DENVER - They played pretty well defensively, but the Blue Jackets are still in search of more offensive from some of their most familiar names.
The season-long scoring struggles of several key players has now lapsed past the midway point, and it was apparent Thursday in a 2-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center.
Columbus (23-16-3) is still in third place of the Metropolitan Division, with 49 points, but split its two-game road trip and now heads home for a home/road back-to-back against the Florida Panthers on Sunday at Nationwide Arena and Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday at Air Canada Centre.
The Jackets outshot the Avs 28-18 in the final two periods, including 17-7 in the third, but their lack of offensive prowess is getting to be a concern - especially during an extended period without injured forwards Cam Atkinson, Alex Wennberg and Brandon Dubinsky.
Here's how it went down Thursday night in the Rockies:
Full 60: Jackets shutout again, stumbling in Colorado to split road trip
Columbus applies heavy pressure in the third, but can't beat Bernier.
First Twenty
(Corsi, scoring chance data per naturalstattrick.com)
Goals: CBJ - None; COL - None
Shots:Avalanche 14, Blue Jackets 8
Shot-Attempts percentage (Corsi 5v5):Avalanche 64.5% (20-11), Blue Jackets 35.5% (11-20)
Scoring chances 5v5: Avalanche 9, Blue Jackets 5
High-Danger chances 5v5: Blue Jackets 4, Avalanche 1
The rundown: It wasn't exactly a carbon copy of the Blue Jackets' first period Tuesday in Dallas, but it was close.
Despite being outshot and allowing more overall scoring chances, Columbus played a solid road period to keep the game scoreless. The Jackets also got some great saves from goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped two great scoring opportunities for Colorado's top line.
The first was a save off a wrist shot by center Nathan MacKinnon to thwart a 2-on-1 with left wing Gabriel Landeskog. The second, moments later, was off a wrist shot from point-blank range after right wing Mikko Rantanen danced through three Blue Jackets defenders and popped free in the low slot.
Each team also killed off a power play in the first.
Overall, the opening 20 minutes were a success for the Jackets, who are concentrating more tightly on playing with a disciplined defensive structure while four lineup regulars are on injured reserve.
"I just want us to stay consistent with structure right now," Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "I really feel if we can go back to back and have it be part of us, this structure, I think it's going to help us when we get our other guys back. Some more freelancing will be in play [then], but our structure will be there."
Second Twenty
Goals: CBJ - None; COL - Mikko Rantanen PPG (Tyson Jost, Samuel Girard), 12:48
Shots:Avalanche 11, Blue Jackets 10
Shot-Attempts percentage (Corsi 5v5):Blue Jackets 77.3% (17-5), Avalanche 22.7% (5-17)
Scoring chances 5v5: Blue Jackets 7, Avalanche 2
High-Danger chances 5v5: Avalanche 1, Blue Jackets 1
The rundown: It came down to a power-play goal, which Colorado's Mikko Rantanen scored with 7:12 left in the period for his 14th goal of the season.
Otherwise, this period largely belonged to the Blue Jackets, who took more than three-quarters of the shot attempts during 5-on-5 and generated five more scoring chances overall.
The Blue Jackets also came inches from taking the lead, when defenseman David Savard joined a rush up the right wing and sent a shot low to the far side that Avalanche goalie Jonathan Bernier deflected just off the left goal post.
All in all, it was a solid period for Columbus, but not where it counts most: the scoreboard. The Jackets did get a late power play when Colorado's Erik Johnson kneed Jordan Schroeder attempting to deliver a hit along the left-wing boards, and it led to a 1:24 carryover man-advantage to start the third.
Final Twenty
Goals: CBJ - None; COL - Matt Nieto EV (Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen), 18:25
Shots:Blue Jackets 17, Avalanche 7
Shot-Attempts percentage (Corsi 5v5):Blue Jackets 60% (21-14), Avalanche 40% (14-21)
Scoring chances 5v5: Blue Jackets 11, Avalanche 8
High-Danger chances 5v5: Blue Jackets 2, Avalanche 1
The rundown: Tortorella wasn't thrilled with the chances the Blue Jackets generated in the first 40 minutes, so he changed up the forward lines a bit in the third.
He put Josh Anderson back on the top line with Artemi Panarin and rookie center Pierre-Luc Dubois, moved Nick Foligno back to the second line with Boone Jenner and added Oliver Bjorkstrand to that group, up from the third line.
The changes worked pretty well, and so did Colorado's general approach in the period. The Avalanche sat back quite a bit, trying to protect their 1-0 lead, and the Blue Jackets took advantage.
Columbus outshot Colorado by 10, again dominated 5-on-5 shot attempts (60/40 percent split) and put pressure on Bernier from start to finish. The Jackets just couldn't get the tying goal before Nieto just got one past Bobrovsky for an insurance tally with 1:35 left.
"In the third, there really wasn't much [defensive] structure, because we were just going and they weren't really going … they were just sitting back," Dubois said. "Tonight, it was a tough game, it was tight. Unfortunately, they scored on the power play and that was the goal that [let] them win."
Overall shots:Blue Jackets 35, Avalanche 32
Overall shot-attempts percentage (Corsi 5v5):Blue Jackets 55.1% (49-40), Avalanche 44.9% (40-49)
Overall scoring chances 5v5: Blue Jackets 23, Avalanche 20
Overall high-danger chances 5v5: Blue Jackets 7, Avalanche 3
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: Host the Florida Panthers on Sunday (5 p.m., FS-O, Fox Sports Go; Radio: CD102.5 FM, BlueJackets.com, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (9 p.m., ALT, FS-N+, NHL.TV)
