Alexandre Texier scores in opening minute as Blue Jackets beat Blackhawks 5-2
CHICAGO (AP) â Alexandre Texier opened the scoring in the first minute, Zach Werenski added a pair of assists, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Saturday night.
The victory by the Eastern Conferenceâs worst team over the Western Conferenceâs worst team halted the Blue Jacketsâ two-game losing streak, and dropped Chicago to 0-4-2 in its last six games.
Boone Jenner, Mathieu Olivier and Cole Sillinger scored and Johnny Gaudreau added an empty-netter for Columbus. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 26 shots and picked up his 12th win of the season.
âI donât think thereâs any pressure on us now,â Merzlikins said. âThe last few games weâre playing against teams and not even looking at where theyâre at in the standings, top or in the bottom.â
Philipp Kurashev and Ryan Donato scored for the Blackhawks as goaltender Arvid Soderblom made 26 saves.
Texier took advantage of Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jonesâ giveaway in the Chicago zone to score 33 seconds into the game. Texier picked up the loose puck Jones left in the slot and whistled it past Soderblom within a stride of collecting it.
âI thought we were in control most of the night,â Sillinger said. âWhen you get a start like we did, I thought we kept building on it.â
The Blue Jackets made it 2-0 on Jennerâs waist-high deflection of Werenskiâs shot at 14:05 of the first.
âIt was a really sloppy game right from the start,â Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. âWe played really slow. They kept coming at us. Itâs a bad combination.
âWe went down the wrong path.â
The Blackhawks scored with 2:28 left in the first on Kurashevâs 10th goal of the season. He beat Merzlikins from six feet on rookie of the year candidate Connor Bedardâs setup. It was the first goal for the Blackhawks in almost 100 minutes, going back to the second period of last Sundayâs loss to Detroit. Opposing teams scored nine times between Nick Folignoâs goal against the Red Wings and Kurashevâs tally.
âItâs really frustrating,â Kurashev said of the series of losses. âWe werenât executing today.â
Werenski set up Olivier at 3:09 of the second to make it 3-1. Sillinger made it 4-1 midway through the second period.
âItâs a good win for us, a good start,â Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. âI thought we got better in the second period.â
Soderblom lost his 14th straight game.
Chicago is 1-6-3 in its last 10 home games. The Blackhawksâ last road win was in Tampa on Nov. 9, and they start a three-game road trip on Monday.
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: Host Vegas on Monday.
Blackhawks: At Colorado on Monday.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl