In a nationally televised streamed game that was delayed by about ten minutes due to a lighting issue in Nationwide Arena, the Columbus Blue Jackets started strong before giving up five unanswered goals and losing to the visiting Dallas Stars, 5-2.
First Period
As I said, it was a strong start. It took just over a minute to get on the board. Jack Roslovic brought the puck up ice with speed, and used his strength to power into the offensive zone. He passed across the ice to Johnny Gaudreau, who then made a pass into the slot, where Boone Jenner forced his way into traffic and tipped the puck in.
From there, the Jackets continued to put the pressure on. Even the fourth line got in on it, with Mathieu Oliver making a great steal on the forecheck that left him with one-on-one with Jake Oettinger. The Otter made that save, but on other shots was giving up some juicy rebounds. He was saved by quick whistles on a couple of plays where the Jackets could have retrieved a loose puck in the crease.
Adam Fantilli made a great play to get the puck out of the zone, then won a footrace to get the puck back in the attacking zone. He found Kirill Marchenko on the other side (another cross-ice pass!) and the Russian sent the puck top shelf to give the Jackets a 2-0 lead just 8:43 into the game.
The most dangerous lead in hockey strikes again! The Stars responded just 45 seconds later. Johnny Gaudreau failed to clear the puck from the defensive zone, and got his pocket picked by Tyler Seguin. Mason Marchment brough the puck to the middle, dished to Matt Duchene (remember him?) in the left circle, who then centered it back to Marchment. He put the shot on goal, and Seguin set a perfectly-timed screen in front of Spencer Martin.
Late in the period, the Stars got two power plays in short succession. Martin and the penalty kill stepped up big time. They allowed 9 shot attempts in 4 minutes, but just 4 were on goal, and only 2 of those were in a high danger area.
The Jackets went to the locker room with a lead, and somehow a good Dallas team has not led after the first period in any game this season. Weird, right?
Second Period
Really bizarre moment early on, where it appeared that Fantilli had drawn a high sticking penalty, but then he was sent off at the same time for unsportsmanlike conduct. What did he do? He told the ref that the stick hit him in the chest rather than the face. Why is being honest and respectful a penalty?
Dalerrific, in the comments: “Ironic that Fantilli got an unsportsmanlike penalty for good sportsmanship.”
Midway through the period, both ends of the Zach Werenski/Damon Severson messed up and let the Stars tie the game. In the offensive zone, Werenski pinched against the wall to try to keep the puck in the zone. It got away from him and got centered, and the Stars had themselves an odd man rush. Severson was the one Blue Jacket in position to defend it.
What did he do? Well, the thing that I always get mad at our defensemen for (especially Erik Gudbranson, a frequent offender). As Radek Faksa brought the puck down, Severson was doing the right thing and drifting towards the trailing man, Craig Smith. At the last minute, however, Severson cheated over to challenge Faksa, but was way too late to get in the way of a shot attempt. That shot got a juicy rebound, and Severson was caught in no man’s land between Faksa and Smith as Smith came in with speed to send the rebound home.
With 6:21 remaining, the Jackets got their one power play of the game, after Dmitri Voronkov was tripped by Oettinger. The first unit (this time featuring Jenner, Roslovic, Fantilli, Gaudreau, and Werenski) struggled AGAIN. They spent most of their shift passing the puck back and forth in the right half of the zone. No one was on the left side at all. What are we even doing here? Cross-ice passes, people!
The unit with all the Russians did better, with Yegor Chinakhov getting a bomb off from between the circles.
Late in the period, the Stars took the lead for good. Really bad turnover in the offensive zone by Jake Bean, as some of his linemates were changing. Duchene got a breakaway and it looked like Martin had closed off the five hole in time, but instead the puck slowly trickled out from underneath him and across the goal line.
The Stars have been way better in the second period than in the first all season, and the scoreboard reflected that here. Aside from that, however, it was much more even period. The Jackets had just a third of the even strength shot share in the first period, but just above half in the second.
Third Period
Feels weird to say that an insurance goal came just four minutes into the third, but that’s the way this night went. Nils Lundkvist fired down the slot from the blue line, and once again Seguin was in front of the net, and deflected the shot past Martin.
Aside from one push in the middle of the period, the Jackets never really threatened to get back into this one. Martin got pulled with 4:41 left, with the Jackets still down 4-2, and eventually Jason Robertson got a looooooooooong range empty netter (from the bottom of the right circle in his own zone) to make the final score 5-2.
Final Thoughts
For the first two periods, the Sean Kuraly line had the best possession numbers. I figured that would earn them more minutes in the third, but there were diminishing returns there. I like that his line can win battles for the puck and get it up ice, but they’re just not good enough at generating offense once they get the puck into the offensive zone. Meanwhile, our lines that have a better chance of finishing don’t hold on to the puck well enough to get extended offensive zone time.
By far the best forward line was the Fantilli line. I know that in the first couple of periods they didn’t get as much time because Fantilli and Voronkov took penalties, but they should have been used even more in the third period than they were. They brought the energy all night. They should not be the least used forward line when they’re playing this well.
It remains frustrating that we can’t do the things that a great line like Marchment/Seguin/Duchene does: flip the ice, get the puck to the slot, and screen the goalie. I know we have the talent to play this way, and we’ve seen goals this season that are produced by plays like that. But for whatever reason, this isn’t the standard, repeated approach.
Another quietly effective game for the Andrew Peeke/Ivan Provorov pairing. Now, this doesn’t mean that David Jiricek should stay out of the lineup, but perhaps bring him back and keep Peeke in? Jake Bean, after a good start to the season, has been struggling. Maybe Adam Boqvist can play on the left side? He needs to play again soon as well. Give Gudbranson a game off to recover from whatever is keeping him from practicing. Maybe Werenski could use a breather as well, as he gets back into game form from both his shoulder surgery and his early-season quad injury.
Up Next
Afternoon hockey on Saturday, as the Jackets play in Detroit at 1:00 p.m.