The Blue Jackets (1-2-0) fell to the Panthers (3-2-0) in a back-and-forth affair at Nationwide Arena.
Both clubs scored in the third period with James Van Riemsdyk hitting the net for Columbus and Eetu Luostarinen giving Florida the game-winner.
It was an especially eventful second period. The Blue Jackets opened the scoring, but every time they landed a blow, Florida counter-punched, before eventually taking the lead.
Cole Sillinger’s tally was negated by Anton Lundell’s goal. Columbus’ Sean Monahan scored, only for the Blue Jackets to see things evened up again less than a minute later with Sam Reinhart scoring the first of his two goals. Reinhart then gave Florida their first advantage at the 19:58 mark of the second period. He had four points on the night as he also registered two assists.
Both teams played a bit of a flat, scoreless first period, which is somewhat understandable given the emotionally taxing ceremony that preceded it.
It was the Jackets’ home opener, and in lieu of the usual festivities, which are going to take place Thursday when Columbus hosts the Buffalo Sabres, the organization remembered late Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau.
Gaudreau and his brother were bicycling near their hometown in Salem, New Jersey, on Aug. 29 when they were struck and killed by a Jeep Cherokee. The vehicle’s driver, 43-year-old Sean Higgins, faces multiple criminal charges.
His family, including his parents and wife, were present among the 18,484 fans this evening watching the game. Meredith, Johnny Guadreau’s widow, was on the ice as the team raised a banner in her late husband’s honor.
Next up for Columbus is the aforementioned home game Thursday against the Sabres.
The Blue Jackets also await word on the status of defenseman Erik Gudbranson who left the game late in the second period and never returned.
The Blue Jackets record drops to 1-2-0 and the Panthers improve to 3-2-0 after Florida’s 4-3 win at Nationwide Arena. Columbus’ next game is Thursday at home against the Buffalo Sabres.
2:39 remaining, third period: Damon Severson sent a centering pass to James Van Riemsdyk after the savvy veteran slipped into some unattended real estate in front of the Panthers’ net.
It is Van Riemsdyk’s first regular-season goal as a Jacket.
Also, the Blue Jackets have not done away with the chili chant.
4:48 remaining, third period: Sam Reinhart has four points tonight. Two assists, one coming on the insurance goal just scored by Eetu Luostarien, and two assists.
5:31 remaining, third period: With the officials swallowing their whistles, play has gotten more physical. Blue Jackets fans have been frustrated with some of the non-calls, and also perhaps sensing the approach of the end of tonight’s game has gotten a bit louder.
Giving them an additional reason to cheer, the Blue Jackets have announced they have raised more than $250,000 for the John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation.
The attendance this evening is 18,484 at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets have just announced that defenseman Erik Gudbranson will not return due to an upper-body injury.
Former Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky is at Nationwide Arena tonight. He’s just not in net for Florida, who chose to give Spencer Knight some ice time instead.
The Jackets played the theme to “Welcome Back Kotter” during the second period and panned their cameras to Bobrovsky, who received a quiet, but warm, round of applause.
0:02 remaining, second period: With an almost literal last-second shot, the Panthers took their first lead of the night. Sam Reinhart scored his second of the evening.
1:32 remaining, second period: Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson collided with forward Sean Monahan behind the play and crashed hard to the ice. He was holding his arm as he left, but Gudbranson isn’t one who heads down the tunnel for minor aches and pains.
8:01 remaining, second period: The back and forth is continuing. Sam Reinhart tipped in a shot to tie things up again at Nationwide Arena.
8:38 remaining, second period: Sean Monahan followed up on his own shot to score for Columbus. Assists went to Yegor Chinakov and Kirill Marchenko.
9:35 remaining, second period: Anton Lundell has evened things up with a wrister from about 20 feet out.
19:19 remaining, second period: Columbus’ Kent Johnson saucered a beautiful pass to Cole Sillinger behind the last line of the Panthers’ defense for a breakaway.
The resulting short-handed goal gave the Jackets a 1-0 lead.
0:00 remaining, first period: The Blue Jackets have seven shots on goal to the Panthers eight, a somewhat remarkable number, given that Columbus was called for three penalties and Florida was whistled for none.
The Blue Jackets blocked 10 shots, they won 58.8% of the faceoffs, and had one takeaway. Both teams have registered four hits.
Yegor Chinakov is the only Jackets player to have multiple shots (two) at this point.
3:52 remaining, first period: There are a number of fans here tonight wearing gray hoodies with Gaudreau’s number and “Johnny Hockey” nickname.
They’re being sold to benefit the John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation, which also received proceeds from the Jackets’ usual charity raffle.
The proceeds from tonight’s 50-50 raffle are going to the John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation, and it was just announced the total for that drawing is at $39,000.
And that’s not all the fundraising the team is doing that will benefit the Gaudreau family charity. Jackets players wore No. 13 jerseys during warmups and those are being auctioned off to bring in even more.
—Bob Vitale
12:53 remaining, first period: During a media timeout, longtime Blue Jackets in-arena announcer Mike Todd introduced an artist who is painting a portrait of Johnny Gaudreau during tonight’s game. And then he pleaded with fans to utilize a designated driver if they need one.
With alcohol again on sale this season throughout Nationwide Arena, Todd made an emotional plea.
“If you’re drinking tonight,” Todd said, “please, please don’t drink and drive.”
Fans cheered.
According to the police report, the man who struck and killed Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, told officers he had been drinking the evening of the collision. Here’s where that legal case stands.
—Bob Vitale
15:36 remaining, first period: Now segueing to the on-ice portion of tonight’s coverage…
Jordan Harris has made his Blue Jackets debut in this home opener against the Florida Panthers, replacing Jack Johnson as Erik Gudbranson’s partner on the third defense pairing.
Harris joined the Blue Jackets as the return in the trade that sent Patrik Laine to the Montreal Canadiens in August. Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason went back to Elvis Merzlikins in net, after starting Daniil Tarasov in a road win Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Florida Panthers are playing without power forward Matthew Tkachuk, who didn’t make it to Columbus for the game after playing Monday in Buffalo. The reason for his absence was undisclosed, but he was close friends with Johnny Gaudreau and Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Tkachuk, “just couldn’t be here.”
—Brian Hedger
The Columbus Blue Jackets sent four skaters out to start the game, purposely omitting to ice a starting left winger, an obvious homage to Johnny Gaudreau, who played that position here.
Once the puck dropped, officials collected it and handed it to the Blue Jackets bench. Fans gave the moment a standing ovation. Even linesman Jesse Marquis was seen applauding.
At the end of the ceremony and before the Leo Welch-performed national anthem, Blue Jackets fans started chanting “Johnny Hockey.”
At that point, Johnny Gaudreau’s widow, Meredith, appeared on the video board.
“I don’t want anybody to be sad,” Meredith Gaudreau said, exhorting fans and players to be inspired by Johnny Gaudreau’s memory instead.
The Blue Jackets have dimmed the house lights. Players from both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers came out on the ice and watched video of Johnny Gaudreau discussing how much he loved hockey.
“I’ll never have a bad day going to the rink,” Gaudreau said in the video.
At the end of the video, Gaudreau’s family was introduced and the Blue Jackets raised a banner in Gaudreau’s memory.
Panthers center Sam Bennett, who played with Gaudreau for six years in Calgary, was among a group of Panthers who walked into Nationwide Arena carrying Skittles and bottles of purple Gatorade.
Those were two of Gaudreau’s favorite snacks, which were left at memorials outside Nationwide Arena, Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary and at the crash site in New Jersey, where the brothers were struck and killed by a vehicle while riding bikes.
The idea originated with Matthew Tkachuk, who also played with Bennett and Gaudreau in Calgary. Tkachuk couldn’t make it to the game for undisclosed reasons, but released a statement through the Panthers saying Gaudreau would “be my teammate for life.”
Bennett was grateful to experience the memorial, even though he knew it would be emotional.
“What their family’s gone through, it’s unthinkable, and I’m definitely looking forward to going and giving his parents a hug out there,” Bennett said of Guy and Jane Gaudreau. “ It’s an emotional night for the hockey world. It’s going to be tough, but I’m glad I can be here and honor his legacy in any way.”
Bennett also shared a fun memory of Gaudreau from their time together in Calgary.
“I was just sitting there (at our pregame meal) thinking about tonight,” he said. “I thought about Johnny, because every pregame snack before we’d get on the bus, (we) would usually be two of the last guys on the bus … and he would always eat Raisin Bran cereal, but he would pick out all the raisins out of his cereal. So, I was just literally sitting there today thinking about him picking out all the raisins out of his Raisin Bran, and it ended up putting a little smile on my face.”
—Brian Hedger
The Blue Jackets have started their remembrance of late Columbus forward Johnny Gaudreau with a video that is currently playing on the videoboard at Nationwide.
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice only knew late forward Johnny Gaudreau as an opposing player with the Calgary Flames and Blue Jackets.
The tragedy that took the lives of Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, in late August still felt like a gut punch to the longtime NHL coach.
“It’s really important for guys like me, because I don’t know the family,” Maurice said. “I don’t know the young (men), but you feel the loss, right? I’ve got two boys. So, you just … the thought of it terrifies you.”
The Panthers will participate in the Jackets’ pregame memorial to the Gaudreau brothers by wearing No. 13 Gaudreau jerseys in warmups and watching the ceremony from the visitors’ bench.
“How do you appropriately give back?” Maurice said. “How do you play your role in this? And (that’s) healing. You’ll get to see the family tonight and you’ll get the feeling they’re going to be OK. There will be a huge community around them. Hockey’s like that. It is a close-knit group. … It’s a horrible thing, and when something like this happens, you just need everybody around you to be a part of your lives, and I’m glad it’s us here tonight.”
—Brian Hedger
Some highlights:
—Bob Vitale
Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Monday, Oct. 14
This section will be updated.
Here’s a look at the Blue Jackets schedule for the month of October, along with start times, television, and radio information:
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