The Blue Jackets and Sharks played a late hockey game last night. Well, at least one of the teams did. The fact of the matter is, the Jackets absolutely stunk in San Jose.
After starting the game hot, the Jackets cooled way off and were dominated for about 30 minutes in this game. There is really no other way to put it.
The Jackets put the first handful of shots on goal on the board to start this game. But San Jose roared back, peppering Jet Greaves with 27 of the next 40 or so shots on goal.
They dominated the second period, out-shooting the Jackets 17-6 (this feels inflated for the CBJ, if we're being honest). Greaves stood about as tall as you can ask a goaltender to stand, and this team somehow had a chance to come back and win the game in the third.
There's just one problem: the third period has been this team's kryptonite all season long. The Jackets did have a better frame than normal, firing 18 shots towards Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.
But, in doing so, they abandoned their structure and gave up a late breakaway goal that would serve as the eventual winner. While the Jackets would get that one back, they gave up two empty net goals and ultimately lost this game 5-2.
They got what they deserved.
By the end of the broadcast, CBJ color analyst Jody Shelley mentioned that this game was closer than the score would indicate. I cannot disagree more.
This was every bit of a 5-2 loss by the Blue Jackets. They let an injury riddled Sharks team speed bag them for most of the night.
That's one of the youngest teams in the league-missing a lot of their talent-and the Jackets could not even keep pace with them. It was an embarrassing effort. They slept through most of this game and handed an easy win to the Sharks.
The third period push is the way they should have played all night.
If they had played 60 minutes with the effort that they had in the last 20 minutes, this was a winnable game. San Jose hemorrhages goals against (they average 3.5 per game), but the Jackets just didn't do enough to generate anything offensively.
They continuously tried the dump and chase, despite the fact that they could not retrieve a puck because Nedeljkovic is too good at playing it. When they did get into the zone and set up, everything was one and done. Not enough traffic, not enough compete.
When they finally did abandon that nonsensical dump & lose scheme, they weren't smart with their decisions. They still didn't work to get to the inside enough, and when you're playing on the perimeter against a faster team that likes to play a rush-heavy game, it's bad news.
In the end, I thought this was one of the worst single game performances this team has had all year. Which says a lot for a team sitting in last place. Time is quickly running out for them to get this season back on the right track.