The Columbus Blue Jackets’ lopsided win over Pittsburgh on Friday was believed to be the end of the club’s offensive struggles, a triumphant return to them reclaiming their style of play after letting it slide during a long losing streak.
But maybe it was just an aberration.
The Blue Jackets regressed quickly and dramatically only 24 hours later, looking slow, disjointed and, at times, disinterested in a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens before 21,105 in Bell Centre. The Canadiens, who scored three times in the third period, came into the game as the last-place club in the NHL.
It was Columbus’ seventh consecutive road loss (0-5-2).
“We just kind of stopped playing,” Blue Jackets winger Mathieu Olivier told reporters. “We got discouraged.
“It’s hard to dissect right now. Off the top of my head, I thought we lost too many battles, and when we were effective on the forecheck, we didn’t have much offensive zone possession.
The Blue Jackets’ only goal was scored by defenseman Dante Fabbro with the fourth line on the ice. Truth be told, that line — center Sean Kuraly with wingers Zach Aston-Reese and Kevin Labanc — may be the only line that plays with any game-to-game consistency.
It would be easy to blame the Blue Jackets’ plethora of young players for the mind-numbing mistakes and glaring inconsistency — and yes, the young players have been plenty inconsistent — but that would be tremendously unfair.
C🎯NDO#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/yxanwAXxcB
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 17, 2024
On Saturday, the Blue Jackets’ trailed 2-1 midway through the third period, but they were starting to gain traction with their play. But the Jackets’ two most veteran defensemen basically set the table for the Canadiens to score the all-important goal for a 3-1 lead.
Ivan Provorov was skating out of his own zone with zero pressure when his angled pass across the ice was picked off in the neutral zone by Montreal’s Emil Heineman, who skated forward through the left circle for a clean rip on Jackets goaltender Daniil Tarasov.
Tarasov’s rebound was gathered by Jackets defenseman Damon Severson, who tried to reverse the play as he skated behind his own net, but his backward pass instead went straight to Montreal’s Joel Armia.
Armia found Lucas Condotto in the slot for a one-timer that whizzed past Tarasov. It was 3-1, but the Canadiens tacked on two more in the next five minutes to pull away.
“We were playing the right way,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “For whatever reason, we tried to make plays that aren’t there. We just didn’t stay with the game plan. We went rogue a little bit, they capitalized on a few mistakes and the game was over.”
Evason is starting to sound like a broken record early in the season. The Blue Jackets have had some stellar outings this season. In five of their six wins, they scored six goals. On Friday, they lit up the Penguins with a three-goal third period and won 6-2.
But the follow-up was a flop.
“We’ve had enough learning experience at this point to understand how we need to play to have success,” Evason said. “We saw it (Friday) night, with what we did in the third period. But we can’t repeat it.
“We have to stay on it (as coaches), continually harping and emphasizing that this is the way right way for us to play. We believe at some point it will click and we’ll have some consistency.”
Evason wasn’t pleased about four of the Blue Jackets’ penalties, three of which took place in the first period. Severson (slashing, 3:43), Labanc (slashing, 5:28) and Sean Monahan (interference, 13:04) were sent off in the first 20 minutes, and it felt as if the Jackets could never get untracked.
Adam Fantilli’s interference call late in the third — he knocked a stick out of a Montreal player’s hands — didn’t sit well either.
“All four penalties are terrible penalties,” Evason said.
Goalie never stood a chance on this blast! 💥@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/ra4exX8VPP
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 17, 2024
There were only two highlights for the Blue Jackets.
Fabbro’s goal at 7:40 of the second, his first with the Blue Jackets, momentarily tied that game 1-1. Labanc made the goal possible by absorbing a huge hit in the corner to make a pass, then dusting himself off and heading straight to the net, where he helped provide a screen for Fabbro.
The other highlight came at 8:09 of the second, just after the faceoff after Fabbro’s 1-1 goal.
Olivier and Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj dropped their gloves in the neutral zone. Olivier landed some heavy rights and sent Xhekaj wobbly to one knee, but he bounced right back and finished the fight.
“Tons of respect going both ways in that one,” Olivier said. “It was a time in the game where it just felt kinda flat. Both sides were flat, especially us, I felt like. That’s not a dig against our team, but I felt like we could use a little jolt, so it was a good time to do it.”
Alas, it didn’t work. The Blue Jackets will fly to Boston on Sunday and play the Bruins on Monday. Who can say which team will show up?
(Photo of Kirill Marchenko: David Kirouac / Imagn Images)
