The Blue Jackets start their home game with the Gaudreau brothers in mind

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Johnny Gaudreau's Columbus teammates had several options for dealing with their emotions during the Blue Jackets' first home game.

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If you want to cry, cry.

If you want to laugh, laugh.

The only rules – play like “Johnny Hockey” would and with him in mind.

Emotions ran high in Columbus Tuesday night as the Blue Jackets paid tribute to their star and his late brother Matthew during their home opener against the Florida Panthers. Among the highlights: A banner was raised on the rafters in Gaudreau's memory as both teams struck their sticks on the ice in a traditional hockey salute as his family looked on with linked arms.

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During the game, the teams stood still when 13 seconds – Johnny Gaudreau's number – went out of rhythm, his left wing was free, and the Blue Jackets sent four skaters to the ice instead of the usual five. The puck dropped and the Blue Jackets' Sean Monahan passed it to Florida's Sam Bennett.

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Monahan and Bennett were members of Johnny Gaudreau's team in Calgary. This couldn't be more fitting.

“I don't want anyone to be sad,” Meredith Gaudreau, Johnny's wife, said in a recorded message played shortly before the fight. “I want you all to be inspired by the life John lived. That means love your family first, and when it's time to drop the puck, love the game John loved.”

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Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau, who would have been entering his third season with the club and 11th overall in the NHL, and his brother Matthew Gaudreau were killed Aug. 29 when police said they were hit by a suspected drunk driver while they were riding their bikes in on a country road in New Jersey on the eve of their sister Katie's wedding.

“It's an unprecedented thing that obviously none of us wanted to go through and nobody ever wants to go through,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. – But we have to.

Gaudreau, 31, wore his No. 13 Blue Jackets jersey. Matthew Gaudreau, who was 29 years old and had played five seasons professionally in the American Hockey League, ECHL and Sweden, wore jersey No. 21. All 32 NHL teams wear decals on their helmets with the numbers 13, 21 and the letter G throughout on October 24 . This year, USA Hockey is paying similar tribute to its teams at all levels.

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“13” tributes were everywhere on Tuesday. Both the Blue Jackets and Panthers, who won 4-3, took to the ice for warmups wearing jerseys with Gaudreau's name and No. 13; these sweaters will be auctioned off and raffled to benefit the John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation. Behind the goals on the ice is the number “13”. All fans in attendance received a patch with the number “13,” the same number Blue Jackets players will wear on their jerseys this season.

“It's an emotional evening for the hockey world,” Bennett said. “I'm happy to be here and honor his legacy in any way I can.”

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Gaudreau was absolutely adored by the players, whether they were ever his teammates or not. Florida star Matthew Tkachuk, who missed the game due to illness, knows Gaudreau likes purple Gatorade and bags of Skittles. So every Panthers player stepped off the bus in Columbus on Tuesday with Gatorade and Skittles in their hands.

“Johnny was a huge part of the hockey community, but to me he was so much more,” Tkachuk said. “A great friend, teammate and family man.”

The Blue Jackets placed a replica of Gaudreau's locker in the arena for fans to visit. Many fans did so by reading some of the signs left outside Nationwide Arena in the hours and days after the crash that killed the brothers. They hugged, took photos, wiped tears and reminisced.

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Kristen and Katie, Johnny and Matthew's sisters, visited the memorial during the game. Kristen donned a No. 13 Columbus jersey in her home blue, and Katie wore a leather jacket with her brothers' numbers 21 and 13 on the front and emblazoned on the back and the word “Gaudreau.”

Johnny Gaudreau – a 6-foot-10, 195-pounder – was a star at Boston College before he made the NHL, making his debut in the 2013-14 season finale in Calgary. He scored his first goal with his first shot in his first match, and from then on his star shone brighter and brighter.

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The player who fished the puck out of the net after Gaudreau's first goal was Monahan.

“He influenced so many people,” Monahan said.

Monahan never aspired to be an ass. The Blue Jackets will be clamoring to be one of them in the future.

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Johnny Gaudreau used this term – “donkey” – in an endearing way with friends and teammates. The Blue Jackets held the ceremony for about a decade, during which a player in the game could wear the Civil War-style kepi hat of the previous recipient's choice. Kepi ​​is retired. The participating player now receives a donkey hat. Monahan was the first to receive it.

“I'm really happy that we kind of turned it around,” Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “I think it's the right fit for us. It was a great idea. And you know, we wish this little guy was still here, but Monny's the right guy to do it the first time.

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This is not the end of the tributes. They will last for many years. Guy Gaudreau, his late brother's father and longtime coach, practiced with the Blue Jackets on the ice in Columbus on Monday and returned for morning skates on Tuesday. A banner with Johnny's name was displayed, fans chanted “Johnny Hockey” and his family couldn't help but smile.

Then there was a match. It seemed secondary.

“The first part,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, “is without a doubt the most important part of today.”

— AP Sports Writer Mitch Stacy and Associated Press Writer Nicole Kraft in Columbus, Ohio, contributed.

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