Columbus Blue Jackets stung by loss to Colorado Avalanche
Werenski, Jenner, Monahan and Evason discuss the Blue Jackets’ stinging 7-3 setback against the Avalanche while chasing a playoff spot.
Will eight be enough?
That’s how many games the Blue Jackets have left to save their playoff aspirations, which are suddenly teetering after a disastrous 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.
Next is a daunting back-to-back this weekend in Toronto and Ottawa that could either slingshot the Blue Jackets (34-31-9) closer to the Montreal Canadiens for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot or eviscerate Columbus’ postseason dreams.
Their loss in regulation to the Avs combined with Montreal’s victory over the Boston Bruins puts four points between Montreal and Columbus for the East’s final playoff spot heading into Saturday.
“We’ve got to keep playing and keep trying to win games,” Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski said. We all look at (the standings) but at the end of the day, if we’re going to lose hockey games, we don’t deserve to make the playoffs, right? We’ve got to do our own work in here. We can’t bank on Montreal losing and the (New York) Islanders, (New York Rangers) and Detroit losing.”
Here are five takeaways:
The Blue Jackets are jockeying with several other teams for the final wild-card spot. Eventually, one or two will separate from the pack.
The Ottawa Senators (86 points) and Canadiens (81 points) are now the top two candidates to make that happen, while the New York Rangers (79 points), Blue Jackets (77 points), Detroit Red Wings (75 points) and Islanders (74 points) are losing their grip. The Canadiens and Rangers each have seven games left, while the Blue Jackets and Red Wings have eight.
“We have to do our work and win hockey games, and we haven’t done that consistently these last 14 or 15 games, so I think other teams’ scores are irrelevant,” Werenski said. “But it sucks (the Canadiens) get a win, and we lose. It definitely makes it harder, but it falls on us to get wins and we’re not doing it.”
Elvis Merzlikins’ emotional exit caps tough night for Columbus Blue Jackets goalie
Prior to replacing goalie Elvis Merzlikins in the third, Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason hadn’t pulled a goalie from a game all season. He was the only coach in the NHL who hadn’t, instead preferring to let goalies play through their struggles.
He was asked Thursday whether the decision to yank Merzlikins in favor of Daniil Tarasov was based on performance or the starter’s emotional response to allowing a goal by Miles Wood on a play he had little chance to stop. Merzlikins had boiled over, smashed his stick against the right post with a baseball swing and angrily headed toward the bench before leaving the game.
“Little of both,” Evason said, dodging and weaving through his reply. “Little of both. Yeah, a little of both. I’m not going to elaborate on that, but yeah …”
The only other time Evason has shown frustration with Merzlikins this season was following an early victory that included the goalie’s heated response to losing a shutout late in the game. That one prompted a chat about the importance of goalies maintaining composure. After this meltdown, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the Jackets’ goaltending situation going into a game Saturday night in Toronto.
Merzlikins wasn’t the primary issue on all seven Avalanche goals, but he’s struggled to keep pucks out of the Blue Jackets’ net recently. Against Colorado, he was beaten cleanly on a couple of goals that flipped momentum.
Avalanche center Charlie Coyle, who used to torment the Blue Jackets with the Boston Bruins, scored one of those to tie it 3-3 in the third. Merzlikins wasn’t screened on Coyle’s shot from the slot, which sailed between his right arm and body. The shot was also preceded by a turnover that allowed the Avs to come back at Merzlikins with a numbers advantage.
“Probably their third goal is kind of when we felt it (switch),” Evason said. “We just can’t shoot ourselves in key situations, where the game is still sitting there and we’re still in a (good) spot, and we do something kind of uncharacteristic, systematically, that we don’t (usually) do, and it ends up in our net or flips the momentum of the hockey game, and we think that third goal probably did.”
Columbus Blue Jackets outplayed against travel weary Colorado Avalanche
The table was set for the Blue Jackets to have a great start against the Avalanche, who played after a 22-hour turnaround following Wednesday’s 3-2 shootout win in Chicago.
The Avs also didn’t make it to Columbus until Thursday due to severe weather in Ohio that kept the team’s charter flight grounded. The Blue Jackets practiced Wednesday, but Werenski, captain Boone Jenner, center Sean Monahan and defenseman Dante Fabbro all stayed off the ice to rest.
Colorado opted not to play two top forwards, Martin Necas and Jonathan Drouin, while replacing them with fresher legs belonging to Jimmy Vesey and Miles Wood. Still, the Avs scored first on a goal by Nathan MacKinnon and took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. It was the 10th time in the past 11 games the Blue Jackets have allowed the first goal, going 3-7-1 in that stretch.
Columbus Blue Jackets scratch Damon Severson, play Jack Johnson
The Blue Jackets made one lineup change after Tuesday’s loss, sitting defenseman Damon Severson and dressing Jack Johnson as Erik Gudbranson’s defense partner on the third pairing.
No glaring statistical issues stood out about Severson’s performance Tuesday against the Predators, so handedness might’ve played a role. Severson and Gudbranson both shoot from the right side, which can be tricky for the one playing on his “off” side. Evason wasn’t thrilled with the Jackets’ defensive play, in general, against Nashville and said an evaluation would be made on whether they’d stick with the same defensive look.
The answer was no.
Johnson, a lefty, played with Gudbranson to give the Blue Jackets a veteran defensive pairing that, while slow of foot, provided two big bodies to block shots and win board battles. Johnson also played two stints for the Avalanche, helping them win the 2022 Stanley Cup.
Evason, Fantilli and Sillinger talk Columbus Blue Jackets playoff push
Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason, Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger talk about the team’s push for a playoff spot in the season’s final stretch.
Aston-Reese ends long goal drought for Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets’ only lead came in the second period on a goal by forward Zach Aston-Reese, who put them up 3-2 with a shot from the left wing that beat Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood just inside the near goal post. It was his fifth goal of the season and first since Nov. 15, ending a 57-game goal drought.
Aston-Reese’s role isn’t to score a bunch of goals. It’s to win puck battles, play a checking role and chip in with goals whenever he can. Still, going 57 games is a long time without providing depth scoring. It was good to see Aston-Reese end that with a goal that felt at the time like it could’ve sparked a victory.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
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