The Columbus Blue Jackets, now losers of eight straight and nine of 10, hit the ice again on Sunday for a back to back with the Philadelphia Flyers to try to break their losing record.
Things are bleak, folks:
The Jackets made one skater change for the Sunday game, healthy scratching Patrik Laine for Adam Boqvist. Laine has been bad, but going 11/7 for a team that cannot score goals is certainly a choice.
Spencer Martin got the start in net. Here’s what happened.
First Period
The Jackets gave up the first goal of the game, falling behind 1-0 as Joel Farrabe opened the scoring.
Alexandre Texier got one back for the Jackets late in the period, tying the game at one.
Second Period
Kirill Marchenko took a tripping penalty early, giving the Flyers a power play. On the power play, Bobby Brink capitalized on the power play after just six seconds, giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead.
The Flyers stretched the lead to 3-1 as Ryan Poehling scored on a 2-0 – the goal was reviewed to make sure it crossed the line, but was confirmed. This happened on a CBJ power play.
Late in the second period, Ivan Provorov let a shot go that hit Boone Jenner in the leg and ricocheted into the net to cut the Flyers lead to 3-2 with a period to go. Provorov was credited initially, but it was changed to Jenner.
Additionally, the Jackets announced that Damon Severson was done for the night with an upper body injury.
Third Period
The Jackets got caught on a bad line change, allowing Travis Konecny a lane for a goal. 4-2 Flyers, 7:29 to go.
FYI, four power plays on the night, zero shots on goal for the CBJ. Disgraceful.
The Flyers iced it (as if it already wasn’t) with an empty netter, 2:26 to play. This team was touted as a playoff team by the General Manager in the preseason.
Final
Columbus Blue Jackets 2 Philadelphia Flyers 5
Final Thoughts
Before we get into specifics, Pascal Vincent needs to stop saying this team is close. Individually, you might lose a game by 1 goal, which by definition is close, I guess. The Rangers game “was close” and Vincent was happy about how the team played in the third period. The Jackets were outshot 17-3 in that period. That is not good. This is not close. Stop saying it and be realistic, Pascal, or you’re going to lose the room.
When taken collectively, as the literal definition of “sample size” means you should, this team is not close. You do no lose NINE STRAIGHT GAMES if you are close. You are a bumbling clown show of an organization with no solutions or adjustments.
This is not the sign of stable coaching with a clear vision and plan. To build line chemistry, to develop any cohesion, you have to give lines time to gel. Consistently mismatching lines with little rhyme or reason is not good coaching practice. Vincent has taken the worst habit of Torts and Larsen and turbocharged it. This is a coach throwing stuff at the wall and hoping something sticks – there is no plan. It’s evident at this point.
This is not a good team right now. Johnny Gaudreau is struggling. Patrik Laine has been benched twice and healthy scratched. Kent Johnson, healthy scratched and sent to Cleveland. David Jiricek is riding the I-71 express. Cole Sillinger is still a mess. Kirill Marchenko has been healthy scratched multiple times. Damon Severson was benched. Andrew Peeke/Adam Boqvist have been benched for 10+ games each. Mathieu Olivier and Jack Roslovic have been healthy scratched.
You can rationalize individual reasons for ALL ELEVEN of those players to face discipline, and you wouldn’t be wrong. BUT – the fact is, when at least 11 of your players have faced a benching, a healthy scratch, or both? That falls on coaching. Pascal Vincent is in his first year as an NHL coach, but patience is wearing thin. It’s his job to put his players in the best position to succeed, to get his guys ready to go and he simply isn’t doing it. The players are making the same mistakes consistently, to the point that write ups and recaps nearly write themselves. They cannot find consistent line chemistry because lines are not consistent. Star players are held accountable while struggle bus passers and slow skaters remain in the lineup ad nauseum. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
BUT. This isn’t all Pascal Vincent’s fault. Sure, he’s showing loudly and clearly why he was passed over multiple times for this head coaching job (deservedly so, even if Brad Larsen also sucked out loud as detailed by my entire writing history). He may not have the answers, but these shouldn’t be his questions to answer.
All of this season’s problems stem from the original sin in May 2023 – this team retained Jarmo Kekalainen following a season of abject disaster. Sure, it resulted in the best forward on the team right now in Adam Fantilli, but Jarmo was motivated to try to be “playoff competitive” to save his job a year after the team finished 31st out of 32 teams. He was so desperate that he tried to hire Mike Babcock, which every fan in the moment knew was a disaster. Current rumors are that Babcock demanded the trades for Damon Severson (and subsequent 8 year deal) and Ivan Provorov to improve the blue line, both have been marginal at best. Now the team is carrying EIGHT defensemen but refusing to unload one because it might not meet Jarmo’s asking price, despite Peeke/Bean/Boqvist having negative trade value at this point. Nick Blankenburg is leading the Cleveland Monsters in scoring and can’t even sniff a call up because of the logjam.
The Jackets have a multitude of middle-to-bottom-six forwards under contract, but cannot score consistently. Boone Jenner is not a number one center or power play net positive, but plays both roles because he is the captain and heaven forbid the captain isn’t playing 20 minutes a night. Jarmo, his philosophy, and his coaching staffs routinely ride less talented players at the expense of youth and high end prospects in attempts to play low event hockey and win 2-1 despite struggling defensive systems.
Pascal Vincent is a problem, but the problems go deeper. Until anything is addressed on a deeper level, Blue Jackets fans can expect more of the same while the team suffers chemistry issues in loss after loss. Fresh eyes for fresh evaluation of underperforming players are the only thing CBJ faithful should be cheering for the rest of the way.
The season is lost already. Don’t let Jarmo and Pascal’s continued employment cost the future of the prospects. We are trending dangerously in that direction.
The last time this club lost eight straight early in a season, Todd Richards got canned. Can this team muster ANY accountability for anyone not named Patrik Laine? We’ll see. Fans deserve to see some.
Can I be real for a minute? It’s my recap, so I’m going to, deal with it. My interest and general care about this team has decreased somewhat year over year since basically 2020. This team has had no coherent plan or goal since the mass free agent exodus and it’s hard to invest because they have no direction. I am just not as interested as I used to be, BUT it’s not even like a “you’re not good” type thing. It’s that there’s no clear plan.
The Rangers came out with that letter and said “we’re gonna lose some familiar faces and take a step back” but it was honest. Jarmo keeps saying this team is gonna be playoff competitive and they’re just not. I would respect honesty from the front office more at this point. If they came out and said “we are not competitive, we’re gonna take a step back for two years, clear bad money, gain a few assets, trade a few players with value and reload for 2025-26” I’d frankly respect it. There’d be intention. But there is no intention from this team beyond Jarmo trying to keep his job via short term fixes. That, I can no longer abide. So I keep pulling back interest, investment, and general give a damn a little bit year by year. Because what’s the damn point?
Up Next
The Columbus Blue Jackets return home on Wednesday night as they take on the Chicago Blackhawks in Nationwide Arena. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET. Fans get to watch Connor Bedard shred the Jackets defense to bits and serve them for Thanksgiving dinner. Bon appetite.