PREVIEW: Blue Jackets look to handle the storm vs. Hurricanes

Sunday’s postgame media session for the Blue Jackets was a breakdown of yet another game that slipped through their fingers. 

It’s become a familiar story at times throughout the year, as Columbus took a 3-0 lead in Nationwide Arena against the Bruins, then watched Boston roar back to tie it with 11 seconds remaining before finishing off a 4-3 victory in a shootout. 

The Blue Jackets accomplished their goal of responding to Saturday’s frustrating loss to San Jose by starting on time – head coach Rick Bowness said it was the team’s best first period since he arrived in January – but once the momentum turned, Columbus couldn’t battle back in its sixth game in nine days. 

CBJ players and coaches didn’t want to use fatigue as an excuse, though, maintaining that the biggest issue was the team got away from what made it successful in the early going.  

“There was a reason why we were up 3-0, and it was because we were doing the right things and playing the right way,” center Charlie Coyle said. “It doesn't always go like that, but especially when you get the results right away, we gotta stick to it. We had that talk between periods, like, ‘Let’s stay on it,’ but they’re a good team. They’re going to come and push and play well and press a little bit, but it’s up to us no matter what happens to stay on it. 

“We can’t be turning the puck over like that and giving them easy transition. It just wasn’t the way we were supposed to play. We did it all the first, and we certainly got away from it. We can’t afford to do that, or else we get those results.” 

The loss dropped Columbus to 1-3-1 in its past five games, but the Blue Jackets remain in the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference going into tonight’s game vs. Carolina. Ottawa, Detroit and Philadelphia are hot on the Jackets’ heels, though, just two points behind with each holding a game in hand heading into tonight’s busy NHL slate. 

For the Blue Jackets, the goal against Carolina will be to get back to the game the team played both in the first period against Boston and for 60 minutes two weeks ago against the Hurricanes, when Columbus took an early lead and kept building on it on the way to a 5-1 victory. 

“We’ll move on,” Bowness said. “We’ll get them ready for Tuesday. We had a great game against Carolina last game. We’ll address what needs to be addressed. It’s all going to be positive going into Tuesday. We’re not going to look back on this and dwell on it too much. Like we always do, ‘This is what happened. We lost a 3-0 lead. Why?’ It’s my job to explain to them why, and it’s their job to take it and listen and learn from it and grow from it, and that’s what we’ll do.” 

The season has officially reached the final 10 percent, with the contest vs. Carolina marking eight games to go. The Blue Jackets remain in the thick of the race, and captain Boone Jenner said tonight is all about responding and then finishing strong.  

“It’s a tough loss obviously, and we know what’s at stake,” Jenner said after Sunday’s game. “We are where we are right now. We can’t change the games that we didn’t get points. We have eight huge games here the rest of the way, and I think we have to learn from nights like tonight and things we need to get better at in order to get some more wins down the stretch here to get us to where we want to be.”

Scratches: Dmitri Voronkov (upper body injury), Mathieu Olivier (upper body injury), Kent Johnson, Damon Severson (upper body injury, week to week), Egor Zamula 

Injured Reserve: D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as of Jan. 8)      

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets have had some tough injury luck the past week with Severson, Voronkov and Olivier going down, and Del Bel Belluz was recalled Monday. Whether he goes into the lineup will be discussed at the team’s morning skate Tuesday. 

This Day in CBJ History

March 31, 2013: The Blue Jackets extend their home point streak to a franchise-record 12th game (9-0-3), downing Anaheim by a 2-1 score in overtime. Mark Letestu notches the winner as Columbus finishes March with a 10-2-4 record, then a record for the winningest month in franchise history. 

March 31, 2015: Jack Johnson scores 56 seconds into overtime as Columbus claims a 3-2 win vs. New Jersey at Nationwide Arena. Brandon Dubinsky also scores on a penalty shot in the second period.  

Mar. 31, 2018: Trailing 4-1, the Jackets score three times in the final 4:58 to tie the game before falling 5-4 in overtime at Vancouver. The point caps off the second-best month in club history in wins (12) and points (25) as the Blue Jackets finish 12-3-1. Seth Jones ties a single-game club record for defensemen with four points (1-3-4) and surpasses James Wisniewski for the most points in a single season by a blueliner with his 52nd point on the equalizer. 

March 31, 2019: Sergei Bobrovsky earns his fourth shutout in 17 days and the Blue Jackets continue to close in on a playoff spot with their fifth straight victory, a 4-0 final at Buffalo. Bobrovsky stops 38 shots while Pierre-Luc Dubois (1-2-3), Nick Foligno (1-1-2) and Ryan Dzingel (0-2-2) have multipoint nights.  

The Numbers Game

Columbus is 20-5-5 since Jan. 11 and leads the NHL in points percentage (.750) in that span, and the Blue Jackets are 9-1-4 in the last 14 home games. ... Zach Werenski has moved into fifth place in CBJ single-season annals with 77 points this year. With 21 goals and 56 assists – three short of tying the franchise record – he is third among NHL defensemen in goals and second in points. He leads NHL defensemen in multipoint games (25, tied for 11th overall in NHL) and has tied Artemi Panarin’s team record set in 2018-19. ... Adam Fantilli has eight goals in the last 18 games and posted a 9-15-24 line in the last 24 contests. ... Denton Mateychuk scored his 12th goal of the season Saturday and is tied for 12th in the league among defensemen. He is just the fourth CBJ blueliner to have at least 12 goals in a season, joining Werenski (four times), Seth Jones (twice) and Bryan Berard (12, 2005-06). ... Kirill Marchenko is second in the NHL with six shootout goals and has scored on 10 of 16 career shootout attempts, third among all active NHLers and fourth best in league history (minimum 10 attempts). ... Charlie Coyle has 12 goals and 31 points in the past 30 games, while Cole Sillinger has a 2-5-7 line in the last eight contests. ... With his 14th goal with the Blue Jackets on Sunday, Mason Marchment is tied for the most tallies for a CBJ player in his first 32 games with the franchise in team history. ... Fantilli (54) and Sillinger (33) tied career highs in points on Saturday. ... Jet Greaves is 12-2-3 in his last 18 appearances with a 2.26 GAA, as well as a 1.83 GAA and .928 save percentage in his last seven games. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 55 goals this season, the most in the NHL and a new franchise record. … Columbus has scored first in 45 of 74 games overall, tying Washington for the most in the NHL. ... Jenner has 210 career goals, three behind Cam Atkinson for second in team history. ... Coyle (fourth, 403) and Provorov (367, seventh) are both in the top 10 among active NHLers in consecutive games played. Provorov is set to play in his 239th consecutive game with the Blue Jackets, tying Pierre-Luc Dubois for fourth in franchise history. 

Know The Foe: Carolina Hurricanes

Head coach: Rod Brind'Amour (Eighth season)  

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.47 (5th) | Scoring defense: 2.92 (8th) | PP: 23.7 percent (9th) | PK: 80.2 percent (13th)  

The narrative: Players and management have come and gone, but most things stay the same in Carolina under Brind’Amour, who has led the franchise to the playoffs in every year of his tenure. But yet again, the Hurricanes came up short of the ultimate goal a season ago, falling to Florida in the Eastern Conference Final. Carolina is closing in on a fourth Metropolitan Division title in six years, but all eyes will be on whether the squad can get over the hump in the postseason.  

Scoring leaders: Sebastian Aho is one of the most consistent players in the league, as the fantastic Finn leads the Canes with 74 points thanks to 25 goals and 49 assists. Andrei Svechnikov has moved up to a tie for second on the squad with a 26-36-62 line, while Seth Jarvis leads the squad with 30 goals among his 62 points on his way to a third straight 30-goal season. The team’s big offseason acquisition, high-scoring wing Nikolaj Ehlers, has a 23-38-61 line, while Shayne Gostisbehere leads the defense with 12 goals and 45 points in 47 games and just returned from a lower body injury.  

In net: Brandon Bussi has been one of the stories of the season, as he reached the NHL this year at age 27 and leads Carolina with 34 starts, posting a sterling 27-6-1 record, 2.45 GAA and .894 save percentage. Fredrik Andersen is 13-13-5 in 31 starts with a 3.16 GAA and .871 save percentage, while injuries have limited Pyotr Kochetkov to nine appearances.  

What's new: You know what you're getting with the Canes, as their smothering style again has Carolina first in the league in shot attempt share (60.2 percent) at 5-on-5 by a wide margin. They put pressure on you from the opening faceoff and fire just about everything toward the net, putting teams under stress for a full 60 minutes. The Hurricanes have cranked it up over the past two months, going 22-7-3 in the last 32 games; Carolina has averaged 3.8 goals per game and converted on 29.5 percent of its power plays in that span.   

Trending: The Blue Jackets have won four games in a row in the series in Columbus, including the 5-1 victory two weeks ago today. The season series is split 1-1, as Carolina won at home in the first game of the season by a 4-1 margin Dec. 9. 

Former CBJ: Eric Robinson is in year two in Carolina, and he’s posted a 12-6-18 line in 59 games.