Puck Talk: Blue Jackets Extend Winning Streak to 9 Games with Epic Extra-Time Showdown!
The Blue Jackets' record is not 34-21-11 with 79 points. They currently sit 4th in the Metro, 9th in the East, and 12th in the NHL. They're also one point out of a wild card spot and two points out of third in the Metro.
Kirill Marchenko (25) scored the only goal for Columbus in the game and also scored the only shootout goal for either team in a 2-1 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night. Jet Greaves had 18 saves and picked up his 21st win of the season. This game felt like a playoff game.
It was a tight game, and it seemed like whoever made the last mistake was going to lose the game. In this case, neither team made the last mistake, unless you want to count Dan Vladaล getting housed by Kirill Marchenko in the shootout as a mistake. But in Vladaล's defense, every goalie gets housed by Marchenko in the shootout.
Per Marchenko, after the game, he abandoned his signature five-hole shootout move after a conversation with former Flyer Egor Zamula. "Just switch it up. I talked with Zamula, and he has been on this team a while, and he told me they pre-scout you every kind of game, and they know all of our moves in the shootout, and you need to find something new.
" It worked, and it gave the Blue Jackets two points. HC Rick Bowness stated after the game what just about everyone saw: That the Blue Jackets won because of the penalty kill. When Damon Severson had had enough of Denver Barkey's shenanigans, he took two cross-checking penalties that gave the Flyers a lengthy power play that ended in the third period.