COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets are quickly but quietly becoming one of the early-season success stories in the NHL, a club that was expected to settle immediately to the bottom of the standings and endure another dreadful season on their way to another lottery pick.
There is a long way to go, of course, but the Blue Jackets are playing with a pace and a passion that, if sustained, should carry them a long way as an upstart club this season.
They simply overwhelmed the Edmonton Oilers — yes, the Stanley Cup runner-ups just four months ago — by taking a 3-0 lead after one period and cruising to a 6-1 win before 15,227 in Nationwide Arena. The Oilers’ only goal was scored with 26.8 seconds remaining in the game.
There were many superlatives to go around. Elvis Merzlikins, playing his first game in 13 days, had 31 saves and nearly his 11th career shutout. Sean Monahan had two goals, Cole Sillinger had a goal and two assists, and Adam Fantilli had a goal and an assist.
It was the fourth time this season — all wins — that the Blue Jackets (4-3-1) have scored six goals in a game.
But the best story of the night came to life at 15:15 of the third period, when Sillinger, Fantilli and Mikael Pyythiä combined on a beautiful sequence of passing that led to Pyyhtiä scoring the first goal of his career. Fantilli’s backward pass through a forest of legs reached Pyyhtiä coming through the right circle.
The great wait is done. Pyyhtiä was playing in his 27th NHL game. Incredibly, Pyyhtiä hadn’t even had a shot on goal this season before taking three in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss in Nashville.
A moment he’ll never forget! @FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/QJgTtOXw7P
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 29, 2024
“You remember that for the rest of your life,” Pyyhtiä said, “It feels awesome. Everyone told me to ‘shoot more, shoot more, you have a good shot.’ Now I’ve shot more (the last two games) and now it’s come.”
Then he paused for comedic timing.
“I probably need to shoot more,” Pyyhtiä said.
The Blue Jackets bench erupted when Pyyhtiä scored, jumping off the bench to bang their stick on the other side of the wall. On the ice, Sillinger chased after Pyyhtiä for a huge hug as Fantilli pointed repeatedly and emphatically at the net, notifying officials that the Jackets wanted to pull the puck from the game.
Sillinger ended up grabbing it and skating it safely to the bench, which is fitting. Pyyhtiä (pronounced PYOO-tee-uh) sits two locker stalls down from Sillinger, which leads to pre-game chats as they’re taping their sticks or lacing their skates.
“We talk about (Pyyhtiä) scoring every game,” Sillinger said, chuckling. “We’ll be taping our sticks and I’ll be like, ‘Are you getting it tonight, Pits?’ He always tells me yeah. So tonight he didn’t lie to me.”
Others had premonitions, too.
“I walked in before the game and I told him I’d been thinking about it all day, like he had to get one tonight,” Fantilli said. “He said, ‘Adam, I’m actually feeling it too.’
“As soon as he tucked it in, I was pumped behind the net. I’m so pumped for him. We came into the room after the game, and he said, ‘I’m not sleeping tonight.’ I told him I didn’t, either (when I scored my first goal).”
And there it is. Pyythiä, aka Tuna, aka Python, aka Pits, with his first #NHL goal. https://t.co/ZiTDc9egmp
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) October 29, 2024
It is said you’re not yet friends with someone until you have a nickname. If that’s the case, Pyyhtiä is already a beloved player in the dressing room.
He is known in one corner of the dressing room as Tuna. (No explanation given.) He is known in another as Python and yet another as Pits. (No explanation needed.)
After Monday’s win, he was presented with the post-game donkey hat as the players’ choice for player of the game.
“(Pyyhtiä) does a lot of right things on our hockey club,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “He’s earned the right to be here, to be in the NHL and to play a significant role on our team. Is it nice to see somebody get rewarded for scoring a goal, helping his team? Yeah.”
Truth be told, there were a few players who could have worn the donkey.
Merzlikins got hammered by Edmonton’s Viktor Arvidsson only 1:36 into the game when Merzlikins went behind the net to play a puck. Not an ideal way for an injured play to return to the lineup … or was it?
“It was a good shot,” Merzlikins smiled. “It’s a good thing. It made me feel (into the game). It’s what I was looking for.”
Merzlikins had his strongest out of the season. It wasn’t until Ekholm scored in the final minute that his first shutout since Jan. 30 of last season was lost. Merzlikins slammed his stick against the net in frustration.
Evason tweaked his lines after a rough night in Nashville over the weekend, and the results were an instant success.
Fantilli centered Sillinger and Pyyhtiä and all three players scored. Fantilli gave the Jackets a 2-0 lead at 10:44 of the first when he quick-ripped a pass from below the goal line from Sillinger. Sillinger scored an unassisted goal through traffic from just inside the blue line at 14:32 to make it 3-0.
There was a lot to like for the Blue Jackets on Monday. There’s been a lot to like so far this season. Evason put a stamp on it after the game.
“We talked after the game that a shutout is wonderful,” Evason said. “A hat trick is wonderful. Scoring your first goal is wonderful. But the most wonderful and important thing is the two points and the win.”
(Photo: Kirk Irwin / NHLI via Getty Images)
