Despite blowout, Jackets say they went in ‘right direction’
EDMONTON, Alberta — On paper, the Blue Jackets’ 5-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday looks worse than the 4-3 loss to Vancouver on Tuesday. But the Jackets say there were signs of progress in the loss.
Particularly against players such as Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl, it would’ve been easy for a 3-0 deficit after the first period to become 5-0 or even 6-0 before the game was over. The Jackets have shown a pattern of spiraling down when an opponent gets momentum, much like Tuesday as they gave up a 3-0 lead and lost.
After that game, Columbus coach Brad Larsen criticized his team for how it “stopped playing” in the second and third periods. Though the outcome was the same Thursday, the process to get there was different.
“There was a lot of try,” Larsen said. “I don’t think it was an effort thing tonight. You have a start like that where we started fine and then you’re down three to a very dangerous team. We had our looks. We did. Their goalie played well. We he hit a lot of posts tonight. We weren’t perfect by any means, but the effort was better.”
The Jackets are 2-7-1 in their past 10 games, with all seven regulation losses coming on the road. As the youngest team in the NHL, stretches like this are a painful, but necessary, part of learning how things work at the highest level.
“Today, it sounds weird saying it, but it was maybe a little bit of a step in the right direction,” Gustav Nyquist said. “... This is part of it. This is part of the season, part of the league. It’s easy when you win and things are going your way. When it doesn’t, you’ve gotta dig deep and work your way out of it.”
Oilers’ early 5-on-3 advantage dooms Jackets
With a 31.5% conversion rate, the Oilers have the best power play in the NHL.
It’s safe to say that giving them a two-man advantage early in the first period was not in the Jackets’ game plan.
Jakub Voracek lost his helmet and
didn’t immediately head to the bench, and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins tripped Edmonton forward Kailer Yamamoto on the same play, giving the Oilers a fiveon-three advantage for two minutes. It was the opening they needed.
Jesse Puljujarvi scored his first power-play goal 1:05 into the five-on-three, and less than a minute later, he added a second to put Columbus in a 2-0 hole less than 10 minutes into the game.
“It’s a frustrating start, because you want a chance to kind of build on some momentum,” Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “I thought we were all right initially there. Just a freak way to go down fiveon-three. We’re killing all right, then it’s bang, then it’s bang again. That’s frustrating, the way we did it.”
A turnover led to a goal from Derek Ryan to make it 3-0 before the first period was over.
“It was a little bit of a brain cramp there from (Voracek),” Larsen said. “You can’t play the puck when your helmet is off or play a man. That put them on a five-on-three. We were killing it fine too, they had no shots on goal. They miss it wide then pop it in, then get the second one, and that puts you behind the 8Ball.”
Korpisalo returns
After not playing since Dec. 1 and being on injured reserve while dealing
with a NON-COVID illness, Joonas Korpisalo returned to game action Thursday when he took the ice for the third period in relief of Merzlikins.
Korpisalo stopped all 15 shots he faced in 19:39 of action. The lone goal Edmonton scored after he entered the game was an empty-netter.
For Larsen, getting Korpisalo back in the game Thursday was important for his readiness to start.
“I think it’s important to get into a game and feel the game action, the traffic,” Larsen said. “And they’re a highpowered team as we know. I think it was real important that he got in there, and he played well . ... He got some nice, kind of easier shots early, then he had to make some big saves there later on.”
OILERS 5, BLUE JACKETS 2
Columbus 0 0 2 — 2
Edmonton 3 1 1 — 5
First Period: 1, Edmonton, Puljujarvi 9 (Barrie, Draisaitl), 7:24 (pp). 2, Edmonton, Puljujarvi 10 (Nugent-hopkins, Mcdavid), 8:10 (pp). 3, Edmonton, Ryan 2 (Perlini), 11:07. Penalties: Edmonton bench, served by Kassian (Too Many Men on the Ice), 1:12; Voracek, CBJ (Illegal Equipment), 6:19; Columbus bench, served by Domi (Tripping), 6:19; Keith, EDM (Cross Checking), 15:30; Jenner, CBJ (Hooking), 15:46.
Second Period: 4, Edmonton, Perlini 1 (Bouchard, Kassian), 16:41. Penalties: Bouchard, EDM (Tripping), 4:26; Bean, CBJ (Holding), 10:57; Bean, CBJ (Interference), 13:46.
Third Period: 5, Columbus, Nyquist 5 (Bean, Sillinger), 6:28. 6, Columbus, Danforth 2 (Werenski), 16:36. 7, Edmonton, Foegele 3 (Puljujarvi), 17:06 (en).
Shots on Goal: Columbus 10-14-14: 38. Edmonton 14-15-16: 45. Power-plays: Columbus 0 of 3; Edmonton 2 of 5. Goalies: Columbus, Merzlikins 11-7-1 (29 shots-25 saves), Columbus, Korpisalo 3-4-0 (15-15). Edmonton, Skinner 3-5-0 (38-36). A: 15,022 (18,641). T: 2:27.