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Jet Greaves fights off comeback push from the Blues in the Jackets' fifth preseason game
Credit: Ian Phillips
COLUMBUS-- The Blue Jackets finished up their second home dress rehearsal, spoiling a four-goal comeback attempt from St. Louis.
Quick Recap
The Jackets started off hot. 5:32 into the contest, Alexandre Texier fed a streaking Boone Jenner down the wing, who managed a tough angle shot that squeezed through St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer.
Kirill Marchenko scored at the 14:51 mark of the first period, adding to his already impressive camp.
At 17:24 in the first, Dmitri Voronkov stripped the puck from Blues defenseman Tyler Tucker and found Justin Danforth on a partial breakaway. Danforth made no mistake and ripped it far-side over the glove of Hofer.
4:49 into the second period, Cole Sillinger added a goal of his own to the Blue Jackets lead, with Damon Severson finding him all alone in the slot seconds after a Blue Jackets power play concluded.
Almost identically to last Saturday in Buffalo, the Blue Jackets let their lead slip away. 11:20 into the second period, Jakub Vrana put the Blues on the board, followed by another goal two minutes later from Sammy Blais, and one more at the beginning of the third period by Vrana again.
With a 4-3 lead, the Jackets leaned on goalie Jet Greaves and defense pair Ivan Provorov and David Jiricek, who got 15:54 and 12:40 of ice time, respectively.
Johnny Gaudreau sealed the game with an empty net goal to make it 5-3 in favor of the Jackets.
Jet Greaves earned first star of the night, turning away 36 of 39 shots.
Takeaways
- Marchenko looked impressive, playing a much more complete game as opposed to last year. This has been a reoccurring theme throughout camp.
-Alexandre Texier looks like he has not missed a step since coming back from Switzerland
-Dmitri Voronkov has great athleticism and reads the game very well. Should be a big, physical presence with the club this season.
The Laine Project
Patrik Laine played center once again, playing on the first line in between Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko.
He did not have his strongest game, getting knocked over a few times and misreading some plays defensively. That said, he still managed to collect an assist on the goal scored by Kirill Marchenko, and head coach Pascal Vincent says he will continue to skate in the middle.
"As far as (Patrick) as a center, his faceoff percentage was good... All I'm looking at right now is his defensive reads, and how he protects the puck and protects the middle, and (Laine) is doing a good job."
Laine's faceoff percentage is respectable, going 8/14 on the night. He had a few mishaps and mishandlings of the puck in the defensive zone, one leading to a significant chance for St. Louis.
Defense
Coach Vincent was very clear about the current situation on defense. There are three players with pretty much "guaranteed" spots: Werenski, Severson, and Provorov. The other three spots will be filled with whoever fits.
Some names that come to mind would be Jiricek, Boqvist, Peeke, Mateychuk, Bean, and Blankenburg. There can only be three more defensemen taken, so management will have some hard decisions to make.
There have been some rumors that if a veteran defenseman doesn't make the opening night roster, we will see a trade rather than an attempt at waivers.
Sillinger
Cole Sillinger has looked impressive this camp after a disappointing sophomore season.
After a 31-point rookie campaign, Sillinger only mustered 11 points in 64 games last season. He found himself in the American League to finish the year.
"I put a lot of hard work in this summer, and (I) feel like I've had a good camp up to this point," Sillinger said. "It's just keep trying to continue to grow and be a player that can impact games each and every night."
The Jackets are back in action Wednesday night when Buffalo comes to town.
Authors note:
Yamo Media started using the Wix engine, and I am still figuring out everything, including embedding the tweets. It is a work in progress!
Ian Phillips (@ianphillips9) for Yamo Media
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