The Columbus Blue Jackets suffered their third loss in the last four games on Sunday night, losing to the Winnipeg Jets by a 5-2 score at Nationwide Arena.
Nick Foligno and Seth Jones each notched a goal for the Blue Jackets while Blake Wheeler scored four goals for the Jets. Sami Miku scored the other and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 40 of 42 shots.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves on 25 shots.
First Period
A slow start caught up to Columbus yet again as Winnipeg grabbed the lead at 2:21 on Sami Miku’s first goal of the year. Bob never even saw the puck as Miku’s point shot sailed through traffic and past a standing Bob for a 1-0 lead.
Foligno—who had a feisty night—tied the game on the power play midway through the period. Winnipeg committed a holding penalty near the end of their own power play, allowing Foligno to pick up his 16th of the year at 11:22:
The Captain converts on the power play to tie the game for the #CBJ pic.twitter.com/xgiNkByjfE
— The Cannon (@cbjcannon) March 4, 2019
The CBJ killed three penalties (two on Pierre-Luc Dubois) in the first to keep it a 1-1 game at intermission.
Second Period
Winnipeg struck quickly again, this time from Wheeler just 35 seconds into the period. He deflected a Dmitry Kulikov shot from the faceoff dot to Bob’s right and gave the lead back to the visitors.
Nick Foligno threw down with Kulikov seven and a half minutes into the second, hammering away at Kulikov as the Jet became lost his in own sweater. Kulikov challenged the captain after a hit on Mark Scheifele, and Foligno made him pay:
Foligno showing you gotta fight *with* your rights: pic.twitter.com/MhfRu2iSJ9
— The Cannon (@cbjcannon) March 4, 2019
The Blue Jackets tied the game late in the period with some of the most sustained offensive zone play we’ve seen in awhile. Columbus smothered the Jets by hustling to loose pucks and recovering shots, eventually forcing an icing that allowed the Blue Jackets to put their best players on after the stoppage. They kept up the pressure and eventually broke through with a beautiful Seth Jones slapper at 17:31:
If you see Seth Jones winding up to take a slapshot, just forget about it: pic.twitter.com/N5OiaQiH7Z
— The Cannon (@cbjcannon) March 4, 2019
Late in the frame, Hellebuyck took a delay-of-game call for kicking his net off (he shook his mask off earlier in the period, though it did look like the buckles unsnapped on a shot), giving the CBJ a power play to start the third.
Third Period
Columbus couldn’t cash in on the power play but continued to chip away at Winnipeg. It would be the Jets that scored first, however, as Wheeler deflected a Nathan Beaulieu point shot for a 3-2 lead at 7:44. Patrik Laine screened Bob to help Wheeler score his second of the night.
The home side failed to convert on a Blake Wheeler tripping penalty at 12:23 despite a couple of solid chances. The Blue Jackets were able to get in close to create good looks throughout the third from Dubois, Bjorkstrand and Jones, but they weren’t able to solve Hellebuyck.
Wheeler completed the hat trick and put the CBJ away for good with a goal at 17:47. The Blue Jackets were pressing and got caught in a counter-attack as Laine found Wheeler for a snap shot off the post and in.
Wheeler scored his fourth on an empty-netter with 33.1 seconds to go, although a thrown stick from Panarin would’ve resulted in a goal even if Wheeler hadn’t put it away.
Full recap to come. This is your vent thread. Personal attacks won’t be tolerated, and comments will be closed in the morning.