Blue Jackets struggle, but Laine dazzles
This season can't end soon enough for the Blue Jackets.
Nearly everything they have tried has failed, beginning with the fateful resigning of former center Pierre-luc Dubois, and it has reached a point of drudgery following a 4-3 overtime loss
Monday to the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blue Jackets tried hard, which was nothing new, but their body language after these shortcomings tells this season's story much clearer than their monotone voices.
Patrik Laine scored a pair of goals that included, arguably, the team's most impressive of the year with a thrilling
end-to-end rush. Max Domi showed he still has fight left with an assist on Laine's first goal and a violent meltdown on Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy, an Ohio AAA Blue Jackets alum.
Stefan Matteau, a grinder, scored his first goal of the season with a gorgeous shot. Seth Jones set it up with an even better pass. Kole Sherwood, another Ohio AAA Blue Jackets alum, notched his first NHL point with a secondary assist on Matteau's goal.
They were signs of life for a team gutted by injuries and trades, but the result was another loss to the Blackhawks, who finished the season series with a 6-2-0 record against Columbus.
The Blue Jackets have dropped three straight games and still have 12 left, including another six-game road trip that starts Thursday in Dallas. They'll also make another swing through Florida to play the Panthers and Lightning, two of the division's top three teams.
Here are a couple of more takeaways:
Laine dazzles
After not scoring a goal in 14 straight games, Laine has scored three in the past two. His first Monday was a rocket from just inside the blue line, set up with Domi's feed from the right wing. The puck ripped into the top left corner, sailing through traffic, and Blackhawks goalie Kevin Lankinen didn't see it.
The second one was a jaw-dropper. Collecting a loose puck behind the Blue Jackets' net, Laine raced up the ice and zipped past several Blackhawks, reaching a top speed of 24 mph before easing off the gas to stickhandle around defenseman Calvin de Haan.
It was quite a sight, given Laine's size, but he wasn't done.
The towering forward also cut in front of defenseman Riley Stillman to put himself on Lankinen's doorstep and he tucked the puck into the far side before falling to the ice.
“I saw a bunch of openings and was able to get some speed from behind the net,” Laine said. “That's kind of my normal move. Try to get it under the (defenseman's) stick. Sometimes, I've just got to do that more, just take it to the net and good things happen.”
Laine has put in extra work in practices lately, and it looks like it's starting to pay off.
Mad Max
Near the end of the second, a play that appeared to be a run-of-the-mill hooking penalty turned into something more violent.
After hooking Murphy behind the Blackhawks' net, Domi chased after the Chicago defenseman to make him pay for what the Blue Jackets center felt was an acting job. Domi wound up breaking his stick over Murphy's right arm with a cross-check — which drew another penalty — and then took immediate exception to Murphy's elbow striking him in the head while doing it.
Domi dropped his gloves, grabbed Murphy's jersey at the collar and began “rag-dolling” the lanky, 6-foot-4 Murphy — violently pulling him to the ice and taking at least one swing while the defenseman was on his back.
Murphy wasn't penalized, while Domi was assessed minors for hooking and cross-checking plus a 10-minute misconduct. The Blue Jackets killed off both penalties and Domi spent the first 12-plus minutes of the third in the penalty box.
Afterward, he expressed regret for not showing better restraint.
“Usually when you hit someone in the head, you've got to answer the bell, but a guy like that, I mean, hey, I can't really comment on what I think of that kind of response,” Domi said. “But, hey, you can't really take a penalty like that, so that's on me.”
He was just warming up.
“With that being said, you know what, I think the (hooking penalty) he sold a little bit, so I kind of went at him a little bit and he nailed me in the head,” Domi said. “And if you're going to do that, you better answer the bell. And I'm not really surprised he didn't, but I've got to find a way to pull back there. It's not a good play by me, but it's embarrassing if I'm him, for sure.” bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger
Chicago Columbus
BLACKHAWKS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3, OT 1 0 2 1—4 1 1 1 0—3
First Period: 1, Columbus, Matteau 1 (Jones, Sherwood), 14:02. 2, Chicago, Keith 2 (Kane, Debrincat), 16:25 (pp). Penalty: Harrington, CBJ (Tripping), 15:11.
Second Period: 3, Columbus, Laine 11 (Domi, Gavrikov), 6:11. Penalties: Columbus bench, served by Stenlund (Hooking), 18:09; Columbus bench, served by Stenlund (Cross Checking), 18:09; Domi, CBJ (Misconduct), 18:09.
Third Period: 4, Chicago, Kurashev 8 (Kane), 6:15. 5, Chicago, Connolly 3, 8:21. 6, Columbus, Laine 12, 11:32.
Overtime: 7, Chicago, Hagel 6 (Kalynuk, Dach), 1:25.
Shots on Goal: Chicago 10-9-13-2: 34. Columbus 13-7-12-1: 33. Power-plays: Chicago 1 of 3; Columbus 0 of 0. Goalies: Chicago, Lankinen 16-11-4 (33 shots-30 saves). Columbus, Korpisalo 9-11-7 (34-30). A: 4,093 (18,500). T: 2:31.