The Blue Jackets clawed their way back into the game on Saturday night in Anaheim. Despite going down 2-0 early, and then being down 3-2 late; they were able to find the equalizer.
For a while, it felt like they might be able to pull the monkey off of their back and do the unthinkable: win a third period. But, a late shift that was full of mistakes cost them, and they came away without even getting the loser point.
I saw it live, but couldn't believe it. So, I took a day, then went back and watched the tape to try to figure out what happened. After seeing it a few more times, I still can't believe it.
The entire sequence was a calamity of errors committed by a team that looked scared to make a mistake. As a result, they tried to do too much. Which is what led to the mistakes, oddly enough.
First, the Ducks go for the old dump and chase. The entire disaster starts because Elvis Merzlikins makes a bad decision with the puck.
Zach Werenski is circling back to pick it up, but Elvis stops it and reverses it right back into the pressure the Ducks were sending on the forecheck.
This forces Ivan Provorov to try to make a quick play on his backhand (uh-oh), with the forecheck coming. He partially fans on the clearing attempt and the Ducks are able to hold the zone.
Now, at this point, it's about not panicking. The line is still pretty fresh. They just need to get into their structure and defend. Good news: they did exactly that. They forced the Ducks to send the puck back down the wall.
Bad news: Elvis came out to play it again. Unnecessarily. Let's be honest, he's not good at playing the puck. I know he likes to do it, but there is just no reason for him to come out on this play.
This is the first part of the play that really irks me, because if he just leaves it, Werenski is free-wheeling around the net and leaving the zone with speed.
Instead, Elvis drops an absolute grenade into his feet. The Anaheim forecheck arrives and wins the puck back. They send it around the boards where Mason Marchment is waiting with time and space.
This is the second mistake that led to the goal. Instead of skating the puck out or flipping it across the blue line, Marchment makes a low percentage play across the middle of the ice.
Since they aren't expecting him to make that play, nobody is prepared for it-including Kent Johnson, who sees it go off of his feet and then get sent back behind the net.
Now, at this point, they have failed to clear it out twice. That's a problem. The legs start to get heavy. The coverage starts to break down. It's a bad situation.
The Ducks generate a scoring chance that gets tipped wide. Then, a tired Ivan Provorov tries to make the clear on his backhand (again, uh-oh). That fails.
Another scoring chance wide, then Adam Fantilli fails to clear it-also on the backhand. He and Marchment get tied up together. Provorov whiffs on a poke-check, the Ducks fire another shot wide.
This rebound comes back to the near side, where Johnson is slow to get to it. The Ducks send it back low and because the Blue Jackets are tired, everyone is just watching at this point.
Which is precisely when Anaheim strikes. It's an easy pass and shoot when everyone on the defensive team is standing still, trying to catch their wind.
These are the kind of shifts that the Blue Jackets have just got to figure out if they are going to win some games. The Ducks gave them every opportunity to get this puck out, but they panicked and made the wrong play over and over, until it finally burned them.
The collapse left us with a familiar result. A frustrating loss.