Good starts don't always lead to good finishes.
After gaining a 2-0 lead in the first period, the Blue Jackets committed untimely turnovers and poor special teams play, giving up five unanswered goals to finish the game.
Cam Atkinson got the scoring started less than four minutes into the game, after Artemi Panarin followed his miss a few seconds earlier and slid him a silky smooth backhander he was able to punch into the net. It was the winger’s third straight game with a goal.
Short Bread strikes again. Atkinson now has a three-game goal streak. Heck of a start from the Blue Jackets.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/pPZMzxc2d3
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) March 2, 2018
The Blue Jackets tacked on another goal roughly 10 minutes later on a beautiful wrist shot by Seth Jones, resulting in the above mentioned 2-0 lead.
Then the second period happened.
After it appeared the Blue Jackets had finally begun to turn a corner in the special teams department (at least on the power play), the second was bookended by poor power play and penalty kill showings, respectively.
The goal scored by the Kings on the power play was the last of three in the second 20 minutes.
Another special teams mishap happened early in period three, when a neutral zone turnover by Sonny Milano resulted in a break and shorthanded goal by Jeff Carter.
After another Kings goal with 3:17 remaining in the game, the score moved to 5-2 and held until the final buzzer.
Joonas Korpisalo gave Sergei Bobrovsky a night off in net, saving 29 of 34 shots he faced.
Injury Update
Nick Foligno played in his first game since Feb. 18, spending over 14 minutes on the ice. Dean Kukan likely has a couple more weeks remaining on his upper body injury recovery. Markus Nutivaara is still out with upper body injury, and there is currently no timetable for his return. Josh Anderson is still out with a knee sprain and will miss about four weeks.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets head to Anaheim to take on the Ducks at 10 p.m. Friday on FOX Sports Ohio.
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