By Joe Coopersmith

GAME SUMMARY  II  EVENT SUMMARY

GAME AT A GLANCE      

THREE STARS
1^st – C. Sillinger, CBJ (2-1-3, GWG); 2^nd – C. Coyle, CBJ (0-4-4); 3^rd – M. Olivier, CBJ (1-3-4)

GOAL SCORERS
Columbus: C. Sillinger (1), Z. Werenski (3), I. Provorov (2), C. Sillinger (2), D. Fabbro (1), M. Olivier (1)

Toronto: S. Blais (1), J. Tavares (2), N. Robertson (2)

GOALTENDERS
Columbus: E. Merzlikins (33-of-36 saves in 60:00, W)
Toronto: C. Primeau (18-of-24 saves in 60:00, L)

SPECIAL TEAMS
Columbus PP: 0-for-2, 0 shots

Toronto PP: 0-for-2, 1 shot

TEAM NOTES                    

• The Blue Jackets won their third-straight game and for the fifth time in the past six contests.
• Columbus scored first for the sixth time this season and are 5-1-0 when doing so.
• The Blue Jackets scored twice in the first period and three times in the second for their sixth and seventh multi-goal periods of the season and first two at Nationwide Arena.
• The Blue Jackets scored in all three periods for the third-straight game and fourth time this season tonight and have scored in 25-of-the-30 periods played in regulation in 2025-26.
• The Jackets scored six goals tonight for the second time this season.  It also matched the franchise-best against Toronto set four times before, including in back-to-back seasons (Nov. 25, 2013 6-0 W; Dec. 14, 2023 6-5 OTW; Dec. 29, 2023 6-5 OTW; Oct. 22, 2024 6-2 W).
• Columbus has now won four of the past five games against Toronto in the all-time series (4-1-0) as well as five of the past seven, scoring five-plus goals in each victory.
• Columbus won both games of its second back-to-back of the season after beating Toronto tonight and Buffalo last night (4-3 OT).  The Club is 3-1-0 in back-to-back games this season after splitting the first set from Oct. 24-25 (vs. WSH, 5-1 L & at PIT, 5-4 SOW).  The Jackets will play 13 more back-to-backs sets in 2025-26.
• The club finished the month of October with a 6-4-0 record after tonight’s game (2-3-0 at Nationwide Arena and 4-1-0 on the road).  It’s the sixth time the club has won six games in the month (7 in 2007, 6 in 2009, 6 in 2010, 8 in 2017, 6 in 2018). Columbus went 5-3-1 during October in 2024-25.

PLAYER NOTES                                                                                                                                                                        

• Columbus’ line trio of C Charlie Coyle (0-4-4), RW Matthieu Olivier (1-3-4) and F Cole Sillinger (2-1-3) combined for 11 points and a +13 plus/minus rating tonight. The four-point efforts by Coyle and Olivier marked the 10^th time in franchise history that two CBJ skaters posted four points in a single game (MR: Marchenko & Monahan on Apr. 1, 2025 vs. Nashville).
• C Charlie Coyle (1-7-8, 10 GP) notched his 300^th career NHL assist on Sillinger’s first period goal (190-303-493, 960 GP) while posting his first career four-assist and +5 game (0-4-4).  He became the third player in franchise history with four primary assists in a game, following Artemi Panarin (5 on Dec. 8, 2017) and Scott Hartnell (4 on Oct. 23, 2014).  At 33 years, 241 days old, he became the oldest Blue Jackets player with at least three assists since Vinny Prospal (38 years, 30 days) on Mar. 19, 2013.  Coyle also won 11-of-15 (73.3 pct.) face-offs taken tonight for his best FOW percentage of the season.  He improved to 4-21-25 with six multi-point efforts in 31 career games vs. Toronto, including tallying 1-12-13 in 16 career games on home ice.
• D Dante Fabbro (1-2-3, 10 GP) stretched his points streak to three-straight games (1-2-3) with a goal.
• RW Kirill Marchenko (5-5-10, 10 GP) extended his assists streak to three-straight contests (0-3-3) with his fifth of the season tonight.  He improved to 2-4-6 in 10 career outings against Toronto, with 1-3-4 in his last four games played.
• G Elvis Merzlikins (4-1-0), who notched his 98^th career win tonight, has won three-straight games.  He has stopped 83-of-91 shots against for a .912 save percentage and 2.66 goals against average over the stretch.
• RW Mathieu Olivier (1-3-4, 10 GP) set single-game career highs in assists, points and plus/minus, finishing with 1-3-4 and +4.  He improved to 2-6-8 in seven career matchups against Toronto and has picked up all points in his last five games played against the club, including 2-4-6 the past two games at Nationwide Arena.
• D Ivan Provorov (2-2-4, 10 GP) scored a goal to improve to 4-9-13 in 25 career games against Toronto, with 1-5-7 in his last seven outings as well as having 4-6-10 in 13 career games when playing at home.
• LW Cole Sillinger (2-3-5, 10 GP) notched his fourth multi-goal game and fifth three-point effort of his NHL/CBJ career tonight with 2-1-3.  He has picked up points in two of his past three outings (2-2-4).  He has now tallied 3-3-6 in 11 career games against the Maple Leafs, with 3-2-5 in his last four outings against the club.
• LW Dmitri Voronkov (5-5-10, 10 GP) registered an assist and has points in eight of the 10 contests played.  He has totaled 3-3-6 in his last six games.
• D Zach Werenski (3-5-8, 10 GP) notched his second multi-point game (1-1-2) in as many nights for the 82^nd of his career to tie Boone Jenner for the second-most in franchise history.  The goal is his first against Toronto in his NHL career and improves to 1-16-17 with five multi-point games in 18 career matchups with 1-12-13 in his last 12 played as well as 1-10-11 in 10 career games played at Nationwide Arena.

POST-GAME AUDIO INTERVIEWS   

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

HC Dean Evason | F Charlie Coyle | F Mathieu Olivier | F Cole Sillinger

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

HC Craig Berube | F Sammy Blais | F Auston Matthews | F John Tavares

Saturday, Nov. 1         7pm ET vs. St. Louis (FanDuel Sports Network/97.1 The Fan)

Sunday, Nov. 2            5pm ET at New York Islanders (FanDuel Sports Network/97.1 The Fan)

Monday, Nov. 3             No practice

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS