Blue Jackets have emotional tribute to Johnny Gaudreau at home opener

The night was about hockey in Columbus, but it was also about so much more.

The Blue Jackets and their fans, still reeling from the August death of Johnny Gaudreau , honored the fallen star forward on Tuesday in their home opener, a night filled with memories and emotional tributes from the jump.

Fans entering Nationwide Arena were greeted by a massive display featuring a replica of Gaudreau’s locker, his game-worn equipment jerseys from his time in Columbus and at Boston College.

It will remain throughout the season, the team announced.

The windows were lined with sticks and papered with signs and items from the franchise’s fan memorial, which encompassed the outside of the venue in days after the 31-year-old’s death, along with his brother Matthew, after they were struck while biking in Oldmans Township, NJ .

Their deaths sent shockwaves throughout the NHL and hockey community, as evidenced by league-wide paeans and moments of silence to honor them throughout the following weeks and into the preseason.

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That the Blue Jackets, a team just three years removed from the tragic death of goalie Matiss Kivlenieks at 24, were facing the Panthers in their first game in front of home fans this season, was fitting.

Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, two stars on the reigning Stanley Cup winners’ roster, began their careers alongside Gaudreau in Calgary.

Tkachuk, sidelined for the game by illness, made sure to pay tribute to his friend.

“Johnny was a huge part of the hockey community but to me he was much more than that,” he said in a statement posted to social media . “A great friend, teammate, and family man. Not a day goes by without me thinking about Johnny and Matthew.

“The biggest thing I’m going to miss about tonight is not being able to see Meredith, Noa, little Johnny, Guy and Jane. Would love to give them all big hugs! Johnny will be my teammate forever.”

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Players arrived to the arena with Skittles and purple Gatorade, Johnny’s favorites, according to ESPN.

Both teams took to the ice for warmups wearing Johnny’s No. 13. The Blue Jackets played a slideshow of Gaudreau and his family on the ice as it was resurfaced.

A heart-tugging five-and-a-half minute video, narrated by the late player and featuring videos and photos from his career and life, was shown to the arena.

The team raised a banner with Gaudreau’s name and number to the rafters as his family was on the ice — alongside his former Flames runningmate Sean Monahan, who signed with the Blue Jackets this offseason for the chance to skate with Gaudreau again.

Gaudreau’s parents, Guy and Jane, along with sisters Katie and Kristen, were overcome with emotion as fans thunderously chanted “Johnny Hockey!”

“I don’t want anyone to be sad,” Meredith Gaudreau, Johnny’s wife, said in a prerecorded message played before face-off. “I want you all to be inspired by the life that John lived. That means love your family first and foremost, and when it’s time to drop the puck let’s love the game that John loved.”

For the opening puck drop, Columbus coach Dean Evason sent out four players, leaving Gaudreau’s left-wing spot empty, and players stood as Monahan passed the puck to where his best friend should have been waiting while the clock ran for 13 seconds.

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Following an emotional summer that couldn’t help but bleed into the fall, the Blue Jackets gave Gaudreau a befitting sendoff.

Then came the hard part: following that up with hockey.

Cole Sillinger’s opening goal :41 into the second period sent Nationwide Arena into a frenzy, Monahan staked the Blue Jackets to a 2-1 lead with a second-effort goal — which he capped by pointing to Gaudreau’s banner in the rafters.

The high-powered Florida offense reeled off three straight goals before newcomer James van Riemsdyk made it a 4-3 deficit late in the third, but a spent Columbus team couldn’t complete the comeback.

“We do want them to use the emotion and embrace that emotion and if it’s you’re feeling sad or anything just use that and turn it into a positive emotion moving forward,” Evason told reporters before the game.

“We’ve talked from Day 1 about what Johnny would want to do and how he would act, and what he would say and continue to do that. That’s what we’re doing and so, 100 percent, use that emotion but don’t be afraid of it.”

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