FINAL: Blackhawks 3, Blue Jackets 1

The Blue Jackets saw their point streak end at seven games with a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night in the United Center.
Game in a Paragraph
Don't be too surprised but it was another tight game for the Blue Jackets, as the contest was tied at 1 after both the first and second periods. Chicago then got the breaks it needed when CBJ goalie Elvis Merzlikins twice made mistakes playing the puck in the third, as the Blackhawks took advantage each time to score the deciding goals.

Quote of the Game
CBJ head coach John Tortorella: "I thought we had better legs tonight. I thought we were a tired hockey team the other night. I thought we had better legs toinght, but we didn't make the next play or score (the goal we needed). We had a couple of really good chances to take the lead, and we just didn't."
CBJ Standouts

Quick Recap
After another slow start offensively for each team in the first 10 minutes, the sides exchanged goals to make it a 1-1 game after one period of play.
Chicago was the team to get on the board first, taking advantage of an odd-man rush to take the 1-0 lead with 7:28 left in the period. The Jackets got bunched up in the offensive zone and Chicago went the other way, with a nifty passing play leading to a goal as Mattias Janmark waited out the sliding David Savard and centered to Patrick Kane, who touched a pass to Philipp Kurashev at the far post to tap past Elvis Merzlikins.
Columbus countered, though, and made it a tie game with 2:32 left in the period as Jenner got on the board in transition. He entered the zone with speed after banking the puck off the wall to himself and got the puck to Roslovic, who was denied from in close by Chicago goalie Kevin Lankinen, but Jenner crashed the net and quickly put the rebound home.
The game stayed 1-1 through the second despite a combined 26 shots on goal for the two teams in the middle stanza, including 16 for the Blackhawks. But Merzlikins stayed tall -- his best work came on a pair of threatening Chicago power plays that created some chaos in front of his net -- and Lankinen did the same, dying Alexandre Texier on one rush and making a late pad save on Max Domi on a CBJ power play.
Liam Foudy also had a chance to break the tie early in the third when he pounced on a turnover and was all alone in front, but he made one too many moves and had the puck poked away by Lankinen.
Chicago then broke the tie and took a 2-1 lead at 7:41 when Merzlikins got caught out of the net. The CBJ goalie went behind the net to play the puck into the right corner on his backhand, but Chicago rookie Pius Suter was the first one there and threw the puck back at the net, where it went off Merzlikins' pad and into the net.
Texier tried to tie the score moments later as he got in behind the defense after dispossessing Nikita Zadorov, but Lankinen made a blocker save on the CBJ centerman.
Columbus had some jump to try to tie the score after the Chicago goal, but another tally with Merzlikins scrambling to get back in his net allowed Kane to make it a 3-1 game with 6:20 to go. This time, Merzlikins had trouble playing the puck behind the net and Kurashev found the puck and fed Kane, who slammed it home from a sharp angle before the CBJ goalie could get reset in his cage.
The Blue Jackets had a late power play but couldn't take advantage, with Lankinen making a big stop on a Cam Atkinson one-timer, and from there Chicago was able to finish things off.
3 Takeaways
1. Shake it off: Well, for Merzlikins, there was no hiding from the two goals that Chicago scored in the third period with the CBJ netminder scrambling back to his net. Usually, Merzlikins' ability to come out of the net to play the puck is one of his strengths, but there is also danger inherently involved. And that danger reared its head on this night, as he was in the most precarious of positions for a goalie -- trying to get back to his cage -- as Chicago scored each tally. "I obviously take all responsibility on my shoulders," the Latvian said postgame. "I messed up not once but twice tonight. The team doesn't deserve this." But Merzlikins also said he can't play with fear and will continue to play to his strengths, including playing the puck. Afterward, Tortorella acknowledged that the goalie's stick skills are usually a benefit, but tonight, "He has to eat it, and I know it will be very difficult for him, but he's matured as he's been here. He'll be ready to play his next game." Lost in the miscues -- Merzlikins stopped 33 of 34 shots otherwise.
2. Missing the mark: It's fair to worry about the Columbus offense, which has notched just 23 goals in the first 10 games. Before the season, much of the talk was on "freeing" the team to be able to score more goals, but it hasn't hapened this far, with Columbus going from 2.57 goals per game last year to 2.40 in the playoff bubble to 2.30 this year. It is early yet and a high-level goal scorer in Patrik Laine is on the way, so it's too soon to panic, but things do have to improve. There have been previous game where you could quibble about the quality of chances Columbus had, but the Blue Jackets did create some good looks tonight, including a 1.81-1.40 edge in expected goals at 5-on-5 and 2.72 xG created at all strengths by the CBJ per Natural Stat Trick. "We need to get the second (goal)," Tortorella said. "We had some chances. We didn't finish."
3. Playing it close: Have you gotten used to just how tight these games are going to be? For the fifth time in 10 games, the Blue Jackets were in a 1-1 game through 40 minutes, and every contest the team has played thus far has been tied or a one-goal game going to the third period. It's a function of how the offense hasn't been able to get untracked thus far, but also a credit to a team that continues to be solid defensively. "We've been in a lot of these games, 1-1 going into the third," Tortorella said. "As tight checking as these games hae been played out here the past couple of nights, that's an important goal."
Notable
Roslovic is the fifth Ohio native to notch a point with the Jackets, joining Dan Fritsche, Mike Rupp, Brian Holzinger and Brett Harkins. … After scoring power-play goals in two straight games, the Jackets were 0-2 tonight, while Chicago was 0-2 as well. It was just the second game of 10 in which the Blackhawks didn't score on the power play. ... Columbus lost for the first time this year when giving up the first goal. … Kane now has a 20-38-58 line in 48 career games against Columbus. … Columbus fell to 3-9-2 in its last 14 games in Chicago.
Roster Report
The Blue Jackets made no changes to the skater lineup, with Merzlikins going in net for Joonas Korpisalo
Up Next
Columbus returns home for games Tuesday and Thursday night at 7 p.m. against Dallas at Nationwide Arena.