Alex Nylander's hat trick leads Columbus Blue Jackets over Vegas Golden Knights: 5 takeaways

It’d been a while since the Blue Jackets strung together consecutive wins.

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They hadn’t done it since Nov. 22-24 to be exact, but the drought ended at 39 games Monday night at Nationwide Arena in a 6-3 victory for the Jackets over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. William Nylander led the way with three goals for his first career NHL hat trick and the other three were scored by Justin Danforth, Erik Gudbranson and Yegor Chinakhov to help Daniil Tarasov (37 saves) earn the win in net.

“We know they’re defending champs and we had to play hard and play fast,” Nylander said. “We’ve got a fast team and that’s what we did throughout the whole game. We did a good job doing that and (Tarasov) was great. It was a great win for the team.”

Mason Morelli, former Blue Jacket William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson scored goals for the Golden Knights (33-22-7), who started Adin Hill (27 saves).

Nylander’s first goal of the night gave the Jackets a 2-0 lead in the first period. He netted the other two in the third, including the last into an empty-net after racing up the right wing to collect a loose puck.

It had to be a thrill seeing the open net in front of him for a tuck that became his fourth goal and sixth point in five games since being acquired by the Blue Jackets (21-30-10) along with a conditional sixth-round pick for Emil Bemstrom.

“It’s unbelievable,” Nylander said. “Our line has been doing great. We’re finding great chemistry out there, so we have a lot of energy and just need to keep going the same way every night.”

Here are five takeaways:

Alex Nylander trade paying big early dividends for Columbus Blue Jackets

The biggest attraction in the Jackets’ Feb. 22 deal for Nylander was initially a conditional draft pick in 2025 for Bemstrom, a star-crossed forward who never lived up to his hype coming out of the Swedish Hockey League.

If Bemstrom scores six goals for the Penguins before the season ends, the pick becomes a third-round selection. Nylander was seen by most outside of the Blue Jackets as essentially trade filler in a swap of underachieving Swedish forwards. The start he’s gotten with Columbus on a 4-2-6 tear in his first five games, is starting to put a new spin on the agreement.

Unlike Bemstrom, a fourth-round pick in 2017, Nylander was taken eighth overall in 2016 by the Buffalo Sabres. That was two years after older brother William Nylander was taken in the same draft spot by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

William quickly became an NHL star, but Alex hasn’t been able to crack the NHL as a roster mainstay.

He debuted with Buffalo at the end of 2016-17 but played a total of 19 games over three seasons before the Sabres dealt him to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019 for Henri Jokiharju. Playing his only full NHL season with Chicago in 2019-20, Nylander had 10-16-26 in 65 games before a knee injury in the NHL’s COVID “bubble” playoffs caused him to miss all of 2020-21.

Traded again in 2022 to the Penguins, Nylander only got 14 NHL games over the past two years before being spun him off again to the Blue Jackets – along with the draft pick. Bemstrom has scored one goal in his first five games for Pittsburgh, which hosts Columbus on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena.

Nylander, meanwhile, is a scorching hot Blue Jacket after mostly languishing the past two years in the AHL. He’s playing like a highly motivated top-10 draft pick who’s with his third NHL team at age 26, still trying to make it. His opportunities may run out soon if it doesn’t work with the Blue Jackets, who would love for him to join the mix in Columbus going forward.

“He was a first-round pick and there’s a reason for it,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “We knew he had great speed, good skills and sometimes it’s just ... I’ve seen it in the past. It’s not the right fit, it’s not the right fit until it’s the right fit. He was really excited to be here. We told him we’d give him a good opportunity, and we do, and he’s taking advantage of it.”

Nylander’s eagerness to continue impressing the Blue Jackets is obvious, and he’s quickly developed chemistry at right wing on a third line with Cole Sillinger at center and Alexandre Texier on the left.

“They’ve been doing great here,” Nylander said. “They’re letting me play and helping me out as best they can. It’s a great group of guys here and my linemates are helping me out really (well). It’s been an awesome first week and I’m just looking forward to every game here.”

Did he reserve any goals for Tuesday night in Pittsburgh?

“Yeah, of course,” Nylander said, laughing.

Columbus Blue Jackets showing progress turning late leads into wins

The last time the Blue Jackets coughed up a multiple-goal lead and lost was Jan. 27 in Vancouver, when the Canucks overcame a 4-1 margin to start the third period at Rogers Arena and won 5-4 in overtime.

Since that game, the Jackets haven’t lost any leads in third period and have won four games they’ve led in the third. They’ve also overcome blown leads in San Jose and Anaheim for victories. After blowing 13 leads in the third period of 12 games they've lost, the Jackets’ newfound confidence playing with late leads is paying off.

“At some point, this team needed to make a step within this locker room and get those things done,” defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “That’s first and foremost what our goal is for the remainder of the year. We put ourselves in great positions to win hockey games and then finish them off. That’s the growing pains we needed to go through, and we’re starting to do it the right way now.”

Erik Gudbranson scores key goal in Columbus Blue Jackets’ win over Vegas Golden Knights

The game was tied 2-2 when Gudbranson reached back with his stick and blasted a slap shot past Hill from the right faceoff circle.

It put the Jackets up 3-2 and breathed life back into the Jackets after a second period when neither team got much going. Passing wasn’t an option for Gudbranson, who went to his “cannon” to set off the Jackets’ famed goal cannon with a big shot late the second.

“I’m not trying to make anything cute,” Gudbranson said. “I’ve got a hard shot. I got a little bit of space. I’m like, ‘Just hit the net so I don’t have to break it out.’”

A spot on the power play is probably not in order just yet, but Gudbranson did pull within two goals of his career-high six set in 78 games for the Calgary Flames in 2021-22 – the season before signing a four-year contract with the Blue Jackets. After netting one goal in 70 games last season, Gudbranson is looking for shot opportunities more often in his second season with Columbus.

It’s paying off with more than just goals. Gudbranson also has 14 assists for an NHL career-high 18 points. That’s not bad for a gritty stay-at-home defender who also acts as one of the Jackets’ physical enforcers.

Justin Danforth ends long scoring drought for Columbus Blue Jackets

Danforth’s versatility earns him reprieves from most goal droughts or offensive downturns, but the one he ended with his goal Monday night lasted too long.

Despite lighting up scoresheets in Europe prior to signing with Columbus in 2021, that’s not the NHL role that keeps Danforth in the lineup every game. He’s a check-first player with good speed and strength for an undersized forward, but some offensive output is needed out of him.

It just wasn’t happening before his goal 6:16 into the game against Vegas, which opened the scoring and put a look of immediate relief on Danforth’s face.

“It was a bit of a reaction,” he said. “It’s the highs and lows of a season, so to get that one and hopefully get moving again would be good.”

Columbus Blue Jackets’ penalty-kill units rapidly rebounding from frigid stretch

After contributing nine goals, seven assists and 16 points with a +2 plus/minus rating in the Jackets’ first 36 games this season, a move from the top line to the fourth in January coincided with the start of his cold spell. Prior to scoring against Vegas, Danforth hadn’t netted a goal in 24 games and only had three assists in that span with a -17 rating.

His latest goal was the 10^th of the season for Danforth to tie his NHL career-high set in 45 games during 2021-22, his first NHL season. Since allowing power-play goals on their only two short-handed situations in a 5-1 loss Feb. 20 to the Los Angeles Kings, the Blue Jackets have only allowed one goal in 18 times short-handed over the past seven games.

That’s a 94.4% success rate that’s first in the NHL during that span. It’s a small window to examine, but the Blue Jackets will take the confidence boost it has provided after roughly two months of sitting at the bottom of the league’s rankings.

“It’s a significant number,” Vincent said. “We’re No. 1 in the league (recently) and it’s just going back to some basics. Part of it is the personnel, too, having some guys back in the lineup, and our goalies making some big saves. But the structure is back to being sound and effective, knowing when to pressure and when not to. They’re doing a real good job.”

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jackets hit Jackpot with Nylander hat trick against Vegas: 5 takeaways