Blue Jackets crush Maple Leafs on Night John Tavares scores 500th goal – The Hockey Writers Columbus Blue Jackets Latest news, analysis and more

Both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs played early Tuesday during Hockey Frenzy. They were the only game in the NHL to be the main attraction on Wednesday evening. The Blue Jackets did not disappoint.

One night after the Blue Jackets’ fourth line helped them win in Buffalo, it was the third line’s turn to carry the weight. Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier combined for 3-8-11 to lift the Blue Jackets to a convincing 6-3 victory over the Maple Leafs.

The Blue Jackets’ dominance overshadowed a part of NHL history for John Tavares.

Summary of the game

Although both the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs had to play back-to-back, it was the home team that made the jump early. It resulted in an early 1-0 lead.

Sillinger scored his first goal of the season by driving over the net. He took a pass from Coyle and then beat defender Simon Benoit into the net. Sillinger turned backhand to forehand and beat Cayden Primeau to open the scoring.

Just over four minutes later, Coyle was at it again. This time Olivier Matias hit Maccelli against the ice. Coyle advanced the puck to Zach Werenski, who led what turned into both a Flying V and a 5-on-1 rush. Werenski’s third of the season made it 2-0 after one.

The Maple Leafs pushed to start the second and got a goal from Sammy Blais. He made his Maple Leafs debut for the injured William Nylander. Blais knocked the puck out of the air past Elvis Merzlikins.

The Blue Jackets then dominated the rest of the evening. Goals from Ivan Provorov, Sillinger again and Dante Fabbro turned a 2-1 game into a 5-1 game in just over eight minutes.

In the third, Olivier expanded to 6-1 by getting his fourth point of the evening. Coyle recorded his fourth assist of the game. This goal prompted some Leafs fans to throw jerseys onto the ice in Columbus, which the officials quickly picked up.

That’s when NHL history was made. With 4:15 left in the game, Tavares became the 49th player in NHL history to score 500 career goals. He completed a Matthew Knies pass. Considering the score, there wasn’t much celebration. But there was some applause when the achievement was announced.

Nick Robertson closed the scoring with 1:50 to go to reach the final 6-3. Merzlikins finished with 33 saves that night. Meanwhile, Primeau stopped just 18 of 24. Steven Lorentz had to leave the game near the end of the second period due to an upper-body injury and was unable to return.

Both the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs get Thursday off. The Blue Jackets host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, while the Maple Leafs travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Saturday night.