The Columbus Blue Jackets needed to find a way to get four points over the weekend. After a big win in Montreal on Saturday night, we were optimistic-only to have our playoff dreams smashed by a loss to the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
It was fun while it lasted. The Jackets played arguably their best game of the season against the Canadiens on Saturday night. They silenced one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, and buried a team that still has home ice advantage within reach.
After that game, it felt like this team was going to rise to the occasion. They played with a confidence we have been waiting to see for weeks, scoring timely goals and smothering the Habs into oblivion.
Then, our confidence went higher on Sunday when the Bruins announced that they would be resting some of their best players ahead of the playoffs. Out of the lineup were three of their 50-point scorers, and their top-two defensemen by ice time. They were also starting their backup goaltender.
The Bruins seemed to be bowing out of this game to start prepping for the playoffs. But, despite the weakened opponent, the Blue Jackets could not rise to the occasion last night. On home ice, they were beaten by some of their former castaways, essentially ending their playoff run.
Sunday's game was lost because of poor defensive zone play.
Last night's game started off well enough. The Jackets were able to take a 1-0 lead and get the first 9 shots on goal, peppering Joonas Korpisalo with rubber and carrying over the magic they had in Montreal the night before.
But that old leaky d-zone coverage came back to haunt them, and the Bruins went down and scored on their first shot on goal. On this play, the Jackets did a good job falling into their structure, but Zach Werenski let his man (Sean Kuraly) slip away, while Isac Lundestrom failed to secure a stick. Both guys get deflections on this play, and there isn't much Jet Greaves can do about it.
Those kind of mistakes are frustrating, because this is exactly what has held this team back for the last couple of years. The difference now is, the structure is there. So it's even more frustrating to see this goal happen because a couple of veteran guys fail to put in a full effort and break up the play.
For all of the good they did up to that point, it was spoiled. The Bruins then locked it down for the next 30 minutes before finding the go-ahead goal in the final minute of the second period. You guessed it: a lost puck battle in their own end. At that moment, the pit of despair hits the entire 5th Line. We have seen this play out before.
Adam Fantilli re-ignited our hope with an early third period goal, and they pressed for the lead. But a poor shift in the defensive zone led to a soft goal against, and eventually a Bruins win.
Former Jackets put a nail in the coffin.
We should have seen this one coming. With a former Blue Jacket goaltender getting the nod in goal, we knew we were in danger. Joonas Korpisalo made 33 saves on the night, and gave his team a chance to win-earning second star honors.
But, I didn't think he did anything special. As usual, there weren't a ton of second and third scoring chances for the Blue Jackets. There was a lot of one and done shots, often with no traffic in front of the net. When they did get traffic, they looked exponentially more dangerous. I'm not sure why they can't do that more consistently.
The part that really stings was at the other end. We saw Sean Kuraly for four years in Columbus, and I can't ever recall seeing him play this big of a game. He was buzzing around, willing the Bruins into a victory.
The Central Ohio native finished as the game's first star, with 1 goal and 3 points on the night. For clarity, he scored 17 points all of last season with the Blue Jackets.
Just for fun, Andrew Peeke finished second on the team in ice time (21:35), blocking a couple of shots and putting one on net at the other end. Jordan Harris (remember him?) played 18:45, picking up an assist and blocking a couple of shots as well.
These were all guys who were cast away by the Blue Jackets at one point or another. Now, I'm not saying they would have made a huge difference here, but maybe that's the issue we need to discuss. Clearly, these guys are capable NHL players. But none of them could carve out a role here.
Maybe they were used incorrectly here (in the case of Harris, he wasn't used at all). Maybe it was an issue of surrounding them with better support. Maybe it's a culture issue. Whatever the reason, it came back to haunt them last night, as some former Jackets really made them pay at the worst possible time.
The team still has a chance to make the playoffs, but they will have to rely on the Philadelphia Flyers losing both of their remaining games in regulation-and win their own in regulation on Tuesday night. Last night's loss was devastating for this organization.