Damon Severson Scores In Season Debut, Cam Talbot Wins Columbus Debut In Shootout Win Against Pittsburgh

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Damon Severson(1) and Mathieu Olivier(2) scored the goals in regulation, and Kent Johnson scored the only goal for either team in the shootout to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night at Nationwide Arena. 

Cam Talbot made his CBJ debut and stopped 20 of 22 Pens shots to earn his first win as a Blue Jacket. Talbot didn't get much work early, but when he needed to, he made some big stops. 

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This game was dominated by Columbus for almost two periods before Pittsburgh finally scored at the 14:30 mark of the second period. They tied the game at 3:19 into the third period on a tipped shot, causing some severe anxiety among the CBJ fans in the stands who watched their team thoroughly own Pittsburgh for two periods. 

In the end, Cam Talbot stood tall in the shootout to send the Pens home with a single point, but more importantly, send the Jackets to St. Louis with two. 

Team Notes Per CBJ PR

  • Columbus improved to 6-3 in the shootout all-time against Pittsburgh and has won the past five games that have gone into a shootout in the series.
  • Tonight’s game marked the fifth-straight game in the series that the contest was decided after regulation and the ninth time in the last 14 matchups in the all-time series.
  • Columbus’ 45 shots on goal tonight were the second-most in a single game against Pittsburgh in franchise history.  
  • CBJ outshot Pittsburgh by +23, setting a new franchise record for shot differential against the Penguins (prev. best: +18 on Nov. 27, 2015, 43-25 in 2-1 OTW).
  • The club won 30 of 45 faceoffs against the Penguins (66.7 pct.) and has won 55 percent or more in all three contests in 2026-27 (58.7 pct.; 101-of-172).

Player Notes Per CBJ PR

  • Adam Fantilli won 14 of 16 faceoffs against the Penguins (87.5 pct.) and has won at least 75 percent of his draws in all three games this season (80.4 pct.; 45 of 56).
  • Damon Severson (1-1-2, 1 GP) scored and assisted for a multi-point performance in his season debut tonight. He is coming off a 2025-26 campaign that saw him set Blue Jackets career highs in assists and points with 8-24-32 in 70 games played.
  • Cole Sillinger (1-2-3, 3 GP) tallied two assists for his first multi-point effort of the campaign. He tied his single-game career high with his ninth multi-assist outing (MR: Mar. 21, 2026 vs. Seattle).
  • Cam Talbot (1-0-0, 1 GP) made his Blue Jackets debut tonight and earned a shootout win.  Per NHL Stats, he is the first goaltender in NHL history to earn a win with nine different franchises.  He became the oldest goaltender in Blue Jackets history to record a win with the franchise, surpassing Fredrik Norrena (34 years, 336 days on Oct. 30, 2008).
  • Zach Werenski (0-3-3, 3 GP) notched an assist on Severson’s tally and improved his career mark against Pittsburgh to 6-13-19 in 26 career games, with points in four consecutive contests (2-4-6). Per NHL Stats, he has tied for the most assists by a Blue Jackets defenseman through the team’s first three games of a campaign (6x; MR: Damon Severson: 0-3-3 in 2024-25).

Final Stats

CBJ PP

Player Stats & Notes 

  • Damon Severson scored his first goal and picked up his first assist in his first game back from shoulder surgery. 
  • Mathieu Olivier scored his 2nd goal of the season and had 4 shots. 
  • Zach Werenski recorded his 3rd assist of the season, blocked 3 shots, and had 3 SOG. 
  • Cole Sillinger picked up assists 1 and 2 on the season and had 3 hits. 
  • Charlie Coyle had 7 shots on goal. 
  • Cam Talbot saved 20 of 22 Pens shots. 

Team Stats 

  • The Jackets went 0/4 on the power play. 
  • The Columbus PK stopped both Pittsburgh man advantages, and held them shotless. 
  • Columbus won 66.7% of the faceoffs - 30/45
  • The Blue Jackets had 21 hits and 14 blocks.

Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets take on the St. Louis Blues tonight at 7 PM. 

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