California has not been kind to the Columbus Blue Jackets this year.
One night removed from a blowout loss against the Los Angeles Kings, the Jackets again knocked themselves out of an important game – with the red-hot Florida Panthers lurking – thanks to bad puck control and mistakes that contenders simply don't make.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| DUCKS | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Sonny Milano opened the scoring, but the Ducks' Rickard Rakell quickly answered to make it a 1-1 game. Then, in the second period, the Jackets had perhaps their worst sequence of the season.
While on the man advantage, Artemi Panarin overskated a puck, giving up a full breakaway to the speedy Andrew Cogliano, who beat Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky five hole to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead. Then, right after that power play expired, Ducks' defenseman Josh Manson got the puck on his way out of the penalty box and also beat Bobrovsky five-hole.
In a span of 87 seconds, the Blue Jackets went from tied and on the power play to down two goals with very little hope.
Cam Fowler added a goal late for the Ducks to make it four straight goals before the Jackets responded, with Zach Werenski pulling them within two goals. Still, it wasn't enough.
Thoughts and prayers to everyone who stayed up for this one.
Injury Update
Alexander Wennberg was a late scratch tonight with what the team called an upper body injury. Josh Anderson's lower body injury kept him out of tonight's game as well, and defensemen Markus Nutivaara and Dean Kukan seem to be out long-term.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets will head to San Jose to play the Sharks on Sunday, before hosting the Vegas Golden Knights for the first time on Tuesday.
