{"id":437615,"date":"2026-01-31T06:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T06:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/437615\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T06:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T06:03:16","slug":"3-takeaways-from-the-blue-jackets-4-2-win-over-the-blackhawks-the-hockey-writers-columbus-blue-jackets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/437615\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Takeaways From the Blue Jackets 4-2 Win Over the Blackhawks – The Hockey Writers – Columbus Blue Jackets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> defeated the Chicago Blackhawks by a 4-2 score on Friday night<\/a> in the only game of the NHL. Charlie Coyle recorded his second-career hat trick and assisted on Mathieu Olivier\u2019s goal. Elvis Merzlikins made 22 saves to help the Blue Jackets improve to 7-1 under head coach Rick Bowness.<\/p>\n

The game was mostly controlled by the Blue Jackets. Connor Bedard\u2019s line kept the Blackhawks in the game just enough to keep it interesting. But when the game was winding down, the Blue Jackets shut it down and got the win.<\/p>\n

Here are our three takeaways from the game.<\/p>\n

Coyle Gaining Steam For the Selke<\/p>\n

Coyle usually doesn\u2019t like the spotlight. But given the way he\u2019s been playing, he\u2019s been the central focus of the Blue Jackets at all ends of the ice.<\/p>\n

Coyle scored his first goal on the power play to make it seven out of eight games that the Blue Jackets have scored first since Bowness took over. He then was in position to take advantage of an Andre Burakovsky turnover to make it 2-1.<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the biggest plays of the night was his defensive play on the Blackhawks on a shorthanded rush attempt. He took the puck away and ensured the Blue Jackets maintained their lead.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s for this reason Coyle should start getting a lot more Selke Trophy attention as the league\u2019s best defensive forward. His line got the assignment on Bedard later in the game and didn\u2019t anything to them.<\/p>\n

For Coyle, it\u2019s a team win while still doing the right things even though the Blackhawks made a push.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you stay going the right way and staying consistent and believing in what we do and how we should do it. That\u2019s all stuff we got to keep growing in our game and what we do. And it\u2019s going to pay off. I think we see it more and more paying off right now and we\u2019re getting wins because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CharlieCharlie Coyle recorded a hat trick and an assist on Friday night in Chicago. (Jess Starr<\/a>\/The Hockey Writers)<\/p>\n

Zach Werenski has also spoken at length about Coyle\u2019s impact. Even he has run out of things to say about what\u2019s happening of late.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019m sick of talking about that guy. It\u2019s been 1,000th game, the ceremonies, now tonight. Honestly though, he\u2019s been incredible and I really can\u2019t say anything else. I feel like I\u2019ve said it all. He\u2019s one of the best teammates I ever played with and obviously what he does on the ice. He plays the right way. I think he leads by example. It\u2019s nice to obviously see him get four points tonight and three goals. But it\u2019s everything else away from the puck that he does that\u2019s so important to our group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coyle gets the tough matchups and generally wins them. Given all the rumors around him should the Blue Jackets become a seller, it seems they should do everything possible to keep him given his overall impact.<\/p>\n

Third Period<\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets held a slim 3-2 lead going to the third period. They had to kill a penalty late in the period. But when it mattered most, they shut things down.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets held the Blackhawks to just 24 shots on the night, eight in each period. Most of those came late in the game pushing for a tying goal. Shots were just 3-2 Blackhawks with just over six minutes left. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t give up much in the third, so that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d head coach Rick Bowness said. \u201cBut we still want to generate a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like that one line for them (Bedard\u2019s line) created a lot of offense tonight,\u201d Werenski said. \u201cI feel like in the third we did a good job of limiting their chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

The misery of third periods have turned in recent games, an encouraging sign as the Blue Jackets continue fighting for position.<\/p>\n

Penalty Killing<\/p>\n

Bowness has stressed the need for the Blue Jackets to be better at their penalty killing. They got two important kills, one in the second and one in the third.<\/p>\n

Bowness says things are improving, but they need to watch the timing of when they take their penalties too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe penalty kill\u2019s better,\u201d Bowness said. \u201cI don\u2019t like taking a penalty in the third period. We took a couple the other night and I don\u2019t like seeing those penalties in the third period. So, that\u2019s something we\u2019re going to keep addressing. And then you give the penalty killer credit. They came up big when they had to come up big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merzlikins was credited by Bowness postgame as well for helping with the successful kills. Coach reiterated how much he loves the way Merzlikins is playing in net citing his compete and composure. <\/p>\n

Suddenly, the Blue Jackets have two viable options in net Bowness can choose from.<\/p>\n

Up next for the Blue Jackets, they head to St. Louis to face the Blues at 7:00 P.M. eastern.<\/p>\n

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