{"id":686704,"date":"2026-10-14T15:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/686704\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T15:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:06:16","slug":"blue-jackets-self-inflicted-loss-to-panthers-exposes-major-discipline-issues-the-hockey-writers-columbus-blue-jackets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/686704\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jackets Self-Inflicted Loss to Panthers Exposes Major Discipline Issues – The Hockey Writers – Columbus Blue Jackets"},"content":{"rendered":"

If games only consisted of the first period, the Columbus Blue Jackets would be one of the best teams in the NHL in the early going. Because as soon as that second period starts, they haven\u2019t had answers of late.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night against the Florida Panthers, the Blue Jackets got exposed thanks to costly mistakes and ongoing discipline issues. The Tkachuk brothers made them pay in a big way with Brady getting a hat trick and Matthew assisting on all of those goals. <\/p>\n

Panthers 7, Blue Jackets 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Normally, a loss in Game 5 of the season won\u2019t instill panic. Charlie Coyle<\/a> said as much postgame. The issue here though is that the kind of mistakes that are happening if left untreated could wreck a season before it even begins.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the next set of games takes on a certain level of importance. It\u2019s all about the response. The mistakes have happened. The penalties have happened. Now what are they going to do about it?<\/p>\n

We will learn a lot about the makeup of this team through this next stretch. Was Tuesday night just another ho hum loss? Or will it be the catalyst to something better? It only becomes something better if the team turns Tuesday\u2019s embarrassing result into motivation to overcome this. <\/p>\n

Costly Mistakes & Undisciplined Play<\/p>\n

What adds a level of frustration for the Blue Jackets is that they do start well in games. Their first periods the last two games have seen them outscore their opponents 3-0. <\/p>\n

But the Blue Jackets\u2019 second periods the last two games? They\u2019ve been outscored 7-0. They have yet to show they\u2019ve been able to withstand a push by the opposition in the middle frame.<\/p>\n

In St. Louis, it was the Ross Johnston\/Mathieu Olivier fight<\/a>. On Tuesday, it was a costly turnover that led to the Panthers first goal. <\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets have taken six penalties in the second period the last two games. Six. This excludes the fight and any offsetting minors. Two in St. Louis including a ridiculous too many men call when they were about to get a power play. Then four on Tuesday including Olivier\u2019s game misconduct for slashing.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets took the game\u2019s last four penalties of Tuesday night. Damon Severson was dinged twice over the course of the evening. These kinds of things continue to haunt the team as they try to find their footing. <\/p>\n

To make matters worse, the Blue Jackets aren\u2019t able to kill off their undisciplined mistakes. They have now allowed seven power play goals against in 18 shorthanded tries, an abysmal 61.1% kill rate. They allowed the Panthers to score four power-play goals against.<\/p>\n

Locker Room Reaction<\/p>\n

For Olivier, the penalties is what sticks out to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a common mistake that happens on the first goal,\u201d Olivier said. \u201cShouldn\u2019t have knocked us off our game, but kind of did a little bit and we just never bounced back from that. I go back to the penalties. I think that had a big part of tonight for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olivier said postgame he apologized to his teammates for the slash on Uvis Balinskis. He took full accountability for the play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI apologize to my teammates for putting them in that spot and it\u2019s happened a couple times this year. It\u2019s usually not what I do, but it\u2019s been happening, so I need to look in the mirror and figure it out. That\u2019s all on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Rick Bowness didn\u2019t hold back when asked to reflect on the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to hope, you got to believe that performance tonight will embarrass them enough to stop this, right? Because if they\u2019re not embarrassed by that, we don\u2019t want them on the team. It\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RickColumbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness says the team should be embarrassed by Tuesday\u2019s performance. (Photo: Mark Scheig\/The Hockey Writers)<\/p>\n

Bowness believes the issues are fixable. But only time will tell if Tuesday\u2019s game got the Blue Jackets\u2019 full attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in them,\u201d Bowness said. \u201cAnd I believe we can fix the problems. That all being said, if that doesn\u2019t get their attention, they\u2019re on the wrong team. It\u2019s as simple as that and we\u2019ll find out over time, right? So we\u2019ll go back to work tomorrow. We\u2019ll address the issues we don\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Blue Jackets are going to overcome this, it\u2019s going to have to be up to them to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a babysitter. I\u2019m too old to be a babysitter for these guys. You\u2019re a professional athlete. Prepare yourself to play properly. Prepare yourself to play with some discipline \u2026 These penalties are completely, completely unnecessary. I don\u2019t think I saw a good penalty tonight at all. Usually when you take a good penalty, you can kill it. When you take a selfish penalty, then you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, let\u2019s move on. Don\u2019t make it worse. We made it worse,\u201d Bowness said.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets now have to face the red-hot New York Rangers on Saturday night and then have to travel to Minnesota for a Sunday evening game with the Wild. If they\u2019re not careful, 2-3-0 could become 2-5-0 which would force them to play catchup early in the season.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets need a major response. They have three off days to try to find one. There have been some good moments canceled out by their prevailing issues with mistakes and penalties. <\/p>\n

This situation should cause the Blue Jackets to lock in and focus. Otherwise, tougher questions will need to be asked much sooner in the season than anyone wanted. <\/p>\n

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