The playoff foundation the Blue Jackets have spent the past two months fortifying no longer looks solid.
It’s cracking under the weight of intense pressure in a wild Eastern Conference playoff race. After blowing a 3-0 lead in the third period of a 4-3 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins on March 29 at Nationwide Arena, the Blue Jackets (38-25-11) are clinging to the second wild card.
Sitting two points back, all with games-in-hand on Columbus, are the salivating Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers. Also, the Jackets’ next game is March 31 against the Carolina Hurricanes, as if they needed additional bad news.
The Hurricanes, runaway leaders of the Metropolitan Division, are coached by Rod Brind’Amour and will play that game with his fiery style powering their redemption effort for a 5-1 loss to the Blue Jackets on March 17 at Nationwide Arena. Whatever is now causing the Blue Jackets to wobble better be fixed promptly.
This was the Jackets’ third straight loss, fourth in five games (1-3-1) and third blown multi-goal lead in a third period under the direction of coach Rick Bowness, who replaced Dean Evason on Jan. 12 largely because of blown leads in third periods.
“It wasn’t ideal,” center Charlie Coyle said after the latest meltdown. “We had the talk between periods, like, ‘Let’s stay on it,’ but they’re a good team. They’re going to push and play well and press a little bit, but it’s up to us, no matter what happens, to just stay on it.”
They either didn’t, or couldn’t, and paid a big price.
Here are four takeaways:
Columbus Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness laments ‘selfish’ hockey
Bowness opened his postgame press conference with a blunt assessment of how the Blue Jackets let a game they had dominated for one period slip away.
“Well, we got away from being aggressive, and I thought we got very selfish with the puck,” he said. “Some of these guys, they’ve got a lot to learn about how to play in this league at this time of year. It gets harder and harder and harder, and we’re going to keep reminding them and reminding them every day how hard it is to win at this time of the year.”
Is enough time left with eight games remaining for those reminders to take root? That’s for the Blue Jackets to decide, and the answer will be revealed by how they approach those games.
“I hate when we play on our heels,” Bowness said. “We were backing away (from the Bruins). Give them credit. They started coming, but there’s a lot there still to be learned from some of these guys and they better damn well start listening.”
Meltdowns in third periods still haunt Columbus Blue Jackets
Every team in the NHL loses leads or fumbles opportunities to notch points occassionally, but the rate at which the Blue Jackets do it is almost astounding.
Two years ago, Pascal Vincent wasn’t retained as Mike Babcock’s emergency fill-in coach. Multiple factors went into president/general manager Don Waddell’s decision not to keep him around, but it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that one of the reasons was the number of late leads that disappeared under his watch, including a 5-0 lead in Toronto.
Vincent’s Jackets blew third-period leads in 15 games during the 2023-24 season, going 2-2-11 in them. The Evason/Bowness Blue Jackets of 2025-26 vintage have blown six more in eight fewer games, and if there’s a bright side, it’s their sparkling 9-4-8 record when spitting the bit.
They’re 4-1-2 when collapsing late since Bowness arrived, but two of the bumbles include a 4-0 lead March 2 that vanished in the third period of a 5-4 overtime win at the New York Rangers and this 3-0 masterpiece that started with a fantastic first.
“It’s not like we were terrible,” Bowness said. “We weren’t, but there’s lessons. There’s harsh reminders in this league (on) how hard it is to win, and that’s one of them.”
Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner owns costly penalties
The Blue Jackets were called for seven penalties, including three in the third period. Two of those were tripping penalties on captain Boone Jenner, who watched from the penalty box as Bruins center Pavel Zacha tie the game 3-3 with 11 seconds left in regulation.
Gutting.
Jenner, who played his 800th game and scored the game’s first goal, was called for tripping Charlie McAvoy as the Bruins defenseman attempted to enter the Blue Jackets’ zone with Boston’s net empty for a 6-on-5 advantage. McAvoy sold it by adding a dive, but it was a legitimate tripping infraction.
“I take responsibility for the penalties,” Jenner said. “I can’t give them opportunities like that to get back in the game and put my team in that situation. I think we kind of sat back for a little bit tonight, and we can’t give them those chances on the power play to continue their momentum, and that’s on me.”
Columbus Blue Jackets pay for miserable second period
The Bruins didn’t score in the second period, but that’s where their comeback began.
Charlie Coyle’s goal with 28 seconds left in the first period gave the Blue Jackets a 3-0 lead and sent most in the sellout crowd of 18,684 into delirium, especially after two spirited fights. The game, essentially, should’ve been in the Blue Jackets’ bag, but instead the Bruins stormed out and took control.
That’s reflected in the final stats, per Natural Stat Trick.
At the first intermission, the Blue Jackets had a 13-7 edge in even-strength scoring chances, attempts (22-13) and shots (11-8) while outscoring the Bruins 2-0. Coyle scored on a power play.
Through the rest of the game, the Bruins fed it to the Blue Jackets with lopsided edges in even-strength attempts (59-23), shots (25-10), scoring chances (29-10) and high-danger chances (8-4). They outshot the Blue Jackets 38-25 overall, finished with a massive edge in attempts (84-50), and it all started in the second period.
“We can’t be turning the puck over like that and giving them easy transition,” Coyle said. “It just wasn’t the way we were supposed to play. We did it (for) all the first, and we certainly got away from it.”
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets can’t hold off Boston Bruins: Takeaways
Reporting by Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
