Blue Jackets End Seven-Game Skid, Sending Blackhawks to Another Loss in Columbus Rematch

The Columbus Blue Jackets snapped a seven-game losing streak on Saturday, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 behind two short-handed goals from Gustav Nyquist and 26 saves from goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.

Chicago, now 8-23-4 with 20 points, has the fewest points in the NHL. The Blackhawks are 1-11-0 over their last 12 games and 2-18-1 across their last 21. Their lone win in the current 12-game stretch also came against Columbus, on Dec. 23.

Andreas Athanasiou gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 11:33 of the first period, and Alex Stalock finished with 34 saves in net. Columbus answered when Emil Bemstrom tied the game at 8:40 of the first on a feed from Johnny Gaudreau. Bemstrom has two goals in two games since being called up from the AHL.

Nyquist put the Blue Jackets ahead 2-1 at 3:50 of the second period with a short-handed goal. Rookie Kirill Marchenko extended the lead to 3-1 with three seconds left in the period. Marchenko has four goals in eight games since his second call-up from the AHL, and five goals in 12 games with Columbus. Chicago was outshot 14-5 in the second.

Nyquist sealed the result with an empty-net goal with 39 seconds remaining. Gaudreau finished with two assists, giving him 13 in December and tying a franchise record set by Artemi Panarin in 2017.

"We needed this for sure," Nyquist said. "We'd lost a few in a row and to be able to go into the new year here with a win is nice." Bemstrom said confidence comes when players are "just enjoying hockey and having fun."

The game was billed as a rematch in the "Bedard Bowl," a nod to Connor Bedard, the Regina Pats star of the Western Hockey League who is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL draft. Chicago sits last in the league, four points behind Columbus. The Blue Jackets had not lost eight straight games in regulation since the start of the 2015-16 season.

Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson was blunt about the performance. "It was probably one of our worst performances of the year," he said. "Just disconnected. We've had a couple of those this year, not many." He added that players usually push until the end of games, but "tonight we were just frustrated."

Athanasiou credited his goaltender. "Stalock made some real unbelievable saves to keep us in the game," he said. "It would have been nice to help him out more but he was huge back there."

Chicago hosts the San Jose Sharks on Sunday at 6 p.m. Columbus visits the Senators in Ottawa, Ontario, on Tuesday.