At some point, perhaps it was bound to happen.
With just one goal in the previous four games, the Blue Jackets went to Pittsburgh for Friday night’s game and – in the words of head coach Dean Evason – tried to “cheat” the game.
Columbus had just played extremely tight 2-1 and 1-0 losses to New Jersey and Florida, respectively, and the Blue Jackets talked before the contest against the Penguins about sticking to their defensive game and letting the offense come.
Instead, things got a little haywire against the Penguins. The Blue Jackets did create plenty of chances against the Pens – they put three goals on the board, not to mention 47 shots – but gave up too many opportunities the other way. The result was six goals on the board for the Pens and a 6-3 loss that was the sixth setback in a row for the Blue Jackets.
“We think every guy is trying to push and do a little too much, which is easy to do when you’re not having success,” Evason said. “You’re trying to push for offense. Everyone is trying to push for offense, and it ended up we turned pucks over, we were on the wrong side of things. That wasn’t who we are the other night in Pittsburgh.”
The Blue Jackets will try to get back to the tight-checking style that still created plenty of offensive opportunities – just not goals – vs. the Devils and Panthers tonight on Long Island, and they’ll have a pair of veterans back in the lineup to help them do that.
Center Sean Monahan (out since Jan. 7 with an upper body injury) and defenseman Erik Gudbranson (out since Oct. 15 after shoulder surgery) skated with the group Sunday in practice and said afterward they will be on the ice tonight.
The two were activated off injured reserve today, and it will help to have a pair of players who have worn letters on their sweater – not to mention have played 1,597 combined career games – against the Islanders.
“To have obviously two veteran guys who have been there, done that, there’s no question (it will be nice) to have their presence within the room,” Evason said. “Having said that, the results haven’t been there. I’m not making excuses, but we’ve had plenty of opportunities to win hockey games, and we believe that it’s going to turn around, and it has to do that tomorrow.”
But more than anything, Evason just wants the Blue Jackets to play the right way and believe that the wins will come, especially as the Blue Jackets remain just four points out of a playoff spot with 13 games to go.
“The consistency of how we’ve played is there,” Evason said. “The consistency of how we conduct ourselves is always there. So yeah, are there streaks, are there highs and lows? Yeah, but the consistency of us staying calm and not pushing panic buttons is also a key factor we believe, and we’ve been able to do that throughout the highs and lows.”
Know The Foe: New York Islanders
Head coach: Patrick Roy (Second season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 2.72 (25th) | Scoring defense: 2.96 (16th) | PP: 12.4 percent (32nd) | PK: 71.9 percent (30th)
The narrative: Lou Lamoriello has built a team that has made the Stanley Cup Playoffs five of the last six seasons, but after back-to-back runs to the NHL’s final four in 2020 and ‘21, the Isles have lost in the first round each of the past two seasons. Getting over the hump has proven difficult, as the Islanders just haven’t had the firepower to match up with some of the top teams in the league come spring. This season, special teams have submarined the Islanders, who are outscoring teams at 5-on-5 but are on the outside looking in for a playoff berth because of the power play and penalty kill.
Team leaders: The Islanders are one of two NHL teams along with Seattle without a 50-point scorer, though Bo Horvat and Anders Lee are close. Horvat leads the team with 48 points on the season with matching totals of 24 goals and 24 assists, while Lee – the team’s 34-year-old captain – has a team-best 25 goals among his 47 points. Kyle Palmieri adds a 21-23-44 line, Simon Holmstrom has 17 goals and Noah Dobson leads the defense with eight goals and 34 points.
With longtime CBJ nemesis Semyon Varlamov on injured reserve, Ilya Sorokin has carried the mail with 51 starts, a 27-20-5 record, 2.72 GAA and .907 save percentage.
What's new: The Islanders have been without standout forward Mat Barzal (lower body injury) for much of the season and traded veteran center Brock Nelson (20-23-43) at the deadline, but a five-game point streak (3-0-2) has put the team right back into the playoff race. Dobson (2-5-7) and Horvat (four goals) have led the charge in that five-game run while Sorokin has posted a .926 save percentage in that span.
Trending: UBS Arena opened in 2021, and the Blue Jackets are yet to leave Belmont Park with a win. Columbus is 0-5-1 all-time in the barn, including a 3-1 loss Jan. 20. Columbus did win the opening game of the season series by a 2-0 score Oct. 30 in Nationwide Arena.
Former CBJ: Forward Anthony Duclair missed a large chunk of the season with a lower body injury and has 7-4-11 in 39 games, while defenseman Adam Boqvist was claimed on waivers midway through the season and has two goals and five points in 12 games but has been out with an upper body injury. Liam Foudy played two games with the team earlier this year before being returned to the AHL.
