The frustration was evident Tuesday night in the Blue Jackets locker room.
Columbus put 50 shots on goal – tied for 10th most in a regular-season game in franchise history – but got the puck in the net just one time in a 2-1 overtime loss to San Jose. The Blue Jackets did everything but score, but the inability to do so left the squad upset that they left the Bay Area with one point instead of two.
“It’s a big two points for us,” Kevin Labanc said. “It’s a matter of finding a goal. ... That should have been a win for us.”
“It’s (50) shots,” Kirill Marchenko added. “Come on. We need to score five, minimum. We need to execute the shots better and score the puck.”
The Blue Jackets had plenty of time to stew on it with four days between games, though it’s hard to say if they did that considering they had two full days off Wednesday and Thursday in the Los Angeles area in the leadup to tonight’s game vs. the Kings.
Columbus got back to work with a long and spirited practice Friday, and the emphasis was on getting to the net to be able to finish off their chances and put the puck in the net.
“The one drill we did today was to get to the net and get a little more presence there to get those second and third opportunities,” head coach Dean Evason said. “We had lots of shots the other night, but it was one and done. After that first initial shot, we've got to find those pucks around the net, and if they leave the net and then they spray out, then we gotta get after it and get it so that we can get it back in there and look for second and third opportunities to score some goals.”
The positive news was that Tuesday’s performance was a strong bounce-back effort from losses last weekend to Winnipeg and Washington. The focus going into the San Jose game was for the Blue Jackets to get back to playing their style of game, and they largely did that against the Sharks.
If they can bring that type of energy, effort and puck possession into each game, odds are they’ll win a lot more than they lose.
“That’s exactly what we’re looking for again, to play that winning hockey style,” Evason said. “We kept the puck out of the net. Could we have obviously found a couple more goals? Yeah. But you know, if we play like that, we feel very comfortable that pucks will go in the net for us eventually.”
Know The Foe: Los Angeles Kings
Head coach: Jim Hiller (Second season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 3.27 (14th) | Scoring defense: 2.93 (9th) | PP: 15.7 percent (24th) | PK: 79.3 percent (17th)
The narrative: Stanley Cup champions in 2012 and ‘14, Los Angeles hasn’t won a playoff series since the latter victory, including first-round exits each of the last three years. A rebuild after the last title has brought the team a bevy of young talent, and the hope is mixing it with some solid veterans can vault the team back into the stratosphere of the NHL’s elite.
Team leaders: Now in his 19th season, the seemingly ageless Anze Kopitar is still a great player at age 37, leading Los Angeles in scoring with 15 points on five goals and 10 assists. 23-year-old wing Alex Laferriere leads the team with eight goals among his 14 points, while 21-year-old defenseman Brandt Clarke is among three players tied with 12 points (one goal, 11 assists). The others are veteran scorers Kevin Fiala (7-5-12) and Adrian Kempe (5-7-12).
The Kings added 2022 Cup winner Darcy Kuemper in net, and he’s 4-1-3 in eight starts with a 2.72 GAA and .896 save percentage. He’s split time with David Rittich (seven starts, 4-3-0, 2.77 GAA, .884 save percentage).
What's new: Los Angeles didn’t make a ton of major moves in the offseason, acquiring Kuemper for former CBJ forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, trading for physical forward Tanner Jeannot and signing forward Warren Foegele and defenseman Caleb Jones. Much will be put on highly talented youngsters like Clarke and center Quinton Byfield, and the mix has worked so far with the Kings posting a 7-3-1 record in the last 11 games. Availability is an issue right now, though, as the Kings are without veteran defenseman Drew Doughty and young forwards Alex Turcotte and Arthur Kaliyev because of injury, while Jeannot is suspended for tonight’s game.
Trending: Los Angeles swept the season series a year ago, winning an overtime matchup in Nationwide Arena and then taking a victory in LA. Columbus has lost six of the last seven in the City of Angels.
Former CBJ: Former CBJ defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov is in his third season with the Kings and has a 1-5-6 line and plus-10 rating thus far while playing more than 23 minutes a night.
