We didn't know what to expect in Kirill Marchenko's return to Columbus, but I don't think we expected it to go down quite like last night's game did. Marchy's Toronto Maple Leafs seemingly scored at will, blowing out the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
By the time the final horn sounded, it's hard to describe this game as anything other than frustrating. The Jackets honestly did a lot of good things, even getting on the board first thanks to a Jake Christiansen goal just 2:38 into the game.
But again, as they have multiple times already this season, they tested the other team's power-play. We mentioned in our keys to the game yesterday that they could not afford to play shorthanded (or even on the power-play) against this Maple Leafs team.
Of course, it bit them right in the kiester. And of course, it was Marchenko who burned them on the first Leafs power-play, tying the game.
The Blue Jackets got right back to work, but also fell right back into penalty trouble. Kent Johnson had an errant stick go into the face of Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe (I really hope he's not seriously injured), resulting in a double minor.
They were able to get both ends of that killed off-only to have Dmitri Voronkov almost immediately take a tripping penalty, his second minor of the period. The first would end in a 1-1 tie, which was honestly fortunate for the home team after surrendering four man advantages.
Second period nightmares continue.
There isn't a single positive thing to say about the second period last night, so it's best to keep this part brief. The Jackets quit skating, fell out of their structure, and left their goaltender out to dry.
If you look at the stat sheet and nothing else, you might wonder how the Leafs managed to score 4 goals on 9 shots. It would be easy to blame Jet Greaves, but if you go back and watch these plays, there isn't much he could do. He was left out to dry.
The Leafs simply stayed in their system, forced turnovers, and then made the Blue Jackets pay. Each and every time. That's what a highly skilled team can do when they are at the top of their game.
Unfortunately, the Jackets were not. They did not stay in their structure. They didn't try to impose their physical will. They simply kept making the same mistakes, over and over, until this game was completely out of reach after 40 minutes.
They came out better in the third, but there was no way they were coming back after giving up 5 straight goals to the Leafs. And, any flicker of hope was dashed when they gave up a sixth goal with three minutes left to play.
Pride and positive takeaways?
I suppose you could say they played with some pride in the third period, despite the circumstance. But as far as positive takeaways, I can't really come up with any. This team is good enough to not get absolutely embarrassed on home ice, and it's frankly unacceptable that this has happened twice in the span of a week.
Ownership has spent up to the salary cap, and this isn't a young roster at this point. They need to figure it out, whatever "it" is. No silver lining in this one. They played flat, and got absolutely steamrolled in front of their home crowd. That's not good enough.
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