After a two hour delay due to a power outage earlier in the day, the puck was finally dropped at 8:30pm ET for the Blue Jackets vs. the Ducks. The battle between two young teams with bright futures unfortunately didn’t feature Leo Carlsson, but it was still exciting nonetheless. Eventually it became one that the Blue Jackets let get away. Here’s how it went down.
1st Period
The Jackets came out buzzing. A stretch pass from Gaudreau to Marchenko led to a booming shot on the Ducks’ netminder and then a Werenski shot from the point was deflected just wide of the net by Jenner. On the other end, Elvis made a nice kick save to get his night going.
A great individual effort by Kuraly led to a power play. He won a hard board battle and strong armed his way to the net. Johnston, caught a step behind, held Kuraly and ended up in the box. The power play was solid even though the puck didn’t get into the net – the entries were good, the puck movement was decent, and Marchenko had one quality shot.
Roslovic drew penalty when entering the zone with speed. With six skaters on the ice during the delayed penalty, the Jackets nearly scored. Gaudreau was behind the net and fed a wide open Provorov for what would have been a sure goal, both the Russian slightly misjudged the angle and whiffed on the puck.
There wasn’t as much zone time in the second power play of the night, but there were two shots and a very good pass by Marchenko to Jenner in front of the net that the captain couldn’t quite get his stick on.
The Ducks committed yet another penalty when Gaudreau was hooked on a zone entry. The third time was a charm. The second unit cycled the puck like true pros and a pass from Fantilli to Provorov to Bemstrom led to a one-timer goal, the first of the season for the Swede.
CBJ PP Goal 1-0: Bemstrom (Provorov, Fantilli) 16:49
The Fantilli line laid on more pressure in its final shift of the period. Fantilli in particular had a great first frame.
There must be a rule about not allowing four penalties in a row by a team. Gaudreau was hit with an egregious cross check right in front of the referee in the dying seconds of the period. A couple of blue sweaters laid the body in response, but that was that.
Statistically, the Jackets didn’t dominate the first period at 5v5, though I don’t think the eye test would agree. Columbus was the noticeably faster team and had Anaheim on their heels for long stretches. The penalties the Ducks committed were evidence that they were a step behind for most of the period.
2nd Period
The Ducks went to the power play two minutes into the second when Werenski got booked for interference. The home team’s penalty kill was very aggressive and was able to kill off the penalty.
It was back and forth without much incident until the Fantilli line once again hemmed the Ducks in their own zone. McTavish hauled down Texier giving the Jackets their fourth power play of the night. They recorded three shots and zero goals on the power play. They looked good, but couldn’t finish.
Elvis made a very nice glove save to quash an odd man rush after the penalty expired.
With four minutes left in the period, the Ducks evened things up. A pinch by Bean didn’t pay off and led to a two-on-one the other way. The initial shot was saved by Elvis, but a laid out Gudbranson left no one to defend the rebound.
ANA Goal 1-1: Strome (Mintyukov, McTavish) 15:49
Elvis received a slashing penalty when he took out McTavish. McTavish landed on Elvis and the Columbus netminder was not too happy about it. The kill was again successful.
The Jackets took it on the chin at 5v5 in the second period, losing the shot battle 10-5. It wasn’t a terrible period, but definitely a regression from the first. The Jenner line in particular didn’t have a great period.
3rd Period
The third period started much like the first – with the Jackets coming out hot. They recorded four shots in the first few shifts. A high sticking on Gudbranson gave them their fifth power play of the night. There were several good chances, including a KJ post, but the game remained tied.
The Ducks went to the box again when Severson was tripped up in a race to the puck. No dice again. 14 shots on 6 power plays and only 1 goal – that’s not what you want to see in a 1-1 game. Hopefully this team can eventually find more finish.
Speaking of finish, the rookie Fantilli took matters into his own hands to give the lead back to the Jackets. Entering the zone by himself against two Ducks, Fantilli controlled the gap between him and the defenders (young hockey players take note) and then used his wicked release to hide the puck and fool the Ducks’ goalie.
CBJ Goal 2-1: Fantilli (Roslovic) 9:13
Fantilli took his first NHL penalty for interference shortly after the goal. Honestly, it took six games so it’s hard to be mad. Not an ideal time, but he’ll learn from it. The penalty was killed off, so no harm done.
An unfortunate penalty by Severson sent the Ducks right back to the power play. The Jackets killed off the penalty, but that wasn’t the end of the trouble. Severson came out of the box and immediately whiffed on a clearing pass, leading to the tying goal.
ANA Goal 2-2: Leason (unassisted) 16:13
The Ducks committed their seventh penalty of the night on a delay of game. The Jackets once again had chances, but couldn’t find a way to make it work. 7 power plays, 15 shots, 1 goal – not good enough.
On to overtime.
OT
Fantilli-Gaudreau-Werenski were your overtime starters. Werenski hit post a minute in – name a more iconic duo.
It was the Ducks that broke through. Vatrano scored on a breakaway to end it.
ANA Goal 3-2: Vatrano (Groulx) 2:20
Final Thoughts
The Blue Jackets should have won this game and had every opportunity to do so. They had 7 power plays that included the following: 33 shot attempts, 22 scoring chances, 15 shots, and 7 high danger scoring chances. They walked away with one goal thanks to Bemstrom, but that’s simply not good enough.
Elvis likely wants his second goal against back, but the defensive turnover by Severson was more egregious than the missed save by the goalie. Ultimately, Elvis made some good saves and did his job by giving the skaters an opportunity to win the game in regulation. This is a 3+ goal league and you are going to lose more games than you win by scoring less than that.
Johnson has struggled at 5v5 so far this season and this game was no exception. He’s very good on the power play, but an anchor otherwise. He ended up with only 6:22 of ice time at 5v5 and I don’t blame the coaches at all.
Fantilli is as advertised and is exactly what this team needs long-term. He’s only played 6 games, is 19 years old, and is already a game breaker. I know that Vincent’s system is “position-less”, but Fantilli looks at home in the middle of the ice and should stay there.
I’m not a fan of the Marchenko-Jenner-Gaudreau line. It’s not producing and wasn’t good in this game. If I have one qualm with the coaching staff this season it’s Gaudreau’s usage – the former 115 point player has only 2 even strength points in 6 games. He looked very good in this game at times, but for some reason he’s struggling to get on the scoresheet. This team needs more production at 5v5 and figuring out how to best utilize number 13 is key.
This was a frustrating game as a fan because they should have won and let it slip away. But the truth is that we are still seeing improvements in this team. They are playing faster, playing better defense, and giving a more consistent effort throughout the game. All good things to continue building on.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets are back at it on Thursday in Montreal against the Canadiens at 7:00PM ET.