While away from home, Columbus was reminded of a difficult truth of the NHL. When things aren't going well, no one is there to help pick you up.
"Losing sucks," head coach Brad Larsen said. "It's hard. It's hard on everybody. But you have to dust yourself off and get ready for the next game because nobody cares. Other than our fans and us, we care, but the other teams want to kick you when you are down.
"These moments are incredible for our group, how we handle these situations. There's no easy way through it. If you could just get an easy game, it would be fantastic, but unfortunately this league is not going to do that for you. You have to go get it."
Those words were spoken before the game at Washington last night, but they remain the same after the Capitals were able to pull out a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jackets last night.
But a chance to atone comes quickly and it comes in the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena, as the Blue Jackets return home tonight to take on a San Jose that is off to a very good start and in the thick of the playoff race in the Western Conference.
Surely, the Blue Jackets will be happy to be home, but they know there's no such thing as an easy win coming up on the schedule.
"There's no easy games," Justin Danforth said. "We just have to take the game to the team, and I think in the third period (against Washington) we did that. Throughout the first and second, there were times we did it as well. We just have to do it for a full 60."
Indeed, if there was a theme of the Blue Jackets' postgame comments in D.C., it was that the Jackets have to play with desperation, and they have to do it for the entire 60 minutes of the game, if not more.
"You have to play right from the puck drop with that desperation," said Eric Robinson, who had the lone CBJ goal on the night. "At this point, with the games we've dropped here on this road trip, that should be enough motivation right there to play with that desperation from the start."