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Jackets fail to put out Flames; get burned in overtime

Posted on by Rafael Rodriguez

The Columbus Blue Jackets kicked off their Western Canada road trip by visiting the Calgary Flames. The Jackets earned a 1st period 2 goal lead but couldn’t hold it in the third. Another OT game ends in disappointment as the Flames score the winning goal with only seconds left in the extra period. Columbus loses 3-2, but earns another ‘loser’ point. Here are your details

First Period

Scott Harrington drew in for this game for reasons and the game was off to a speedy start, though Calgary maintained early puck control. Matthew Tkachuk, who left his mark on this game, blocked a Zach Werenski shot around the 16 minute mark and headed to the locker room briefly. He would return.

There wasn’t much going on early. In the first 7+ minutes of game play, the two teams shot a combined 4 on net. Not exciting. However, the 5th SOG would be made by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Devin Shore accepts a nice pass from Andrew Peeke in the neutral zone and snaps a shot that deflects off a Calgary defenseman and past Cam Talbot. It is Shore’s first goal with the CBJ. Scott Harrington got the 2nd assist for something.

And then… not much.

Until the 10th SOG was also made by the CBJ. An errant pass bounced off a Calgary skater in the neutral zone and heads back into the offensive zone. Nick Foligno picks it up and starts a 2-0 with Gustav Nyquist. Fligs makes a nice little pass to Nyquist who puts it in the basket and avoided the lotion! Columbus now had a 2-0 lead.

Milan Lucic immediately picked up the physical play by trying to dump David Savard, though he mostly missed. Soon after, Foligno put Lucic on the ice.  And then things calmed down again.

Perhaps I was distracted by the incredibly bad takes in the game thread regarding girl scout cookies, but it sure seemed like the period was flying by with little going on. The goals were like brief, but powerful sugar highs.

At the end of the period, Ryan Murray draws a high sticking penalty and the Jackets are on the power play – but only 30 seconds of it before the period ends.

Second Period

The Jackets start off the period with a power play but it is Calgary with the best chance. Tobias Rieder takes advantage of a loose puck to skate in alone on Joonas Korpisalo but skies his shot. And then.nothing for awhile. The Jackets are active with the sticks and disrupting Calgary completely, but they aren’t doing anything on offense either.

At the 12 minute mark, Kevin Stenlund is tackled but no call is made.

Korpi added a little excitement by waiting too long to make a pass with the puck. Calgary strips him of it but can’t do anything else. Later on, Eric Robinson uses his speed to create a scoring opportunity but his pass attempt is blocked…almost into the net, but just wide.

With around 5 minutes left, Boone Jenner is called for a high stick but only Johnny Gaudreau can put the puck on net. Shortly after, Robinson and Stenlund combine for 3 good chances to score but the puck won’t cooperate. Calgary immediately returns the favor except for them, Korpi wouldn’t cooperate.

So a little excitement at the end of the period, but SOG were only 21 for Calgary and 14 for Columbus in total.

Third Period

This period saw Tkachuk do what he does. The first five minutes of the period were drab with only 1 SOG. Tkachuk also punched Boone in the back, though Jenner didn’t seem to notice.

Shortly after, Tkachuk tries to stir things up with…Gustav Nyquist. Not sure what good that would do.

Perhaps he was cranky that nothing was going on.

Scott Harrington spectacularly flubs on a shot opportunity and at the other end of the ice, Tkachuk earns a couple of jabs from Korpisalo. Ryan Murray was there, but Korpi was clearing his own crease. Unfortunately, that let everyone know that Tkachuk was in Korpi’s head.

With just under 9 minutes left, Werenski is unable to get good wood on the puck and a pass/clearing attempt went no where. This was bad because he was behind his own net. The puck was batted around a bit and trickled in front of Korpisalo. Elias Lindholm got to it first and slid it through the 5-hole.

The Tortling would continue. Mostly to good effect.

Calgary pulled Cam Talbot with 300 seconds left. Fewer than 60 seconds elapsed before a Mark Giordano shot was deflected past Korpi by….Matthew Tkachuk. There were two Flames in front of Korpi with Murray and Werenski playing between them and the puck carrier. This time the puck squeezed through and bounced off Tkachuk’s stick and in.

Time for more Overtime.

Overtime

Overtime featured a lot of back and forth play. However, Calgary attempted to hold possession. The Jackets did not. Turnovers and quick shots were the order for the day. It didn’t work. With less that 20 seconds left in OT, Calgary generated a high danger scrum in front of Korpi who made a couple of saves. However this left him and two Jackets on the ice and TJ Brodie was able to knock in the winning score.

Calgary wins 3-2.

Random Musings

  • Another loser point. Staying afloat. Making Carolina have to work.
  • Torts stacked his offensive skill on two lines and it seemed to work early. But the offense was non-existent for the last two periods.
  • The third period Tortle was not ideal – but its as much a function of the personnel on the roster right now as it is a conscious coaching decision.
  • Matthew Tkachuk is a pest.  And one can laugh off the ineffectiveness until, suddenly, it is effective.  He got under Korpi’s skin. /

Talking Points