity to pound people’s faces while igniting his own crowd and team. Regardless of the reasons it keeps happening, Olivier continues to happily land cement mixer rights against guys like Carrick, who gamely got off a couple himself.
The fight didn’t end well for him, though, and the Blue Jackets clacked their sticks on the boards in approval after Olivier left the penalty box early in the third.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social