The Blue Jackets have shown a little rust during their first four preseason games, but they’ve got three games left to tune things up.
They’ve also gotten excellent goaltending thus far, a trend Jet Greaves continued in a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sept. 24 at Nationwide Arena.
Greaves played the entire game, making 24 saves to help the Jackets improve to 2-2-0 after playing their fourth game in four days. Yegor Chinakhov, Jake Christiansen and Kent Johnson scored goals to give the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead before Dante Fabbro scored the fourth into an empty net with 3:04 left.
Here are three takeaways:
Greaves has now stopped 47 of 49 shots he’s faced while playing 89:21 over four-plus periods in two of the Blue Jackets’ first four exhibition games. That works out to a blistering 1.35 goals-against average and .959 save percentage that’s best among the team’s top three goalies.
Ivan Fedotov’s 1.50 GAA and .950 is a close second, while Elvis Merzlikins is at 4.00/.800 after allowing two goals on 10 shots in his 29:59 while splitting the net with Greaves in the Jackets’ 4-0 loss Sept. 22 to the Buffalo Sabres.
Merzlikins’ numbers aren’t reflective of the way he played in that game, since he played well and had little chance to stop either goal that beat him, but more can be read into what Greaves and Fedotov have done thus far. Each has faced a lot of shots already, and both look sharp while reading plays and tracking pucks.
“It’s a different situation your first couple games after the summer,” Greaves said. “The traffic is a big thing, so it’s just nice to get those reps, see a lot of pucks, be in those situations and feel them out. I’ve felt comfortable, but things can still be cleaner.”
Werenski, Fabbro pick up where they left off for Columbus Blue Jackets
This was the first preseason action for a handful of veterans, including Zach Werenski and Fabbro. After becoming an effective top defensive pairing last season, they got right back to work in that capacity against the Penguins.
Werenski finished with two points on primary assists leading to goals for Chinakhov and Johnson, while Fabbro finished with two points on a goal and assist. Fabbro’s ability to play the right side of that pairing as a right-handed shooter gives Werenski the kind of dependable partner he simply hadn’t had since pairing with Seth Jones for the first five years of his NHL career.
Christiansen impresses in bid to retain his role with Columbus Blue Jackets
After re-signing Fabbro and Ivan Provorov to long-term deals in the summer, the Blue Jackets returned their nearly their full group of defensemen from last season. Jack Johnson, a veteran depth option, is the only one who wasn’t re-signed, and that spot might be filled by veteran Brendan Smith.
That means Jake Christiansen, who played 68 games last season, came to training camp needing to solidify his NHL roster spot while also pushing to stay in the lineup. Thanks in part to Denton Mateychuk dealing with a minor injury, Christiansen has gotten plenty of ice time to state his case.
He skated on the right side of the second pairing against Pittsburgh, his “off” side as a left-handed shooter, and logged 23:55 while playing his third game in four days and second in a row. Christiansen also netted the game’s deciding goal on a power play in the second period to give the Jackets a 2-1 lead.
“I’ve continued to work on my offense throughout the whole time (I’ve been a pro),” Christiansen said. “It’s always going to be defense first for me, but I think as my game grows, I can keep tapping into that offense a little bit.”
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social