Why the Columbus Blue Jackets Lost to the Winnipeg Jets

The Columbus Blue Jackets dropped their fifth game in a row Thursday night. The Winnipeg Jets bested them by a score of 5-4. Winnipeg extended their winning streak, picking up their sixth straight win.

After not even losing three games in a row for most of the season, the Columbus Blue Jackets are an absolute low. They have now lost five in a row after falling to the Winnipeg Jets Thursday. On a bright note, the offense finally rebounded.

The team scored four goals for the first time since clinching a playoff berth on March 19. The Jackets’ aggressive nature on the offensive end was a pleasant surprise. The problem was on the other end. The Blue Jackets allowed five goals with Joonas Korpisalo in the net. Two of the five came with Winnipeg on the power play.

There were a few major reasons why the Blue Jackets lost this one so let me tell you them.

#1 – Korpi Ain’t Bob

Joonas Korpisalo is a solid goaltender. He is for sure one of the better young netminders in the league. He’s no Sergei Bobrovsky though. The Blue Jackets have relied on the consistent play from the Russian–maybe a little too much.

The Jackets are in a better spot when Bob is in the net. In his 62 games this season, he’s posted just a 2.02 goals against average, seven shutouts, and a 93.3% save percentage. Korpisalo, on the other hand, is letting up about three goals per start, has only recorded one shutout, and has a 90.2% save percentage.

With the Columbus Blue Jackets becoming accustomed to excellent goaltending by Bob, they struggle when Korpisalo is in net. The difference is just too great. Thursday’s game was no different. Korpi allowed at least four goals for the third time in his last five starts. Even with the offense finding a groove, they couldn’t keep pace with Winnipeg due to Korpisalo’s mediocre outing.

#2 – Putrid Penalty Kill

The special units have continued to stink up the joint for Columbus. Thursday night was the penalty kill’s chance to be bad. The Jackets let up two power play goals Thursday, the first time they’ve done that in almost a month. They last did it against the Buffalo Sabres in the game where the CBJ blew a 3-0 first period lead.

The Jackets’ PK has not been good over the last month. They rank 16th in the league in PK% and fifth in time on ice while shorthanded. Thursday’s showing wasn’t so much that they were committing a lot of penalties and giving Winnipeg several opportunities to score. It was that they just couldn’t stop them while shorthanded. In three power plays, the Jets converted on two of them. Jacob Trouba was the aggressor, scoring both of the power play goals.

#3 – Right Place, Wrong Time

In any other universe, a 38-35-7 team facing a 49-22-8 team on the road would end with a victory for the latter. In this universe, however, that 38-win team entered the game on a five-game win streak and the opposing team was on a four-game losing streak. No matter how these two teams matched up on paper, momentum is a big factor. The momentum simply was leaning one way on the given night.

It doesn’t excuse Columbus’ poor PK, goaltending, and defending, but it’s a definitely a reason for the CBJ loss. The lack of momentum is something that the Jackets need to desperately fix before their meeting with Pittsburgh. The playoffs is the time when you want to have the momentum, not the time to lose it.

Home/Editorials