Blue Jackets 3, Panthers 2 – SO
(box) – Highlights
CBJ: 34-31-11, 79 pts
“Tonight was about trying some things different.” So said coach Scott Arniel afterward. With just seven games left on the schedule, the Jackets have been limping home. Awaiting them tonight in Nationwide Arena was a team from the Eastern Conference in the same boat. Columbus came in 10-3-2 against the East, and had already beaten Florida once this season. The Panthers came in with eight fewer points than Columbus, and just as bleak an outlook. Columbus came out early looking intent on bringing their best effort. But it would once again come down to a third period lead lost, and the Jackets struggling to put the puck in the net while staring the of-late nemesis—the shootout—squarely in the face.
The first period saw Columbus get nine of the first 11 shots on goal, and getting first blood on the scoreboard. At the 7:06 mark, Scottie Upshall took a nice right-to-left cross-ice pass from Derek Dorsett and sniped a shot over the shoulder of Panthers’ goalie Scott Clemmensen that rang off the post and found its way into the back of the net. It was Upshall’s 21st goal of the year, continuing to set his career high.
The Power Play struggles continued, as Columbus would miss on a golden chance late with a 5-on-3 advantage. Despite some good chances they were unable to add to their lead. They would take that 1-0 lead into the dressing room after the first period.
It was the Panthers’ Power Play that would knot the game up at one early in the second. Just 3:00 in, Marc Methot would take the box for slashing, and the Panthers potted a goal just 41 seconds into the Power Play. Sergei Samsonov ripped a high shot from the left circle that beat Steve Mason, hit the post, and trickled into the crease. David Booth was there to put it home for his 22nd goal of the year.
The Jackets would again regain the lead just before the break, however. After some great work to keep the puck deep and get it on net, the combo of Matt Calvert, RJ Umberger, and Antoine Vermette would be rewarded. Calvert put the puck on net, and the rebound came to Umberger on the right doorstep. He fed it across the crease to Vermette, who was wide open for the tap-in, and at 18:58 of the period it was 2-1 Jackets.
The lead would again be short-lived, as 7:31 into the third Evgeny Dadonov would take the puck down the left side, wrap around the goal, and find Mason nowhere near in position. The easy tap-in made it 2-2, and the Jackets again found themselves needing a goal in the third period.
Neither team would get that elusive third period—or overtime, for that matter—goal. The game almost seemed destined to go to the shootout, and once it got there it almost seemed destined to be a Jackets loss. They came in losers of their last six shootout decisions, and hadn’t scored a goal in their last two.
Embracing the theme of “different,” Arniel decided that beyond Rick Nash he was going to change things up, sending recent call-up Maksim Mayorov out second. “Other than Nash, we were going with people who hadn’t [gone in the shootout] for awhile. [After Matt Calvert], Boller (Jared Boll) was up next,” quipped the coach. “We’re gonna use everybody. Actually, Max (Mayorov) has a pretty good record down in the [AHL]. We had advance notice and knew he had success down there. It was a heck of a shot.”
Indeed. No matter what the reasoning was for the choice, Mayorov would reward his coach. He skated in, and snapped a wicked wrist shot that beat Clemmensen high on the glove side to give the Jackets a chance to win their first shootout in six tries. Steve Mason would make that lone goal—Matt Calvert was later denied, as had been Nash—stand up, denying Stephen Weiss, Mike Santorelli, and Sergei Samsonov in succession to ice it for Columbus. “[Mason] won us the hockey game by shutting them down [in the shootout],” Arniel said.
“To get that win in a shootout, I wish it could have happened a couple of weeks ago,” Umberger said. “Maybe things would be a little different now.” Give the Jackets credit; they continue to play like they want to win. The effort by the Umberger-Vermette-Calvert line on their goal in the second period shows that they haven’t quit, even though they’re not going to the playoffs for the second straight season. “It’s important for character,” Umberger said. “We’re still representing the Blue Jackets’ sweater, and the fans and the city. We’ve got to play with a lot of heart and emotion and still win hockey games. It’s still fun to win.”
“No matter what the circumstances are—and it’s a tough haul ahead of us—guys aren’t quitting,” Arniel said. “They’re still playing hard. We haven’t been getting very many breaks or recent, but the last couple of games our work ethic has been pretty good and we’ve done a better job of being after teams.”
Columbus has just six more games, and heads to our nation’s capital on Thursday to face the, err, Capitals. They are home twice this coming weekend, with Chicago coming to town on Friday and St. Louis in on Sunday. WFNY Tickets has you covered for the duckets.
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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jay LaPrete