Call it a hangover from the Stadium Series. Call it just a tough game that maybe they were due for. Whatever it was, the Blue Jackets didn’t have their best stuff Tuesday at Tampa Bay.
The Jackets had their legs but didn’t manage the game well, and the end result was a 6-2 loss against one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference that ended Columbus’ four-game winning streak.
A deflected shot and a breakaway goal put the Blue Jackets into a 2-0 hole less than two minutes into the game, and after the team found their footing from there, the wheels really came off with a slow start to the second period that allowed the Lightning to extend their lead to 4-1.
Two goals from Zach Werenski kept the Blue Jackets in it, but another mistake in the third – a penalty that led to a Tampa power-play goal that put the game away – was enough to doom the team to a loss.
“We put in some good minutes,” Werenski said. “I thought we worked hard for a lot of the game. Definitely had some mistakes in front of Elvis (Merzlikins) that cost us tonight. Not a total dud effort by any means. We played hard, but I think just the positions we put ourselves in, going down 2-0 and 4-1, put them on the power play, there’s some shifts in the second we’d probably like to have back.
“But we’ll learn from it. We’ll move forward. We’re in a spot right now where we can’t dwell on things for too long. So we’ll think about it tonight and then get ready for Florida.”
Perhaps the team was due to lose one after coming out of the 4 Nations break red-hot, and perhaps it was hard for the Blue Jackets to get fully engaged after a spectacle unlike any other on Saturday when almost 95,000 people packed Ohio Stadium to see the win over Detroit.
It also could just be that the team on the other side was pretty good, too – Tampa won its 10th in its last 12 games – but for whatever reason, the Blue Jackets just weren’t able to catch the Lightning.
"We still had plenty of opportunities, like we had some really good looks to score, it just didn't go in the net,” Evason said. “We just didn't have that little extra bite that we've had as of late, and we've got to get that back real quick.”
Things don’t get any easier tonight, though, as the Blue Jackets go from facing one scorching Florida team to another. Just like the Bolts on Tuesday night, the Panthers enter the game having won nine of their last 11, and the defending champs seem to have found their game nearing the stretch run.
With points at a premium as we near the final quarter of the NHL season, captain Boone Jenner said the Blue Jackets have to get back to their game tonight.
“I don’t think we played enough like us tonight,” Jenner said in the locker room Tuesday. “I know we have better in this room, and the next one is a bigger one.”
Know The Foe: Florida Panthers
Head coach: Paul Maurice (Third season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 3.26 (7th) | Scoring defense: 2.77 (9th) | PP: 23.0 percent (13th) | PK: 80.3 percent (13th)
The narrative: One year after coming up just shy of capturing Lord Stanley’s Cup, the Panthers ran it back and got to the top of the mountain last season, beating Edmonton in seven classic games to win the franchise’s first Cup. It was quite an accomplishment for former CBJ assistant GM Bill Zito’s squad, and now the challenge becomes trying to repeat. Fellow Floridians Tampa Bay did so in 2020 and ‘21, so it’s possible, and the Panthers still have the stars to do it.
Team leaders: Sam Reinhart inked a long-term deal to stay in Florida after tallying 57 goals last season to place third in the NHL, and he’s continued to lead the way with team-high totals of 31 goals (tied for sixth in the league) and 64 points. Matthew Tkachuk follows with a 22-35-57 line but is out with an injury suffered at the 4 Nations Face-Off, while longtime Panther Aleksander Barkov has a 16-40-56 line. Carter Verhaeghe (16-28-44) and Anton Lundell (14-26-40) also top 40 points.
Sergei Bobrovsky looked like the “Bob” we know a season ago, going 36-17-4 in 58 appearances with a 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage. This year, he’s again been one of the top goalies in the league, going 26-13-2 in 41 games with a 2.55 GAA and .906 save percentage.
What's new: The Panthers added a familiar face ahead of the trade deadline, acquiring former Seth Jones over the weekend, and the former CBJ defenseman made his debut Monday vs. Tampa Bay. The injury to Tkachuk could be a major stumbling block for the Panthers’ repeat hopes if he’s out long term, but Florida still enters the game as one of the hottest teams in the league with a 9-2-0 record in its last 11 games while outscoring teams 39-20.
Trending: The Panthers won all three contests a year ago and downed the Blue Jackets by a 4-3 score in the Jackets’ home opener Oct. 15. Columbus has won just three of the 18 contests over the past four seasons (3-12-3).
Former CBJ: Now six years into the seven-year deal he signed with Florida at the end of his CBJ tenure, Bobrovsky captured his elusive Cup ring in the spring. Bought out by the Blue Jackets this summer, Adam Boqvist was with the team for 18 games and had two goals and six points before being placed on waivers and joining the Islanders.
