Takeaways as Blue Jackets bounced in OT
DETROIT — It’s an axiom used across nearly all team sports, but it applies to hockey particularly well: “You make your own luck.”
The phrase is often used when a game appears to be decided by the whims of fortune — good or bad — and the implication is just as it sounds.
Play poorly, expect bad luck. Play well, it may be on your side. Somewhere in between, well, good luck with that luck. It could go either way.
That was the Blue Jackets’ fate Tuesday at Little Caesar’s Arena, paying a harsh price in luck during a 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
The Jackets weren’t terrible, exactly, but weren’t great. Now, they’re 1-2-1 after an opening four-game road trip thanks to some tough bounces and Tyler Bertuzzi’s hockey pants, which ended the game 15 seconds into OT. Here are some takeaways:
No such luck
All three Red Wings goals were scored off unpredictable bounces.
Anthony Mantha scored on a second-period power play on a redirected puck that trapped Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins out of position. Merzlikins was poised to stop Dylan Larkin’s shot from the top of the left face-off circle, but the puck hit Bertuzzi’s skate and went straight to Mantha for an easy goal.
Detroit’s second goal, scored by Bobby Ryan later in the second period, was aided by fortune, as well, after Boone Jenner partly blocked Jon Merrill’s onetimer and sent the puck rolling to the low slot. Ryan just got to it just in time to
use Seth Jones’ stick as a ramp that flipped the puck over Merzlikins’ shoulder, end-over-end.
In overtime, Bertuzzi got the winner after his initial shot bounced off of Merzlikins’ goal stick, then went off Bertuzzi’s pants into the net.
The Blue Jackets were denied a similar-style goal in the first period when Eric Robinson tried to send in a rebound of a Liam Foudy backhand, but Detroit goalie Jonathan Bernier made the save with his outstretched right pad.
Mixing, matching
It has been a frustrating start for coach John Tortorella and his staff, who’ve rifled through forward combinations and one defensive change while
trying to find their top groups.
Tuesday’s game was no exception, as the Blue Jackets’ forward lines were different at the end of the game and the defensive pairings went back to what they normally are with Zach Werenski and Jones playing together. Tortorella had split them Monday in a 3-2 victory, but rejoined them Tuesday and repaired Vladislav Gavrikov and David Savard.
The forwards have undergone so many switches that it’s pointless to sort through them all. Suffice to say that none has given Tortorella what he wants.
Another Texier tally
The lone bit of puck luck for the Jackets was early in the third period, when
Alexandre Texier tied the score at 2 by simply sending a long shot toward the net.
As the puck approached Bernier, Foudy attempted to deflect it, and appeared to be successful for his first NHL goal in the regular season. The rookie was initially credited with the goal, which withstood a coaching challenge for goaltender interference, but it was later changed to Texier.
The goal was Texier’s third of the season. He now has a team-best four points on three goals and an assist.
Climbing a rung
Jenner opened the scoring at 1:38 of the second period by taking a pass from Max Domi and beating Bernier to the far side for his second goal of the season.
It was the 226th point of Jenner’s career and pushed him past Brandon Dubinsky into sixth place all-time among scorers in franchise history. He’s 25 points away from passing R.J. Umberger for fifth.
Red Wings rarity
To illustrate how much things have changed between the Jackets and Red Wings in recent years, the victory was just the seventh for Detroit in the past 29 games against Columbus. The Blue Jackets are 22-4-3 in that span and had a five-game win streak against the Red Wings stopped.
The point earned by getting to overtime extended the Jackets’ string of 11 straight games with at least a point against Detroit. Columbus has won seven of the previous eight season series, going 11-1-0, and there are six games left between the two this season. bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger