Consistency has been an issue for the Jackets as of late. With the Ducks in town, the Jackets were looking to put together a full 60-minute effort. Unfortunately, they fell short of that goal.
Here’s what happened.
1st Period
Kent Johnson nearly had an early goal when Gibson failed to hold onto a rolling puck. A pass from behind the net found KJ, but his shot caught the top of Gibson’s glove.
The pace of the game led to several chances on both ends, and both goalies were forced to make saves.
The back and forth continued well past the halfway point of the period. The best save of the period came when McTavish fired a one-timer off a cross-ice pass. Greaves read the play nicely and got in the way in plenty of time.
Anaheim went up 1-0 when McTavish drove hard to the net. He burned Provorov around the outside and put the puck past Jet. Provorov then pushed McTavish into Jet. It was not a great sequence by Provorov. Weirdly, McTavish received a penalty for goaltender interference. Because the puck went in before the contact, the goal stood.
The penalty that was called was slightly confusing. I don’t blame Anaheim for being upset. I guess the officials determined that McTavish didn’t do enough to avoid Greaves after the Provorov contact.
ANA Goal 1-0: McTavish (Fabbri, LaCombe) 16:33
The Jackets got it back on the power play when Marchenko sniped Gibson from the high slot. He skated the puck into the slot and looked like he was going to pass. Instead, he fired the puck blocker side.
CBJ PP Goal 1-1: Marchenko (K. Johnson, Werenski) 17:09
Moments later, Olivier forced a turnover in Anaheim’s zone and found Aston-Reese, who shoveled the puck to Sillinger. Silly pulled the puck onto his backhand and tucked it past Gibson.
CBJ Goal 2-1: Sillinger (Aston-Reese, Olivier) 17:43
The Ducks outshot and out-chanced the Jackets in the first period. However, the Jackets won the high-danger battle 6-4. Werenski led all players in both shot attempts and individual expected goals after 20 minutes.
2nd Period
Gibson absolutely robbed Severson at the beginning of the period. Severson had an open net, and a lunging Gibson was able to get across the crease and make the glove save.
Olivier got called for boarding when puck carrier LaCombe quickly changed directions, and an already committed Olivier put him headfirst into the boards. Olivier was seen yelling at the officials, telling them that LaCombe had done nothing to protect himself.
Fortunately, the Jackets successfully killed off the penalty. Olivier was sprung for a breakaway after jumping out of the box. Gibson saved the shot and covered up the puck. Nearly instantly, Voronkov took a swing at Gibson’s glove, which sent the puck into the net. The officials waved no goal, but that didn’t keep a scrum from convening. Yet another odd play in a strange game.
A prolonged possession in the Anaheim zone led to the tying goal. Greaves made several saves before Killorn was left alone back door. It was another strange play. Vatrano broke his stick and headed to the bench. Killorn jumped onto the ice in relief and skated right towards open ice.
ANA Goal 2-2: Killorn (Strome, Terry) 13:56
The Jackets went back to the power play when Fabbri cross-checked Fantilli hard in front of the net. Voronkov initially scored before the goal was called offside after a challenge. Can we please make the offside challenge go away? The Jackets had the puck in the zone for a while before the goal was scored.
Not a great period for the Jackets. They were a little sloppy with the puck and let the Ducks gain momentum.
3rd Period
Columbus came out of the second intermission with a jump. At the halfway of the third, shot attempts were 19 to 6.
The go-ahead goal came off the rush. Labanc did a great job of protecting the puck on entry, and the puck ended up on Severson’s stick. Severson found JvR back door, and all the veteran had to do was tap the puck in.
CBJ Goal 3-2: van Riemsdyk (Severson, Labanc) 11:25
With less than three minutes left, the Ducks evened it up on the 6-on-5. LaCombe took a point shot, and the puck deflected off of Fabbro and into the net.
ANA Goal 3-3: LaCombe (Terry, Killorn) 17:14
On to OT for the second game in a row.
OT
Monahan, KJ, and Werenski started the extra period.
Provorov, who didn’t have a great night overall, got burned by Killorn on a pinch, and it was game over.
ANA Goal 4-3: Killorn (Fabbri) 1:43
Final Thoughts
The Jackets win this game 9 times out of 10 if they put together a full 60 minutes based on how they played in the third. Unfortunately, that is not what happened.
Greaves continues to play well, even if the stats from this game don’t reflect that. He kept them in the game in the first two periods.
I’m looking forward to seeing this team with Jenner and Chinakhov. It sounds like that’s not too far away.
Up Next
The Jackets will head to Raleigh to take on the Hurricanes tomorrow. The puck drops at 5:00 PM ET.