It’s far too early to sound alarms.
The Blue Jackets aren’t panicking after dropping two of their first three games, both in maddening ways, but that doesn’t lessen the frustration. Should the season end in April with the Blue Jackets missing the playoffs by four points or fewer, this start will be partly to blame.
“We’ve got to stay the course with what we’re doing and not push too many panic buttons, obviously,” coach Dean Evason said. “It gets frustrating when it doesn’t go in the net, because you want to get rewarded for that, right? So, we’ve got to just continually talk to the group and reinforce that they are doing the right things to score goals, and believe they will go in.”
The way things have started, belief is likely wavering outside the Blue Jackets’ locker room.
They should have won their season opener Oct. 9 in Nashville after dominating the Predators through the first two periods but lost 2-1. They should have won their home opener Oct. 13 at sold-out Nationwide Arena after pinning the New Jersey Devils into their own zone for most of the first period but lost 3-2.
That’s four valuable points left on the table after just three games.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blue Jackets finished with more shots (33-28), attempts (71-56), unblocked attempts (49-43), scoring chances (34-23), high-danger chances (11-10) and expected goals (3.82-2.88) than the Devils. In Nashville, they had similar advantages over the Predators in all those categories at 5-on-5.
What does all that mean?
It means the Blue Jackets have outplayed two of their first three opponents and didn’t get anything but regulation losses to show for it. It also means multiple areas need work, including finishing touch on scoring chances and a focus on special teams.
“It’s only the third game, and we have room to grow this season,” said Kirill Marchenko, who scored his fourth goal of the season. “We need to just work on our game and have confidence, the whole team, and I feel that we’ll play better.”
Columbus Blue Jackets special teams struggle again
Evason started smiling almost as soon as the words left his mouth at the morning skate.
“We think our penalty kill’s been real good,” he said, “and I know it sounds silly when you give up four (power-play goals), but it’s been real good. … It’s not an excuse. We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to keep the puck out of the net on the penalty kill but it’s not a structural thing. We think that it will correct itself here moving forward.”
Well, it didn’t.
At least, not against the Devils, who went 2 for 2 on power plays after scoring each with less than five seconds left in the penalty. After going just 4 for 8 killing penalties in a 7-4 win Oct. 11 at the Minnesota Wild, the Blue Jackets are just 7 for 14.
Neither of the Devils’ power-play goals went down as the winner, but they provided a 2-1 lead the Blue Jackets were still chasing with an extra attacker when Dawson Mercer made it 3-1 by scoring into an empty net. At the other end of the ice, the Blue Jackets drew five penalties and went 0 for 5 on power plays to drop their success rate for the season from 25% (1 for 4) to 11.1% (1 for 9).
“Obviously, I said this morning that our penalty kill was pretty good,” Evason said. “It just seems to end up in our net. What was it, one second and four seconds (left)? We’ve been able to kill the whole penalty, but it’s going in right now in that area. So, when it does, your power play should pick you up too.”
It didn’t. Far from it, in fact. The Blue Jackets came up empty on man-advantage situations, including 0 for 2 on a four-minute power play after Miles Wood left the game in the first with a facial laceration from Dougie Hamilton’s stick.
Kirill Marchenko’s magic not enough for Columbus Blue Jackets
One Blue Jackets player who seems to have found his scoring touch is Marchenko, who scored his fourth goal in the past two games, following his fourth career hat trick to pace the win against Minnesota.
Scary thought for the rest of the NHL: Marchenko went 0 for 8 on shots in the Blue Jackets’ season-opening loss to the Predators. The only other time he put eight shots on goal in an NHL game, it was during one of his three previous hat tricks.
Marchenko’s goal was a remarkable exercise in effort, ripping the puck off Devils star Jack Hughes with a stick lift at his own blue line and skating down the ice at top speed for a breakaway goal that tied it 1-1.
“We’ve seen his work ethic be as high as it’s been,” Evason said. “I think at the start of last year, it wasn’t that high. When it finally picked up and he figured some things out and played the game the right way, then his natural gifts started happening and he started scoring goals. Same thing as this year. He’s come in with a lot of confidence. He’s stronger. He’s in great shape and he’s doing all those things to win puck battles and play straight forward, and he’s getting some goals because of that.”
Columbus Blue Jackets lose Miles Wood to ugly injury
Wood left the game with a facial injury at 6:08 of the first period after catching Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton’s stick blade near his left eye while charging to the net. He didn’t return and the Blue Jackets played the rest of the game with 11 forwards.
Should Wood not be ready by Oct. 16 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Yegor Chinakhov will likely make his season debut. Chinakhov, selected 21st overall in 2020, has watched the first three games as a healthy scratch after requesting a trade in the summer due to his usage last season.
Where Chinakhov would slot back into the lineup will be something to watch. He has a skill set that’s suited to a role at wing for one of the top two lines, but filling Wood’s role on the fourth line could be where Chinakhov slides back into the lineup. The Jackets don’t practice again until Oct. 15, so it’ll be a couple days to get an answer about Wood’s availability.
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 leave another win on the table, special teams need work
Reporting by Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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