Coyotes 4, Blue Jackets 3
(box) – Highlights
CBJ: 20-20-3, 43 pts
The biggest question going into this game for me was: which Jackets team would we see? Would it be the team that’s moved their feet, worked hard, and beaten some quality teams, or would we see the team that faces some adversity and folds up shop? Certainly helping to clarify matters was the fact that the Coyotes were on the second night of a back to back, and looked the part early on. But, it was the ineffectiveness of the Columbus Power Play coupled with a fluky bounce into the Jacket net that sent them to a fifth straight defeat, 4-3 to the Phoenix Coyotes.
Things looked good early. The Jackets wasted little time getting started, peppering Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov early in the opening frame. Bryzgalov looked to be fighting the puck early, and Columbus took advantage. Not even three minutes into the game, Jared Boll delivered a crunching hit behind the Coyotes’ goal, and then moved right to the front of the crease. The puck came to Marc Methot at the right point, and Methot ripped a huge shot that Boll got a stick on to redirect past Bryzgalov at the 2:56 mark to make it 1-0 Columbus.
The Jackets weren’t done there. Bryzgalov continued to struggle giving up rebounds, and Columbus capitalized not three minutes later. The puck came to Rick Nash on left side of the slot, and under duress he pushed it back to the left point to Fedor Tyutin. Tyutin whisked it across the blue line to Rostislav Klesla, who bombed a one-timer that beat Bryzgalov to make it 2-0 Jackets at the 5:54 mark.
The second period was more of the same in terms of early action, as the Jackets’ Jakub Voracek took a holding penalty just 10 seconds into the period. The Jackets killed the first 1:13 of the penalty, at which time the Coyotes nullified it by taking a hooking penalty of their own. The Jackets were set to get 1:13 of Power Play time, but just four seconds in Vernon Fiddler got behind the defense and redirected a pass from Lauri Korpikowski between the legs of Mathieu Garon to make it 2-1 just 2:14 into the period.
The Jackets would answer, however, just a minute later. Still on the Power Play, the Jackets Fedor Tyutin got the puck to Kristian Huselius on the right wing, and Juice snapped one past Bryzgalov to push the lead back to two at 3-1 at the 3:14 mark.
Before the buzz of the Jackets’ third goal had even died down, however, the Coyotes answered back. They got Garon down, and no one could corral the rebound. Both Shane Doan and Eric Belanger got cracks at the puck, and Belanger was finally able to elevate the puck over the outstretched pads of Garon to make it 3-2 at the 3:41 mark.
Then, something crazy happened: defense. Both goaltenders made some sterling saves, and the teams combined for 26 shots in the second period, but for the last 16:19 of the period neither team could add to their total. This would prove costly for Columbus. “Obviously, we had two two-goal leads that we blew,” coach Scott Arniel said. “In saying that, we threw 40 shots at them. We had three shifts in a row where we probably had six or seven quality scoring chances, and we didn’t make it 4-2.”
The third period started off poorly for Columbus, as they continued to kill on a penalty from the end of the second period. And, though they killed it off, they couldn’t keep the puck in their possession, and Phoenix got one too many chances. Garon was down in the crease, and there were too many unchecked forwards lurking for Phoenix. The puck made its way across the crease from Martin Hanzal to Ray Whitney, and he got it to Radim Vrbata who then buried the biscuit to tie the game at three.
If you’re scoring at home, that’s two different two-goal leads blown in this one for Columbus. “It’s confidence for us right now,” said Kristian Huselius. “Seems like we take a step back when we’re up. We sit back, and we let [Phoenix] take charge again. I don’t think [Phoenix] did anything different. We got passive.”
The Jackets needed to dig deep, and they were given a gift-wrapped, golden opportunity not long after the Coyotes tied it. Derek Morris went off for hooking at 2:05 of the third period, and then 1:10 into that Power Play the Coyote’s Ed Jovanovski went off for tripping Rick Nash. The Jackets had 50 seconds of 5-on-3, and then another 1:10 after that of straight Power Play. But, with a maddening lack of willingness to shoot the puck, they went out with a whimper on the Power Plays. I Tweeted at the time that I feared it would come back to haunt them, and in the end it did. “They got back to tie it up, and it seems like we don’t have the confidence when a team comes back on us,” Huselius said. “We just have to fight through it.”
So it was that one of the flukiest goals you will ever see decided this game at the 10:44 mark of the third period. Derek Morris would get credited with the goal on his blast from the point, but the puck clearly hit Martin Hanzal in front of the crease. It seemed to deflect off his arm, and then went up over Garon, grazing him on his back, and trickling into the net. 4-3 Phoenix. “I saw [Morris] take the shot,” defenseman Grant Clitsome, who was in the crease area, said. “Then I just turned to tie up my man, and then I heard it go in. I saw on the replay what happened. It might have hit me; I didn’t feel it. I don’t think it hit me.”
“They took a shot,” Garon said of the game-winner. “[Hanzal] was kind of in front and touched me and kind of interfered with me a little bit. I stopped it, but I couldn’t get the rebound and I don’t know if it went straight in the net or up and back [into] the net. I felt it on my back. I don’t know if it went forward and then back, or straight back.”
“That’s what happens,” Arniel said. “When you lose four in a row, that’s the type of goal that goes in your net.”
That’s not to say the Jackets wouldn’t get more chances; they would, and again it was the impotency of the Power Play with the game on the line that stymied them. Morris took a holding penalty with 2:55 left, and the Jackets could do nothing with it. With Garon pulled for an extra skater, Adrian Aucoin took a tripping penalty with just over 42 seconds left. Columbus had a 6-on-4 advantage, and while they generated some chances they just couldn’t capitalize. Good night, drive home safely.
“I don’t know if it’s confidence [that’s hurting the Power Play],” Arniel said. “They were trying everything they could to get a shot through. Give Phoenix credit. They wouldn’t allow us to get pucks through the [shooting] lanes. If you get it blocked once, sometimes you get hesitant about firing it again. We did get some pretty good looks. [Phoenix is] a veteran team, and did a real good job, once they had the lead, of keeping us to the outside.”
It’s clear the losing streak is weighing on these guys, especially when they feel like they played well overall. “Obviously it’s tough, especially in the situation we’re in right now,” Huselius said. “We’re battling trying to get back [into the playoff race] and trying to win some games. We played well early. When we got the lead, it seems like we sit back. We kind of lose our momentum and gave them a chance to come back.”
Arniel was a bit more forgiving: “I thought we played a real good hockey game, and we had more than our share of opportunities to increase the lead.” His goalie agreed. “We played a great game tonight,” Garon said. “We should have won. It’s hard when you need wins like that.”
“It’s tough when you’re in a rut like this,” Clitsome said. “It seems like the [bad] bounces keep coming. I thought we came out strong and came out hard in the first. I thought we played pretty well. [There were] just a couple of bad bounces.”
While that’s all true, I tend to believe you make your own luck. But, it is what it is. The reality is they’ve lost five in a row, and it’s about to get realer up in here: the Jackets have a back-to-back, home-and-home with the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and Saturday. It’s important to note that the Jackets’ post-Turkey slide started with a… you guessed it—home-and-home with the Red Wings on 11/24 and 11/26. Puck drops on Friday at 7:00 PM. Check WFNY Tickets if you’re looking for some cheap duckets. And are not a Detroit fan. Seriously.
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Photo Credit: Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images