Columbus Blue Jackets’ Russian Stars: Can Tarasov, Provorov, and Co. Reverse Team’s Losing Streak?

The Columbus Blue Jackets are the most Russian team in the NHL. Five Russian hockey players play for the Ohio club: goalkeeper Daniil Tarasov, defender Ivan Provorov and forwards Egor Chinakhov, Kirill Marchenko and Dmitry Voronkov. Now Columbus has a bad streak – the team has lost five games in a row (three games with a difference of 3 goals or more). But it is the Russians who are trying to pull the club out of this “arch”: in the last three meetings, only our hockey players scored.

How the Russians are trying to pull Columbus out of the bottom of the table

In the 2023/24 season, Columbus was left without the playoffs and took last place in the Eastern Conference. Now everything is just as sad – 14th place out of 16 after 14 games and 12 points in the fund. After the strong victory of Columbus in October at Toronto (6:2) and Edmonton (6:1), the team found itself in a crisis. Over nine days in November, Dean Evason’s men lost five games in a row. In addition, for 205 minutes and 24 seconds, no one but the Russians scored for Columbus.

On November 6, the Blue Jackets lost away to San Jose (1:2). Columbus managed to earn one point in the game with a goal from Kirill Marchenko, which sent the game into overtime in the third period. At this time with the goal of the former SKA striker, Egor Chinakhov was assisted.

Kirill Marchenko, Egor Chinakhov / Photo: © Ben Jackson / Contributor / Getty Images Sports / Gettyimages.ru

Before the game with Los Angeles, Columbus had three days to recover, but they were not enough to win on the road. The Blue Jackets came away with a score of 2:5, and the Russians scored again. In the first period, Dmitry Voronkov gave Columbus the lead, and in the thirty-third minute, Ivan Provorov reduced the lead for the most part.

On November 11, the Blue Jackets failed to send the game to overtime with Anaheim (2:4). The Russians scored two more goals for Columbus – in the first period, Egor Chinakhov equalized the score, and at the end of the third, Kirill Marchenko made the score 2:3. The latter, by the way, is the main star of the current Ohio team. Marchenko has 6 + 9 points in 14 games this NHL season. This goal was his 50th for Columbus in 151 games. According to this mark, Kirill became the second in the history of the club. Only Rick Nash (133 games) reached this mark faster than him.

The Blue Jackets have games ahead of them against Seattle (Nov. 12), Pittsburgh (Nov. 15), Montreal (Nov. 16) and Boston (Oct. 18). It seems that one game will not pass. With nobody but the Russians scoring in Columbus right now, it’s time for Ivan Provorov and Daniil Tarasov to step up. The latter, by the way, is signed as an in-game assistant by Colorado this season. It’s the only way the team looks capable of winning.