The Columbus Blue Jackets took on one of the best teams in the NHL on Thursday night, as they hosted the Colorado Avalanche.
At points in this game, it sure felt like the Avs were an elite hockey team. The first period was kept scoreless, but that had as much to do with the goaltending of Elvis Merzlikins, as opposed to anything else.
Elvis made several dazzling saves through the first 20 minutes, stopping all 12 shots he faced and allowing the Jackets to get their legs under them. The home team managed 6 shots at the other end, but none were as dangerous as the ones they conceded defensively.
The team started the second period strong, even taking a 1-0 lead at the 1:36 mark. Defenseman Ivan Provorov jumped into the offensive zone and fired a pass from Kirill Marchenko as he circled the net.
Provy made no mistake, one-timing the puck high to the short-side of Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood for his first goal of the season, in his 700th career NHL game.
Unfortunately, that would be about the only highlight of the period for the home team. The Avalanche quickly took the game over and controlled the pace of play.
They were able to tie the game at the 10:34 mark as Cale Makar fired a long shot through traffic that found the back of the net. It looked like Elvis Merzlikins never saw the shot until it went past him.
Just 1:12 later, the Avalanche took their first lead of the game on another long shot. This one came from Brent Burns, and was deflected in the slot by Brock Nelson, beating Merzlikins through the 5-hole.
The Jackets were able to recoup some of the period, with Dmitri Voronkov seemingly tying the game just a few minutes later. As he crashed the net, the puck came up high on his chest and bounced in.
He appeared to try and glove the puck ahead, but he wasn't able to get his mitt on it. Still, the referee called this one no goal - which was upheld by league review.
Call me biased if you want, but I thought it was a terrible call.
Colorado was able to add a heartbreaker late in the period, with yet another long shot being deflefcted past Merzlikins. This one came from Sam Malinski, and was deflected right in front of the crease by Valeri Nichushkin, who scored at 19:56.
By the time the second period horn sounded, the Avs had a 3-1 lead and a 26-14 shots advantage.
The Jackets put together a better third period, but were unable to solve Wedgewood aside from another goal that was waived off for a glove pass with around 3 minutes to go. This one was the correct call, at least.
The Avalanche put a nice bow on the game with Nichushkin's second of the night, scored into the empty net at 18:06. With the crowd raining boos down on the officials (and probably some for the home team), Colorado left Nationwide with a 4-1 win.
Final shot count: Colorado 37, Columbus 23. This one never really felt close. The Jackets weren't good enough.
Three takeaways:
1. Cam Atkinson. The Jackets got one last chance to remember a beloved former teammate. This was a special ceremony for a player who deserved it. Unfortunate that the team couldn't rally around that and have a better night.
2. Elvis Merzlikins. #90 was fantastic for his second straight start. Hard to fault him on any of the 3 goals Colorado scored with him in the net. Two were deflections through traffic, and the other was a shot he never saw. He seems like a different player so far this season.
3. Where has the offense gone? The Jacket are struggling to score goals. If you take away the 7 goal night in Minnesota, they have just four of them in three games - and one of those came in garbage time against New Jersey. This team needs to dig deep and find that magic from last season, and fast.
The Blue Jackets are off until Saturday night, when they'll welcome another elite team to Nationwide Arena: the Tampa Bay Lightning. It will be interesting to see if Dean Evason has any tricks up his sleeve to help this team find some offensive mojo. They need it.