Columbus had the jump in the first 10 minutes with 12 shots on goal in that time span, four of them on an early power play, but they could not solve Sergei Bobrovsky. The Panthers goalie used the blocker to deny Jack Roslovic when the CBJ center got behind the defense and also stopped Michael Del Zotto on the doorstep at the end of the power play to make his best stops in the early going.
Florida then got on the board first at 11:40, making it 1-0 when Vatrano scored his 16th goal of the season. He was left alone in front of the net as the teams battled for the puck behind the net, and when the puck kicked off the skate of Seth Jones to Vatrano in the slot, he had time to pick his spot and buried the shot past Elvis Merzlikins' glove.
Merzlikins kept it a 1-0 game through the first, though, denying Patric Hornqvist on the doorstep on a power play and scrambling all over the ice to keep the puck out of the net in the final minute, including a stop on the onrushing Markus Nutivaara without his stick.
The second period was filled with plenty of action, including three goals and a scrap for new CBJ defenseman Bayreuther. First, Columbus got caught on a bad change in the first minute of the period and Florida made it a 2-0 game on a 3-on-2, as Anthony Duclair fed Jonathan Huberdeau on the rush, with a quick ensuing pass to Sam Bennett resulting a one-timer past Merzlikins at 0:59.
Merzlikins made 17 saves in the middle frame including a denial of Aleksander Barkov on a breakaway. Shortly thereafter, Bayreuther leveled Duclair with a hit that resulted in a fight with Bennett that likely drew high marks from his new teammates.
Bjorkstrand then scored at the 13:23 mark to make it a 2-1 game on a nice individual effort. He took a breakout pass from Atkinson, entered the zone, cut to the middle and -- while surrounded by all five Panthers on the ice -- let go a shot that got past the flat-footed Bobrovsky, rattled off the left post and went in.
But just 41 seconds later, Florida made it a 3-1 game at 14:03. Duclair teed up Radko Gudas for a blast from the high slot that got past Merzlikins, who was off balance and quickly tried to claim goaltender interference. Columbus challenged, alleging Juho Lammikko had made contact with Merzlikins before the goal, but the tally stood.
Merzlikins made a big stop on Nikita Gusev from point-blank range in the opening moments of the third, and that proved to be big when Columbus made it a 3-2 game with 11:59 left. Dalpe had been denied twice on his previous shift, but this time he found paydirt as Eric Robinson sent a puck to the netfront and Dalpe whacked at it until it found its way past Bobrovsky.
From there, the teams traded chances down the stretch, including a penalty shot by Vatrano that was denied by Merzlikins' right pad with 7:30 to go. But Vatrano got the last laugh, scoring an empty-net goal with 1:22 to go for his second tally of the night to set the final score.
3 Takeaways
1. A better showing: Missing much of its leadership core thanks to late-season trades and injuries, the Blue Jackets melted down when met with adversity in Dallas over the weekend, taking a 1-0 lead in each game before falling 4-1 and 5-1 in the two games. That wasn't the case on this night as the Jackets still made some mistakes against the talented Panthers but came much closer to a 60-minute showing. "I think we played more the right way tonight," said Bjorkstrand, who continues to leave it all on the ice while playing with stitches in his face and a black eye. With the roster so depleted right now and the team looking at evaluating players for next season, the biggest thing you can hope for is 60 minutes, and the Jackets delivered that.
2. Merzlikins delivers: It's hard to point at a goalie's showing and dole out too much praise in a 4-2 loss, but Merzlikins was impressive while making 35 saves on 38 shots against. He made impressive saves to keep Columbus in the game in all three periods, and he also showed some fire while going at Hornqvist in a scrum in the second period after the Panthers forward tried to jar loose a rebound. Afterward, Merzlikins was trademark Elvis. "I am thankful to him. He was provoking me, he gave me energy," Merzlikins said. "I wish he would keep doing that all night long. ... I love when the players do that. If they think they can get in my head, good luck." At a time when the Jackets are evaluating for next season, this was the kind of showing that will be a point in Merzlikins' corner.
3. Not much solace: Columbus has won just two of its last 15 games and is winless in six. Obviously, the team isn't playing for a playoff berth, but you can tell the frustration of the losses is starting to add up. I'll have more on this in the preview tomorrow, but take the words of the goal scorers after the game. Here's what Bjorkstrand had to say after snapping a seven-game goal drought: "It's always nice (to score), but at the end of the day I'm minus-2 and that's not going to help the team win, so that irritates me." Dalpe, meanwhile, had little to say about his goal other than comparing it another sport. "Whack and go, I guess, kind of like my golf game," he said. A little self-depricating humor, but the Jackets aren't getting too excited for personal accolades in a losing effort. It's just not the time for it.
