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Blue Jackets strike early, but fall to Hurricanes 3-1

Posted on by William Chase

The Columbus Blue Jackets entered play against the Carolina Hurricanes Friday night looking to shake a three-game winless streak. The Canes came off a 3-1 win over the Panthers Tuesday night.

First Period

Right off the faceoff, the Jackets had trouble getting the puck across center ice, and the Hurricanes, foot on the throttle, keeping possession in their zone.

Columbus would not have their first shot on net until nearly five minutes in.

However, despite all the early pressure by Carolina, it was Columbus who struck first when Brandon Dubinsky beat Cam Ward on a breakaway, thanks to a lead pass from center ice by Tyler Motte.

The Jackets would earn the first power play of the game when Josh Jooris was nabbed for holding Jack Johnson. Yet, same story as always, the unit failed to generate much of anything, not getting a shot, and barely getting the puck in the zone to set up.

With seconds remaining on the man-advantage, Boone Jenner camped by Ward to his left and collided with the netminder as Haydn Fleury pushed Jenner into Ward. The shot by Jenner darted across the front of the net.

Carolina led the way with 12 shots in the opening frame. Bobrovsky’s best save came when Sebastian Aho, in the shooting crouch to fire, caught a pass by Stall, and Bob made the glove save.

The Hurricanes came into play fourth in the East among faceoff win percentage (51.6%). After one period they carried the 7-6 edge.

Columbus was fortunate to have the lead after the opening frame as the Canes controlled play early, stifled play at the blue line, and Bob bailed them out with key saves.

G Brandon Dubinsky
A Tyler Motte
A Markus Hannikainen

Second Period

It wouldn’t take long at the start of the second for the Hurricanes to tie things up at 1-1.

Noah Hanifin set up like he was going to fire a slapper but instead handed off to Stall for his fifth goal at 3:50. Bob was pulled out of his net and was down and out by the time Stall was able to tap one past.

Unlucky caroms and bounces can add up quickly, and it was a misread off the board by Zach Werenski that helped lead to the Hurricanes tally. Werenski couldn’t come up with the puck off the boards, allowing Carolina to take over and set up.

Carolina had the jump all throughout the second, as Columbus attempted to find their form and settle the play. They only had two shots on goal at the midway point of the period.

Turnovers were also an issue throughout the night. At the 15:00 mark of the second frame, the Canes only had one giveaway to Columbus’ seven.

Motte worked the Jackets second power play opportunity when Trevor van Riemsdyk was caught for holding. Motte ended up in the blue paint of Ward’s crease, colliding with Ward.

Though they failed to score, the Jackets actually looked like a formidable unit, generating shots and keeping up the pressure in the Canes zone. Carolina had a 9-7 edge in shots for the second, and 21-15 through 40 minutes.

G Jordan Stall
A Noah Hanifin
A Teravainen

Third Period

Trying to change the tone at the start of the third, Columbus had the first two shots of the period.

Carolina would draw their first power play of the game as Jenner sat for tripping Jeff Skinner. It was an easy kill for the 17th ranked unit coming in as Carolina did not get off a shot.

Cam Atkinson had an opportunity to regain the Jackets lead when he ended up with a loose puck and the breakaway, but Ward was ready at his doorstep.

Columbus controlled the play for much of the third, but it was Carolina who retook the lead following the Ward stop. It was Stall’s second of the night. Somehow, through traffic, Teravainen and Stall maneuvered their way through the Jackets defense, needling in and out and Stall was able to fire the shot for his sixth of the year.

Bobrovsky was not pleased and it was not the defense’s best effort. Columbus played with a sense of energy in the third period, but Ward stood tall and Carolina sealed the win with the empty-netter by Brock McGinn.

Summary

G Eric Stall,
A Teuvo Teravainen
A Sebastian Aho

G Brock McGinn (EN)
A Justin Williams
A Derek Ryan

Final Thoughts

Columbus never played their style of game. They were sleepy through the first half, sloppy in general, and let Carolina dictate the pace of play. The Jackets committed 13 giveaways to Carolina’s four.

The Canes also won the faceoffs 28-21 and shot clock 29-26. John Tortorella’s crew will attempt to bust the skid Saturday night in Detroit against the Red Wings.

Hopefully, the team will be awake for that one.

Talking Points