The Blue Jackets have been comforted by the fact that even through a recent string of losses, they’ve still played well enough to be in games, especially Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Devils at Nationwide Arena.
It was a proverbial “do everything but score” game, as Columbus put 46 shots on goal and completely dominated the third period, registering a 50-7 edge in shot attempts in the final frame. Were it not for a superb, game-stealing performance from New Jersey goalie Jake Allen, the Blue Jackets would have overturned a 2-0 deficit and gotten a result.
“Sometimes you deserve better and don’t win, and sometimes you don’t deserve to win and you win,” defenseman Ivan Provorov said after the game. “I think today we deserved a lot better, but it’s part of our process, and we’re going to continue to move forward and continue to get better.”
But the reality is the Blue Jackets are reaching the point where the most important thing is getting a result. Columbus has lost four in a row in regulation and six out of the last seven, and after being in a playoff position every day from Feb. 25 through Saturday, the Blue Jackets are now three points behind Montreal for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
There are 15 games left, so there’s plenty of time to make up ground, but the points have to come soon. Columbus hopes to get back in the win column tonight, but it won’t be an easy task as the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers come to town.
“You just have to focus on the next one,” Mathieu Olivier said after Monday’s game. “You can’t start looking at the standings and start looking at all that extra stuff because then you start thinking more. Our job is to go out there and play hockey and get the job done. Tonight, we gave ourselves the best chance to win. Didn’t work in our favor.
“I’m not gonna go home and dwell on the standings or the two points we didn’t get or whatever. I’m gonna focus on the next game against Florida and try to recreate a similar performance but with a better result.”
The goal for the Blue Jackets is to take the desperation, aggressive forecheck and high battle level from Monday and carry it into tonight’s game.
“I liked everybody’s game,” head coach Dean Evason said Wednesday. “Listen, we just went over the game again, and obviously we had 24 shots in the third period, right? So everybody was pulling in the right direction. We did the right things. We got a really crappy bounce (on the second Devils goal), but yeah, we liked everybody. Everybody pushed. Everybody did the right things. Nobody was on their own page.”
Know The Foe: Florida Panthers
Head coach: Paul Maurice (Third season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 3.19 (11th) | Scoring defense: 2.71 (9th) | PP: 24.1 percent (9th) | PK: 81.2 percent (11th)
The narrative: One year after coming up just shy of capturing Lord Stanley’s Cup, the Panthers ran it back and got to the top of the mountain last season, beating Edmonton in seven classic games to win the franchise’s first Cup. It was quite an accomplishment for former CBJ assistant GM Bill Zito’s squad, and now the challenge becomes trying to repeat. Fellow Floridians Tampa Bay did so in 2020 and ‘21, so it’s possible, and the Panthers still have the stars to do it.
Team leaders: Sam Reinhart inked a long-term deal to stay in Florida after tallying 57 goals last season to place third in the NHL, and he’s continued to lead the way with team-high totals of 33 goals (tied for eighth in the league) and 72 points. Aleksander Barkov follows with 18 goals among his 62 points, while Matthew Tkachuk has a 22-35-57 line but is out with an injury suffered at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Carter Verhaeghe (17-29-46), Sam Bennett (22-23-45) and Anton Lundell (15-26-41) also top 40 points.
Sergei Bobrovsky again has been one of the top goalies in the league, going 28-15-2 in 45 games with a 2.51 GAA and .906 save percentage.
What's new: Zito wasn’t shy about stocking the cupboards for a run at a repeat, making five deals in the days before the trade deadline. The biggest brought in former CBJ defenseman Seth Jones as well as longtime NHL star Brad Marchand, while the Panthers also added depth in the form of center Nico Sturm and goalies Vitek Vanecek and Kaapo Kahkonen. Marchand and Tkachuk remain out with injury and Aaron Ekblad is suspended, but the Panthers won 11 of 13 from late January through early March before dropping three of the last four.
Trending: The Panthers have had a mastery of the Blue Jackets in recent years, including wins in the first two contests this season. Columbus is 0-6-1 in the last seven meetings and 3-13-3 over the past four seasons.
Former CBJ: Now six years into the seven-year deal he signed with Florida at the end of his CBJ tenure, Bobrovsky captured his elusive Cup ring in the spring, while Jones has an assist in seven games since joining the team. Bought out by the Blue Jackets this summer, Adam Boqvist was with the team for 18 games and had two goals and six points before being placed on waivers and joining the Islanders.
