Blue Jackets’ play turns erratic after falling behind

The NHL will not rebroadcast Thursday’s game today on NHL Network. Nobody among the 15,823 at Nationwide Arena will keep their ticket stubs. It’s the type of game that, over the course of an 82-game marathon, drifts quickly from one’s memory.

The Ottawa Senators scored late in the first period and again late in the second period to beat the Blue Jackets 2-0, dropping the Jackets to 3-5-0 since their 16-game winning streak.

The Senators rode goaltender Mike Condon, who had a career-high 42 saves, 19 of them in the third period. It was his fourth career shutout.

Ottawa also won by outstructuring the Blue Jackets.

When the Jackets fell behind 1-0, they turned uncharacteristically frantic

with their play for long stretches of the second period.

“That’s the part of the game that bothered me most,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said.

“We’re still in the game. Condon is playing well, but we have some chances, and we’re still in the game.

“And then we opened up, we turned pucks over and gave them free looks. The last seven to eight minutes, we lost ourselves when we normally stay with it. That’s the part that concerns me most.”

Meanwhile, when Ottawa took a 1-0 lead — and especially when the Senators went up 2-0 late in the second — they settled into a defensive posture that the Blue Jackets couldn’t penetrate.

The Senators had three skaters in the neutral zone at all times, it seemed.

“They played that shut-down type of defense,” Blue Jackets left wing Brandon Saad said. “Good sticks. It was just a lack of effort getting to the net. We had a few shots, but it was from the perimeter, and it’s hard to beat goalies from the outside.”

Blue Jackets skaters tried to single- handedly skate through the Senators’ 1- 3- 1 on more than a few occasions. When they dumped the puck and forechecked, they were better — but not much.

“Too cute,” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. “It’s making that one extra pass instead of just putting it on the ( goalie’s) pads and getting the rebounds. When we focus on the simple plays and shots, it seems like that's when the floodgates open. We’re more of a direct, straight- line team, and we have to get back to that.”

Ottawa’s second goal was scored on a nifty redirection by forward Ryan Dzingel, who spent three years at Ohio State before turning pro three seasons ago.

It was Dzingel’s ninth goal of the season, and it made the Senators' lead seem insurmountable.

The Blue Jackets, who played most of the third period without defenseman David Savard, had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:01 at the 15:33 mark of the third period.

They spent, essentially, the final 4:27 of the game with an extra skater after pulling goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (26 saves) with 2:49 to play.

But it wasn’t happening. Not on this night. The Blue Jackets were shut out for the third time this season.