COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets can’t use fatigue as an excuse. They were off on Friday, their second off day of the week.
They can’t use their youth as an excuse — not in this case — because the Anaheim Ducks, who beat them 4-3 in overtime on Saturday, are relying on just as many young players as they try to push ahead with their own rebuilding program.
But the Blue Jackets need to figure something out quickly.
The energy and ferocity they played with at the start of this season, especially on their forecheck, has faded dramatically over the last couple of weeks. It was intermittent on Saturday in one of the more frustrating losses this season.
The Ducks scored with 2:46 remaining in regulation to tie the score at 3, then won the game at 1:43 of overtime when Alex Killorn scored on a breakaway, his second goal of the game.
Yes, the tying goal was deflected in the slot on its way past Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves. And, yes, the NHL’s three-on-three overtime can feel like a coin flip on some nights.
But if the Jackets played the pedal-down pace they showed during their surprising start, they wouldn’t be leaving themselves susceptible to such hard-luck losses.
“I wish we knew,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said when asked where his club’s pace has gone. “We’re doing everything we can to pull it out (of them), because we know it’s in there. But you’re right. Our start was slow. … It was there in spurts, and certainly in the third period we had some really good jump, and we had some energy and we got in on it and we forechecked.
“The positive part is we did some really good things in tonight’s hockey game. But it hasn’t been on that consistent basis that we’ve seen since the start of the season.”
It was the Blue Jackets’ sixth loss in seven games, a 1-4-2 tailspin that was interrupted only by a win — go figure — in Winnipeg eight days earlier. Yes, the Blue Jackets are still within sniffing distance of a playoff spot, but that’s because the Eastern Conference is roiling in chaotic mediocrity.
If this sort of malaise continues, the rest of the pack is going to pull away quickly.
The Blue Jackets got goals from Kirill Marchenko, Cole Sillinger and James van Riemsdyk, while Greaves stopped 23 of 27 shots. Van Riemsdyk’s goal with 7:35 remaining gave Columbus a 3-2 lead in a third period they mostly dominated.
But the Ducks, despite being outshot 17-5 in the third, didn’t collapse. And at 17:14 of the third period they caught a break with goaltender John Gibson pulled for an extra attacker.
🚨 LaCombe ties it late!!!🚨#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/XRcqfv1oML
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) December 15, 2024
Jackson LaCombe’s slap shot from atop the circles appeared to glance off Jackets defenseman Dante Fabbro before it changed direction and sailed past Greaves. The Blue Jackets froze in place after the goal was scored as if they couldn’t believe it.
“It’s tough to swallow because we’d like to lock it down at that point,” Evason said. “We were in the lane. We just didn’t get the job done. Obviously it’s frustrating. It’s disappointing. But the puck found its way into the net at the end.”
Evason has given the Blue Jackets plenty of off days and kept some practices brief so that minds and legs can be rested to play his taxing style. He’s also changed line combinations in an attempt to find more connected play with the puck and more aggressive play without it.
It’s worth noting that the Blue Jackets’ current seven-game slide has coincided with Yegor Chinakhov’s absence with an upper-body. That’s what created the opening for van Riemsdyk on the top line with center Sean Monahan and (most recently) Kent Johnson.
“We’ve done some good things in spurts, but we have to find more consistency, especially in scenarios when we have a lead in the third period,” van Riemsdyk said, “It’s finding ways to stick with our plan, really smother teams and really stay with our structure.
“We can definitely do that better.”
The Blue Jackets’ overtime loss was quite similar to the OT loss they suffered on Thursday against NHL-leading Washington. They held the puck for most of the start of the period — possession is everything at three-on-three — but the moment they lost it, they lost the game.
On Saturday, Killorn skated out of his own zone with the puck and kept a full-length stride between him and Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov, sailing a wrist shot past Greaves to end it.
“We’re generating (in OT), but we’re giving up that quality, quality chance,” Evason said. “It was that way the other night (vs. Washington) and then tonight with that shot. We can manage the puck a little better in those situations.”
The Blue Jackets flew after the game to Raleigh, N.C., where on Sunday they’ll play the Carolina Hurricanes. They’ll need a fast start, a forecheck and some finish to hang with the Hurricanes.
(Photo: Kirk Irwin / NHLI via Getty Images)
