This one left a mark.
Protecting a 2-1 lead with less than two minutes left in a road back-to-back finale Nov. 2 in Elmont, New York, the Blue Jackets unfurled for a bitter 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders.
After leaning on goalie Elvis Merzlikins to fend off a rested team, the Blue Jackets (7-5-0) allowed goals 29 seconds apart in the final 1:07 to fumble a 2-1 lead Denton Mateychuk had given them seven minutes earlier. Throw in a goal that should have made it 3-1 with 3:04 left being called off immediately for goaltender interference on Charlie Coyle, who was pushed into Islanders goalie David Rittich, and the sting could linger a few days.
“We had it in our hands,” Coyle said on the FanDuel Sportsnet postgame show. “You’ve got to play to the final buzzer, and it’s a shame. It stinks to be on the losing end in that fashion, when you have it, but we’ve got to learn from it. That’s the bottom line.”
Here are four more takeaways:
After smashing his stick over the crossbar following Simon Holmstroms’ winning goal with 38 seconds left, Merzlikins watched time run out and headed back to the locker room to remove his gear.
He doubled back to the bench a short while later in shorts, T-shirt and Blue Jackets ballcap to reflect on what he had just experienced. FanDuel Sportsnet’s broadcast showed Merzlikins staring at the ice and shaking his head in disbelief.
“It’s a shame,” Coyle said on FanDuel Sportsnet’s postgame show. “A guy who plays like that, gives us a chance to win a hockey game, save after save, he deserves better and we want to come back in the next game and play the right way and fix things. You never want to leave him like that, especially when you have a goalie who stands on his head like he did tonight. It shouldn’t be that way.”
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Denton Mateychuk dealing with unspecified injury
Mateychuk played 20:17 on 23 shifts, including eight shifts in the third period, but coach Dean Evason said the reason he missed some shifts in the second was due to injury.
“He’s banged up a little bit,” Evason said. “We’ll see what the extent of it is (Nov. 3 in Columbus).”
uring Mateychuk’s missed shifts, Dante Fabbro returned to his prior assignment as Werenski’s defensive partner.
Here’s why Columbus Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason didn’t challenge a disallowed goal vs New York Islanders
Leading 2-1 with just over three minutes left in the third period, the Blue Jackets appeared to make it 3-1 with a point shot that beat Rittich as he fell back into his net.
Referees Jean Hebert and Mitch Dunning waved it off after spotting Coyle collide with Rittich, which left it up to Evason to issue a coaching challenge. That’s the opposite of how most plays that include potential goaltender interference play out.
Usually, pucks shot into the net while play is still going are ruled goals and can be reviewed with coaching challenges. This was the other way around, which left Evason befuddled. He was given a chance to review the call but felt there was a strong chance of losing the appeal and giving the Islanders a power play.
“The tough part is that the puck goes in the net, so we’re not sure why there wasn’t a goal on the play,” Evason said. “The puck goes in the net, so we believed that … the refs didn’t say there’s goalie interference, so, like, the onus should be on (the Islanders) to challenge if the puck goes in the net, not for us to challenge a goal that actually goes in the net. I don’t understand that one.”
Columbus Blue Jackets scratch Yegor Chinakhov, demote Kent Johnson
Playing 20 hours after downing St. Louis at Nationwide Arena, getting forward Zach Aston-Reese’s fresh legs into the lineup wasn’t a surprise. The surprising part was scratching Yegor Chinakhov and moving Kent Johnson to the fourth line to make room on the second line for Miles Wood.
After starting the season as a healthy scratch, Chinakhov drew into the lineup after three games and became an impact winger on the fourth line.
Evason didn’t like something about his play against the Blues, though, so Chinakhov played a team-low 9:16. Johnson, off to a slow start, was moved to the fourth line while Wood got a promotion to the second line. Johnson remained on the top power-play unit.
Evason’s moves were unorthodox, but moving Wood to Fantilli’s line paid off with a tying goal off a pass from Fantilli in the second period, wheeled and sent a hard pass to Wood at the net for a goal that tied it 1-1 with 4:39 left in the second.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social