COLUMBUS, Ohio — This wasn’t one of those gut-wrenching, blown-lead losses that the Columbus Blue Jackets seemed to specialize in this season. But when the game was in the balance Wednesday, the Montreal Canadiens seized the moment.
Not that it feels much different.
The Canadiens, buoyed by several long shifts in the Columbus zone, took the lead with 2:57 remaining and added an empty net goal two minutes later to win 4-2 before 14,316 in Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets have made late-game collapses a habit.
Advertisement
“I just thought that when they pushed, we gave a little bit tonight,” defenseman Zach Werenski said. “We didn’t really push back sometimes. (They had) extended shifts in our zone pretty consistently. Our chances were kind of one-and-done. We get a chance and it’s out. It’s hard to win that way.
“I’m frustrated right now and it probably sounds too negative. But it’s hard to swallow.”
The Blue Jackets aren’t any better than they were at this point last season, which is a sobering thought. This year’s club is 7-13-4 (18 points) through Wednesday’s game. The 2022-23 Jackets were 8-14-2 (18 points) through 24 games.
But the mood around this year’s club is dramatically different.
For one, it is not gutted by injuries, which left last year’s club completely unable to compete. Further, you can see the bright futures of several Blue Jackets players on display this season, players who will be the difference-makers (the franchise’s hopes) in the years that follow.
But this is most certainly true: This current club doesn’t know how to win. It doesn’t know how to close out leads and it doesn’t know how to grab hold of a game in the balance, like Wednesday’s.
With such a young roster, you’d like to attach these losses to growing pains. But Werenski made a valid point in that regard.
“It’s definitely not the young guys who are causing us to lose games,” Werenski said. “It’s not on them. A lot of it has been our veterans, the older guys who’ve been on the ice for late goals (against).
“As a group, it’s finding a way to win. We haven’t really done that with this group yet. That takes time, and unfortunately, we don’t really have much time now. It’s 20-whatever games into the season, and we’re behind the eight ball. That’s why it’s so frustrating. This is one we needed to have tonight.”
Advertisement
Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent had two lines going Wednesday: the third line, with Cole Sillinger centering wingers Dmitri Voronkov and Yegor Chinakhov, and the fourth line, with Sean Kuraly between Eric Robinson and Justin Danforth.
Vincent noted that captain Boone Jenner’s struggles with the puck were an early indication of fatigue. Columbus was playing its third game in four days, and Montreal last played Saturday in Los Angeles. It’s been in Columbus since Monday.
Jenner’s line, with Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko, combined for just two shots on goal.
“When I see (Jenner) making mistakes with the puck or mishandling the puck, I know the energy level wasn’t where it needs to be,” Vincent said. “Boone is the indicator.”
The other top line, with rookie Adam Fantilli centering Alexandre Texier and Patrik Laine, struggled mightily, and Vincent acknowledged he lost confidence in it.
“A little bit,” Vincent said. “They were trying to stretch the play, trying to be ahead of the puck too many times and it cost us a goal.”
Laine scored a four-on-four goal early in the second period to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead, but it was not a good night for the big Finn. He had a minus-2 rating, played only 13:03, and had trouble controlling pucks on his stick. He was also slow getting back on a puck that got past him at the blue line, nearly leading to another Canadiens goal in the third.
“(My game) was awful,” Laine said. “I got that goal and felt pretty good, and then it just went all downhill from there.
“Obviously when you don’t play much, the hands are not there. The pucks are bouncing. But I’m not going to cry about it. We should have played better as a line. I’m obviously not happy with it.”
The Jackets had two second-period leads, but they didn’t last long. Four minutes after Laine made it 1-0, Montreal’s Alex Newhook scored from the slot to make it 1-1.
Yegor Chinakhov put Columbus ahead 2-1 at 9:47, scoring off a rebound for his second goal in as many games. But Montreal pulled even at 2-2 at 14:08 of the second when Cole Caufield finished a two-on-one rush with Christian Dvorak.
The third period was up for grabs. And the Canadiens grabbed it. Joel Armia deflected a Mike Matheson shot from in close on Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, giving the Canadiens a 3-2 lead, their first of the game.
“They scored pretty quick after we got the lead,” Werenski said. “But it’s a 2-2 game going into the third and I don’t think we pushed hard enough.”
Advertisement
Playing three games in four days wasn’t put forward as an excuse by Vincent. Schedule imbalance is a fact of life in the NHL. But he wanted to see his club handle its fatigue better, play a simpler game and rely more on the structure. He didn’t see that from the bench.
Werenski, though, made it clear the Blue Jackets didn’t play on empty tanks. They had an off day Tuesday, after all.
“We’re in no position to let points like that slip,” he said. “I just think we had a lot more to give in here and we didn’t give it, and that’s frustrating, especially coming off a big win against Boston (on Monday).
“I thought we had good moments in the game, but it wasn’t acceptable to our standards. It’s a frustrating one.”
(Top photo of Justin Danforth: Ben Jackson / NHLI via Getty Images)
