After a frustrating five-game road trip, the Columbus Blue Jackets returned to Nationwide Arena tonight to launch a three game homestand and rematch the Edmonton Oilers, who they lost to in overtime on Monday after blowing a third period lead.

First Period

The Jackets got the jump early, but three prime chances ended up hitting iron instead of getting in the goal. This continues to be a frustrating feature of the season to date.

Late in the period, they finally connected, and this time it was through a gritty, deflected goal. Charlie Coyle got the shot off through traffic and Mathieu Olivier tapped it in.

Edmonton got a power play late in the period, but Cole Sillinger stepped up in a big way, blocking shots and being aggressive on the forecheck to burn minutes.

Second Period

This Charlie Coyle/Mathieu Olivier/Cole Sillinger line got a lot of action tonight, because they were often matched up against the Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl line for faceoffs. The start of the second period was no exception, and this time the third line was able to battle for possession in the defensive zone and get a lengthy possession of their own in the offensive zone. This time Olivier was the one to feed Coyle for the goal.

This being the Blue Jackets, they let up just enough to give the Oilers a chance to get back into the game.

In their defense, that second goal could have been defended better but it was also an outstanding shot from one of the top players in the league, Leon Draisaitl.

A mere 30 seconds later, Luca Del Bel Belluz had a good shift in the offensive zone, which resulted in a Denton Mateychuk goal to take the lead again.

Zach Werenski had a play where he mishandled the puck behind his own goal and McDavid was able to score, but the Jackets successfully challenged for an offsides zone entry. Good bit of luck, that!

Adam Fantilli added an insurance goal late in the period, to continue his goal streak since being promoted to the top line with the Russians.

The Jackets were in a good position to enter the second intermission with a two goal lead, especially since it felt like McDavid and Draisaitil were on the ice every other shift.

Third Period

Those two had another long shift to start the third, and it resulted in an Olivier penalty for crosschecking. The kill stepped up big time to stop it.

Then the Jackets got another insurance goal from – who else? – the third line.

The Oilers responded just 27 seconds later, which is becoming an annoying occurrence.

Draisaitl scored another amazing shot off of a faceoff, and now I was getting nervous.

And yet, the Jackets held on, including an amazing 2+ minute shift at the very end from the aforementioned third line plus Werenski and Ivan Provorov.

Final Thoughts

We’ve been waiting for six weeks now for Cole Sillinger to show up. Good start tonight, on both sides of the ice! This “third” line was actually the second most-used at 5v5, but I don’t think you can fault the coaches for that tonight. They had to face McDavid and Draisaitl a lot and they held their own.

Also great to see Fantilli continue to shine with Marchenko and Voronkov.

Jet Greaves made his third straight start and allowed 1.5 goals above expected, but made the saves he had to in the final minutes. No light has been shed yet on why the goalie rotation ended, but I’m curious to see whether Elvis returns to the crease on Saturday, assuming he’s healthy.

Denton Mateychuk didn’t have the best game defensively, but we’re seeing how good of a weapon he is with the puck on his stick. I’m loving it.

Up Next

The Jackets host the New York Rangers in a key divisional matchup on Saturday night at 7.