PREVIEW: Blue Jackets hope to build on good performances in Montreal

If you simply looked at a box score, you’d think the Blue Jackets skated away with a win Tuesday night vs. Anaheim.

Columbus had big edges in shot attempts (86-57) and shots on goal (37-27), drew seven power plays and led twice. But in the end, the Blue Jackets couldn’t finish off the game, with the Ducks scoring the tying tally in the final minutes and then scoring on an overtime breakaway to take a 3-2 final.

The point gave the Blue Jackets five points out of six in the past three games, and it was another strong performance for Columbus based on possession numbers and how much the team had the puck. But unfortunately, the squad left believing it left that second point on the table.

“I’m disappointed for the players,” head coach Pascal Vincent said. “We had more than double the chances for; gave up 12 chances against. But it’s a good transition team. Anaheim is a hard-working team and they transition really well. Second goal against, that’s what happened. But we had our chances – 16 shots in the third period, 28 chances for total. These are the games we usually win.”

In the end, though, the effort was there but the execution was just a step off. Even though they had plenty of chances – and hit the iron multiple times – the Blue Jackets scored on just one of the seven power plays. The total of 86 shot attempts – coming off 92 three days prior at Minnesota – was impressive, but 49 of them weren’t on net.

If the Blue Jackets keep playing the way they did against the Ducks, they’ll likely win a lot of games. They just need to finish things off, and they’ll have another chance to do so tonight in Montreal.

“We definitely played well enough to get two points,” Werenski said. “There’s some stuff we have to clean up obviously, but we worked hard tonight. Now we look forward to Montreal.”

Know The Foe: Montreal Canadiens

Head coach: Martin St. Louis (third season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.00 (14th) | Scoring defense: 3.33 (18th) | PP: 16.7 percent (18th) | PK: 75.8 percent (19th)

The narrative: The last two years have been a massive struggle for the Canadiens after the team’s surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final in the shortened 2021 COVID season. The team has committed to a bit of a youth movement – one a bit short-circuited at the moment thanks to injuries to young standouts Kirby Dach and Kaiden Guhle – and building under St. Louis around youngsters like 2022 No. 1 overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky as well as youngsters like 22-year-old defenseman Justin Barron, 23-year-old forward Alex Newhook and 23-year-old forward Cole Caufield, all first-round picks. Captain Nick Suzuki, still just 24, also is still blossoming into his own.

Team leaders: Coming off scoring 26 goals in just 46 games, “Goal” Caufield currently leads the way with a 3-3-6 line, while Tanner Pearson has three goals among his five points to tie for the team lead. Sean Monahan is next with a 2-3-5 line, while Newhook has three goals in his first six games with the squad. Mike Matheson leads the blue line with a goal among his three points.

In net, veteran Jake Allen has started three games, going 2-0-1 with a 2.58 GAA and .929 save percentage, while Sam Montembeault is 1-1-0 with a 3.55 GAA and .892 save percentage.

What's new: Montreal made some moves to try to contend sooner rather than later, as Pearson was brought in during September for goalie Casey DeSmith, while Newhook was acquired this summer for a first-round pick. Pearson adds another veteran voice to the room, while Newhook could put up good numbers after two solid seasons to start his career in Colorado. Mike Hoffman (San Jose), Jonathan Drouin (Colorado) and Evgeni Dadonov (Dallas) are among those no longer with the squad after last season.

Trending: Columbus won just one of the three matchups a year ago – a 6-4 home matchup in November – after going 12-4-2 in the series the previous seven seasons. The Blue Jackets have won three of the last four in Centre Bell.

Former CBJ: Longtime Blue Jackets standout David Savard just went on injured reserve after injuring his hand Monday at Buffalo, while Josh Anderson has an assist in the first six games.

3 Stats to Know

• Rookie forward Adam Fantilli is coming off the first multipoint game of his CBJ career with a goal and an assist Tuesday vs. Anaheim. He has two goals in the past two games and is the 15th teenager overall and second this year to score for the Blue Jackets (David Jiricek also this season).
• Ivan Provorov has assists in three straight games as well as an 0-5-5 line in the past five contests.
• Milestone watch: Kent Johnson is seven games from 100 for his NHL career (17-28-45, 93 GP). ... Jack Roslovic is seven points from 200 and nine games from 400 for his NHL career (72-121-193, 391 GP).

Who’s Hot

Boone Jenner has four goals in the last five games. With a team-high 26 goals last year, Jenner joined Nash, David Vyborny, R.J. Umberger, Cam Atkinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand as the only Blue Jackets with three or more 20-goal seasons. … Jack Roslovic had the overtime winner Saturday and has points in three straight games (1-2-3) after notching an assist on Fantilli’s goal Tuesday. … Justin Danforth has a 3-1-4 line in the last five contests. … After notching just four assists in 59 games last year – and becoming the only CBJ player in team history to score at least 15 times in a season with less than 10 helpers – Kirill Marchenko has three assists in the first three games of the season.

This Day in CBJ History

Oct. 26, 2005: The Blue Jackets allow a franchise-record 12 power-play attempts to Nashville, but the Predators score on only two of them and allow Adam Foote’s shorthanded goal 35 seconds into overtime as the Jackets take a 3-2 win in Nationwide Arena.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Jack Roslovic
Alexandre Texier – Adam Fantilli – Emil Bemstrom
Kirill Marchenko – Cole Sillinger – Justin Danforth
Dmitri Voronkov – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski – Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov – David Jiricek
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Spencer Martin

Scratches: Kent Johnson, Adam Boqvist, Andrew Peeke

Injured reserve/Injured Non-Roster: Patrik Laine (day to day, upper body as of Oct. 20), Daniil Tarasov (knee, week to week)

Roster Report: Vincent said Wednesday the squad wants to get a look at Voronkov, so the big Russian forward is set to make his NHL debut. Johnson will be the odd man out among the forward group.