Columbus Blue Jackets Had First Rough Week of 2017-18 Season

The Columbus Blue Jackets finished their week of games off with a 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. Admittedly, the week was a pretty bad one for the team after a really good start.

On paper, three games in a week, no back-to-back and two of those games at home is a really good schedule for the Columbus Blue Jackets. But it’s when you put the game on the ice, that good-looking schedule is not as good as once thought.

And the reason for that is because two of the three teams the Blue Jackets faced this past week are pretty darn good. Easily two of the best teams in the entire league, the CBJ were just outmatched in both games.

Related Story: Trades that could push CBJ to Stanley Cup

CBJ Outpower Jets

The opening game of the week came on Tuesday when the Blue Jackets took on the Winnipeg Jets in Manitoba. Heading into the game, the Jets were 3-2 while the CBJ had a 4-1 record.

Despite some good early goaltending by Steve Mason, the Jets couldn’t contain the Jackets offense. The Blue Jackets were all over Mason from the get-go, but it wasn’t until the second period that he finally broke and let up some goals. He let up four in the period, to be exact.

The four-goal period for the Jackets allowed the team to cruise to a 5-2 win over the Jets and tie their best start in franchise history.

Lightning Shut Out Jackets

The Tampa Bay Lightning are really one of the best teams in the NHL; they might be the best. With Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos playing their games, there might not be a defense or goaltender that can shut down the Lightning.

Their potent offense wasn’t as prominent in their 2-0 victory over Columbus, but it didn’t have to be. Andrei Vasilevskiy looked like he was the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, and not Sergei Bobrovsky, as he stopped all 43 shots that the Jackets sent his way.

Despite not registering a goal in the game (first time this season), Kucherov assisted on Mikhail Sergachev‘s second goal of the night to keep his point streak alive.

Nothing to say about the Jackets really. They didn’t get good enough shots despite getting a lot of shots. Bob didn’t look great and neither did the defense. It was just not a good game.

Kings Prevail in High-Scoring Game

Last night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings was the final game of the week, and it was kind of crazy.

I wouldn’t say that the Blue Jackets are a run n’ gun type of team like the Maple Leafs, but you wouldn’t know that if you watched them for the first time last night.

The Jackets and Kings combined for five goals in the first period as the teams went at each other really quickly on the offensive end. In the second, the Kings outscored the CBJ 2-1 to make it a tied 4-4 game heading into the third.

Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets were bested after a blown Matt Calvert defensive assignment that allowed Anze Kopitar to crash to the front of the net and tip the puck into the net for his second goal of the night. That would end up being the game-winner as Dustin Brown would add an insurance empty net goal to seal the W for the Kings.

The defense was really bad last night, and Sergei Bobrovsky let up some goals that you wouldn’t expect him to let up. A really sloppy game overall, but it was very encouraging to see the offense to get some goals, including their second power play goal of the season.

This Week’s Effect

The 1-2-0 week record dropped the Jackets from 4-1-0 to 5-3-0. It also dropped them a few spots in the Metro Division. They were tied for first with the New Jersey Devils to begin the week and now sit in fourth behind the Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. Technically, the Flyers and CBJ are tied for third, but Philadelphia currently has the tiebreaker.

Next: Update on former CBJ players

But it’s no time to panic. The Jackets will really have to improve on things to match up well with teams like Tampa Bay and LA, but we’re still early in the season. The Jackets will almost certainly make some trades and become better as the season goes along. Breathe in, breathe out.