COLUMBUS, Ohio — At the beginning of the season, the Blue Jackets' home-and-home against the Colorado Avalanche in early November felt like it could've been penciled in as two straight losses.
The Avalanche are one of the heavy favorites to win the Stanley Cup, and the Jackets were projected to be one of the bottom teams in the league. A two-game set against a Cup contender early in the season with a young team was going to be a tall task.
But the Jackets came back from a 2-0 deficit in Denver on Wednesday to take the first game 5-4 in overtime, buoyed by two goals apiece from rookie center Cole Sillinger and second-year defenseman Jake Bean.
Saturday night at Nationwide Arena, down 2-1 in the third period, the Jackets once again staged a comeback that sent the Avalanche reeling. Sillinger again who played a key role, this time tallying the game-winning goal with just 62 seconds left on the way to a 4-2 win.
"They're one of the teams in the running to win the Stanley Cup, so for us to have that benchmark early in the season, beating them twice, it's good," Sillinger said. "The biggest thing is we're down in the third period in both games but we find a way to win. I think that's just understanding how we win, playing within our structure and playing as a group."
For large portions of the game, it looked like the Avalanche were going to come away with the win. Two goals from forward Andre Burakovsky, who returned to the lineup after missing time with a lower body injury, had Colorado ahead 2-1 and in command. Though the Jackets were generating chances, goaltender Darcy Kuemper continually stood tall in the crease to keep his team in the lead.
But with just over six minutes to play in the third, a spirited shift from the Jackets' fourth line of Eric Robinson, Sean Kuraly and Alexandre Texier produced the tying goal as Texier lit the lamp for the third time this season. Robinson fired a pass off the end boards that landed right on Texier's stick, and Texier wasted no time firing the puck past Kuemper.
Colorado (4-5-1) pushed back after the equalizer, but goaltender Elvis Merzlikins held strong to keep the Avalanche — particularly its dangerous top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen — from scoring a go-ahead goal.
Sillinger scored the game-winner on a deflection of fellow rookie Yegor Chinakhov's shot from the blue line. The goal was initially credited to Chinakhov, but Sillinger's celebration told the crowd of 16,494 at Nationwide Arena that he'd gotten a piece of the puck. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored an empty-net goal to seal the win.
With the win, the Jackets are 7-3-0 through 10 games, tying 2017-18 for the best start in franchise history.
Chinakhov, Sillinger, Voracek click in first game together
With Patrik Laine out for four to six weeks with an oblique strain, an opportunity opened once again for the two rookies, Sillinger and Chinakhov, to play together alongside Jakub Voracek.
The trio combined for a goal and three assists in the win, and Jackets coach Brad Larsen was pleased with how the chemistry on the line developed throughout the game. Voracek, in particular, was all over the ice creating chances and helping his rookie linemates find their way.
"I said to Jake, it looked like he had legs like a 20-year-old tonight," Larsen said. "He was flying. I thought he helped drive that line. Chinny was playing well and Silly was just kind of being himself and playing a solid game. I felt like they got better and better and better as the game went.
"You can feel it. You can feel the chatter on the bench with that line. Jake was feeling it. He was standing up half the time. I had to tell him to sit down. You can tell when he wants to get out there and he's feeling good. They were clicking tonight. I felt like they were generating a lot. It's a good first night for that line."
Texier rejuvenated
To open the season, Texier was centering the top line between Laine and Voracek, but after struggling to produce in that role, he slipped down the line chart, eventually landing on the fourth line with Eric Robinson and Sean Kuraly.
What looks like a demotion on paper has rejuvenated Texier, allowing him to find his footing and make an impact on a regular basis.
"I think he's settled in really well with that line," Larsen said. "Sometimes, you see the positioning on the board and you're like well, they're the fourth line. If you watch how I'm playing them, I'm not playing them as a fourth line. They're playing some really hard minutes.
"I think since we put him with those two guys, he's gotten better and better every game. He's settled in. He's meshed really well with them. He gets a huge goal for us tonight. I thought about moving him up, but I didn't want to mess with that line."
Texier scored the tying goal in the third period off a slick pass from Robinson — a play that they'd discussed after their previous shift.
"The shift before, (Robinson) actually did a rim behind the net," Texier said. "I told him it would be better to put it off the wall. I'd rather do this than have it on my backhand in the middle. It was a pretty good play. I was (going) full speed, so that's a nice play."
Texier, Robinson and Kuraly are all quick skaters, and Texier points to the speed of the line as the attribute that has led to their success. Playing a simpler style, too, has allowed his game to come back to life.
"We have a lot of speed and we just play fast," Texier said. "We just try to put the puck to the net. We don't make the really nice play, but we just play hard. Even if it's not a nice goal, we take it and we want that. It's nice to play with them. They play really hard and they play physical as well, so they just help me to get my game going a little bit."
Elvis Merzlikins notches first assist of season
Merzlikins picked up his first assist of the year with the secondary assist on Texier's game-tying goal in the third period.
When asked about getting his first assist after the game, Merzlikins cut off the question to interject "of the season," making sure to clarify it was not the first assist of his career. Merzlikins now has two assists in his career after picking up the first on April 8, 2021.
Merzlikins has been open about his desire to score a goal in the past, so it was no surprise to hear the goaltender reiterate that dream after the win.
"I'm happy," Merzlikins said. "Obviously, an assist for a goalie, it's huge. But I'm waiting for a goal."
