Blue Jackets unable to spark offense in shutout loss

CBJ goaltender Jet Greaves makes save

Blue Jackets’ goaltender Jet Greaves continued his impressive play, even in a loss to Florida on the road Thursday. File photo

Thursday, April 11, 2024
By Ian Phillips
info@cbussports.com

Rebuilds are not fun. What really stinks, as Columbus fans know, are rebuilds in which many of the goal scorers already in the system are unavailable for various reasons. 

That was the name of the game Thursday night when the depleted Blue Jackets offense was not able to put one puck behind former Blue Jacket goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in a 4-0 loss.

It just seemed like nothing went right for the club, which has dropped all three games so far in their four-game road trip. 

“They were the better team for 60 minutes. There’s no doubt about that,” said Erik Gudbranson. “We could’ve been a lot better tonight.”

Matthew Tkachuk got the scoring started rather early, sniping the puck past Jet Greaves’ blocker side 47 seconds in.

With 2:35 remaining in the second period, Evan Rodriguez extended the Panthers lead to 2-0 after David Jiricek left too big of a gap between himself and Rodriguez, giving the speedy winger tons of space to wire the puck past Greaves.

Shortly after that, Sam Reinhart scored his 54th goal of the campaign, beating Jet Greaves high blocker side.

With 2:17 left to play, Vladimir Tarasanko put the nail in the Blue Jackets’ coffin when he buried Anton Forsling’s rebound on the backhand.

CBJ's Cole Sillinger prepares for faceoff

Cole Sillinger has played a strong, physical game all season for the Blue Jackets. That continued in the Jackets’ loss to Florida Thursday. File photo

Takeaways

  • The Jackets played very physically out of the gate. Big hits by Cole Sillinger and Mathieu Olivier highlighted the first period’s physicality.
  • Not a bad first period after some adversity. The Jackets responded well to the Tkachuk early goal.
  • The second period breakdown wasn’t on Jet Greaves. The 23-year-old continues to impress, even in these late stages of the season.
  • It felt like most of the second period was played in the Columbus zone.
  • The tough schedule is starting to catch up to Columbus. The last time there was a non-playoff caliber team in the schedule was March 26th against the Coyotes.
  • Offense just wasn’t there tonight. On the bright side, Jet Greaves still played well under the circumstances.

“That’s a heavy team,” said head coach Pascal Vincent after the game. “There’s a reason why they went to the finals last year. Heavy heavy forechecking team.

“… The bad combination for us (was) being a little bit lighter and younger.”

In terms of goaltending, Jet Greaves stopped 42 shots out of the 46 sent his way for a .913 save percentage. On the other end, former Blue Jacket Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 25 shots that he saw.

The Jackets will finish up their road trip Saturday in Nashville against the Predators. The puck drops at 8:00 p.m.

Latest News

– Fix-Wolansky back with the Jackets – (April 10) The Columbus Blue Jackets have added forward Trey Fix-Wolansky to the roster on emergency recall from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. Fix-Wolansky, 24, has recorded two goals and two assists in 25 career appearances with the Blue Jackets. The 5-7, 191-pound forward was selected by Columbus in the seventh round, 204th overall, at the 2017 NHL Draft.

– Blankenburg, Subban added to roster – (April 5) The Columbus Blue Jackets have added defenseman Nick Blankenburg and goaltender Malcolm Subban to the roster on emergency recall from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters and assigned forward Trey Fix-Wolansky to Cleveland. Blankenburg, 25, has tallied five goals and 12 assists in 49 career NHL games with the Blue Jackets over the past three seasons. Subban, 30, has posted a 36-33-9 record with a 3.10 goals-against average and an .898 save percentage in 86 career NHL games with four teams.

– Werenski nominated for Masterton Trophy – (April 5) The Columbus chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association has nominated Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The award is given annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. It’s the second time that Werenski is the team’s nominee for the award as he was previously recognized in 2017-18.

– Jiricek returns from Cleveland – (Apr. 2) The Columbus Blue Jackets have added defenseman David Jiricek to the roster on emergency recall from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. Jiricek, 20, has recorded one goal and eight assists in 40 appearances with the Blue Jackets since making his NHL debut during the 2022-23 season.

Final Two Games

– Saturday, April 13 – at Nashville Predators – 8:00pm
– Tuesday, April 16 – vs. Carolina Hurricanes – 7:00pm

The Blue Jackets’ media availability with Erik Gudbranson, Cole Sillinger, and head coach Pascal Vincent after the team’s loss at Florida Bay Apr. 11.