The Columbus Blue Jackets were looking to bounce back against the Boston Bruins after a humiliating loss on Tuesday night. The Bruins came into the night as the top team in the league with six regulation wins in eight games. They added another win by the time the night was over. It wasn’t pretty for the home team.
1st Period
The Blue Jackets started off with significant offensive zone time. Their efforts earned them their first power play of the night. The new first power play unit wasn’t able to score, but they were able to generate several chances.
Unfortunately for the home team, the Bruins were able to get the lead shortly after the power play expired. A Grzelcyk shot went off of Kuraly’s stick and bar down on Elvis’ far side. Nothing the Columbus goalie could do about that one.
BOS Goal 1-0 Grzelcyk (Hall, Zacha) 8:43
Columbus continued to play well and generate chances, but they headed to the penalty kill when Peeke went off for tripping. Peeke, who had penalty problems last season, continues to struggle with putting his team a man down. Luckily, the Jackets were able to kill off the penalty.
The first period was pretty even overall. Both teams had their chances, including a Laine whiff on a partially open net, but the Bruins cashing in on a lucky deflection was the difference. The Bruins led in expected goals 0.81-0.63
2nd Period
The Jackets got their second power play of the night less than four minutes into the second period. A goal would be scored on the power play, but not by the Jackets. The Columbus power play moved to a -2 goal differential on the season.
BOS SH Goal 2-0: Coyle (unassisted) 4:30
Jenner went off for tripping a few minutes later. The Jackets looked flat after the second goal and were pinned into their own zone. The kill succeeded in shutting down the Bruins.
The Bruins continued to dominate the period and made it 3-0 with three minutes left in the period. DeBrusk blocked a Johnson shot from the point and converted the breakaway on the other end.
BOS Goal 3-0: DeBrusk (unassisted) 15:07
Pastrnak beat Elvis on the rush to make it 4-0 with less than 30 seconds left in the period. He faked a pass and no looked the shot past Elvis.
BOS Goal 4-0: Pastrnak (Bergeron) 19:33
Cue the boo birds.
3rd Period
Tarasov entered the game to start the third period.
The Blue Jackets got their third power play attempt of the night with seven minutes left in the game. The result was more of the same. The Jackets are now 0 for 23 on the power play with two short-handed goals against.
That’s all she wrote.
Final Thoughts
Throw out all of the stats and measurables from this one. The Jackets lacked cohesion and had little fight all night. They look like a bunch of individuals scrambling to make a play happen. There doesn’t appear to be an on-ice plan and frustration is visible on the players’ faces. The season is deteriorating fast and there hasn’t been any noticeable improvement to the product on the ice.
There were two bright spots in this game for the Blue Jackets. The first line and David Jiricek. The first line of Laine, Roslovic, and Gaudreau was the only line that consistently generated offensive chances. They were able to possess the puck for longer stretches with Roslovic in the middle. Jiricek looked like an NHLer in his debut. He spent some time on the first pair with Werenski and did not look out of place. He didn’t do anything too flashy, but he held his own and that’s impressive for an 18 year old in his first NHL game.
The Blue Jackets got booed off the ice for the second straight game as the frustration of the fans continues to grow.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets will travel to New Jersey to take on the Devils Sunday at 2:00PM ET.