Blue Jackets reboot off to rocky start in loss to Penguins

COLUMBUS -- The debut of the new-and-improved Columbus Blue Jackets didn't go as they hoped Tuesday.

After stocking up prior to the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline on Monday by adding four players, including skilled forwards Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel, the Blue Jackets ran into some too-familiar trouble against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 5-2 loss at Nationwide Arena.
Despite missing defensemen Kris Letang (upper body), Brian Dumoulin (concussion) and Olli Maatta (upper body) because of injuries, the Penguins jumped out to a 3-0 lead by 1:15 into the second period with goals from Jake Guentzel, Jared McCann and Evgeni Malkin.
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The Blue Jackets climbed within 3-2 by the end of the second period with goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkisnon and made a push for the equalizer in the third.
But their early mistakes proved too much to overcome and Pittsburgh clinched its seventh straight win against Columbus (dating to April 4, 2017) with McCann's 2-on-1 goal with 6:33 remaining and Sidney Crosby's empty-net goal 4.9 seconds left.
"This group needs to understand there's a higher expectation within us," Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. "We had this expectation whether the trade deadline happened or who we got. There was an expectation to be a great team and tonight we only did it for two periods and that's not who we are, especially at this time of year."

The race to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference is tight, particularly in the Metropolitan Division. The loss to the Penguins dropped the Blue Jackets from third in the Metropolitan Division to out of a playoff spot.
Columbus (35-24-3) trails Pittsburgh by one point for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference and the Carolina Hurricanes by one point for third in the division. It also trails the Montreal Canadiens by two points for the first wild card in the East.
The Hurricanes (6-1 against the Los Angeles Kings) and the Canadiens (8-1 against the Detroit Red Wings) each won Tuesday, as did the Washington Capitals (7-2 against the Ottawa Senators). That moved Washington into a tie in points with the New York Islanders for first in the Metropolitan Division. (The Islanders, who lost 3-1 to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday have played two fewer games).
"We know we have a job to do," Foligno said. "There's lots of points at stake here and there's a lot of teams fighting for them."
The Blue Jackets appeared to be one of the NHL's big winners before the trade deadline. In addition to acquiring Duchene and Dzingel from the Senators in separate trades on Friday and Saturday, respectively, they picked up defenseman Adam McQuaid from the New York Rangers and goalie Keith Kinkaid from the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
Equally important was deciding not to trade forward Artemi Panarin, who leads Columbus with 69 points (24 goals, 45 assists), and Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie. They each can become unrestricted free agents on July, as can Duchene, Dzingel, McQuaid and Kinkaid, so there is some risk involved, but the reward might be worth it for a team that has not won a series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in its 18-season history.

Bobrovsky, who had some control of his fate because he has a no-movement clause in his contract, said he was happy he and Panarin remained with the Blue Jackets in hope they can make a long playoff run.
"Yeah," he said. "I think we have a good group and I'm looking forward to compete with these guys each and every game and get to the playoffs."
Coach John Tortorella acknowledged before the game Tuesday that this is probably the best lineup he's had in his four seasons with the Blue Jackets. They now have a League-high six forwards with at least 20 goals - - Atkinson (35), Duchene (28), Panarin (24) Pierre-Luc Dubous, Dzingel (22), and Josh Anderson (22).
"But you know what? You have to play the games," Tortorella said. "Sometimes you get too far ahead of what you think you can be."
That remained Tortorella's concern after losing to the Penguins again. He thought the Blue Jackets got a bit fancy at times in trying to utilize their increased offensive skill, including a 3-on-0 on a power play early in the third period when they overpassed their way out of getting a shot on goal.
"Everybody's talking about playoff rounds and this and that about the Columbus Blue Jackets," Tortorella said. "We're out (of the playoffs) tonight, are we not, in the standings? I think we'd better understand that we need to get in and we're not going to skill our way in. No matter what the transactions were, we need to stay true to our identity or we don't have a chance."

It is understandable that it will take some time for the Blue Jackets' new players to acclimate themselves. But they can't afford to take too much time.
They face the Penguins twice more -- on March 7 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on March 7 and at Nationwide Arena on March 9 -- and know those games could make the difference in qualifying for the playoffs.
"We're in no position to be thinking ahead of anything," Foligno said. "We were ready to go, I thought. We didn't show that in the first period."