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Garland makes Blue Jackets history with goal-scoring streak days after leaving Canucks

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Mar 11 2026, 2:08 pm
Garland makes Blue Jackets history with goal-scoring streak days after leaving Canucks
@BlueJacketsNHL/X

It hasn’t taken long for Conor Garland to make an impact with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Over the weekend, Garland scored two goals in just his second game for the team, matching his production over the last three months with the Vancouver Canucks.

But clearly, Garland wasn’t done there.

The Massachusetts native kept his goal-scoring streak alive in dramatic fashion, scoring another two goals on Tuesday.

He scored his 10th goal of the season during second-period action against Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Andrew Vasilevskiy, giving the Jackets a 2-1 lead.

Then in the third period, he scored his second goal of the game, giving Columbus a 4-2 lead. They went on to beat the Lightning by a score of 5-2.

With his goal-scoring outburst, Garland became the first player in Blue Jackets history to score four goals in his first three games with the franchise.

Garland had just seven goals in 50 games for the Canucks, and two goals in his last 34. One of those was an empty netter.

Even Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell mentioned last week why the acquisition of Garland was the right move for Columbus.

“When we started talking about Conor with Vancouver, to us, the cost certainly made a lot of sense,” he said on Donnie and Dhali last week.

Columbus got Garland for a 2028 second-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick.

So far, it certainly seems like the cost has been worth it for the Blue Jackets.

“The way he plays, he plays the right way,” Zach Werenski said following the win. “He competes, works extremely hard in battles.”

Garland has found a home on the Jackets’ second line, alongside Kent Johnson and Sean Monahan. The trio has controlled 74.9 per cent of expected goals at 5-on-5, and they’ve outscored the opposition 3-1 during their three-game run.

“He’s added a jolt to that line that he’s on,” Werenski said. “Obviously, the goals, but the way he plays, the sticks, the backchecks, the forecheck.”

“I mean, he’s all over the place and playing hard.”

He’s very quickly endearing himself to his teammates and the fans in Columbus. Not just with the goals, but with the same tenacity that Canucks fans grew to love.

One of the plays that exemplified that most was during third-period action, when 6-foot-7 defenceman Victor Hedman ran into Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.

The first guy to challenge Hedman was Garland.

ā€œDid you see him pushing big Victor at the end?” Columbus head coach Rick Bowness said postgame via The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline.

“You gotta love the kidā€™s spunk, but thatā€™s his reputation. Thatā€™s why we went and got him. Heā€™s a tenacious guy. Heā€™s not going to back away from anybody. Heā€™s not afraid of any situation.ā€

“He’s a smaller guy, but he doesn’t play like it,” Werenski said. “He brings everyone else into the fight.”

Columbus has been one of the hottest teams in the league since Bowness took over as head coach on Jan. 12. However, they’re still two points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

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