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The Columbus Blue Jackets left the ice at Nationwide Arena on Nov. 12 to a smattering of boos from an announced crowd of 15,101, following a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning secured their second road win in 24 hours, while the Blue Jackets (7-10-0) suffered a season-high third consecutive loss and remain in last place in both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference with just 14 points.
Tampa Bay (13-4-2) was playing without three regulars due to nagging injuries and started backup goaltender Dennis Hildeby, who made 28 saves. Yet a handful of top players was enough to hand the fully rested Blue Jackets another defeat. The Jackets' offense, which has been mostly ineffective, continued to sputter nearly a quarter of the way into the season, and a roster built with size and strength is playing much smaller than its composition suggests.
Defenseman Ivan Provorov's disgust was palpable after the game, shaking his head when asked if the team had played better against the Lightning than in a 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers two days earlier. "It doesn't matter," he grumbled. "We lost, so it doesn't matter." That sentiment hits the mark—one of the few the Blue Jackets have hit all season.
It's gotten late early for their playoff aspirations once again, and loyal fans have seen this movie far too often: same plot, mostly the same cast, same theater, different show time. The team that has spent the past two seasons lamenting poor starts and wasted early points is repeating the pattern. Each low-danger shot shovels more of their playoff hopes into a dumpster that will eventually be set aflame. The internal pressure to avoid another early stumble is sinking them again.
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New assistant coach Don Granato, filling in for head coach Rick Bowness (who was sick), deserves credit for trying to ease the grip on the players' sticks by recommending a 100% forward focus. "This is a group that's very proud... of being here, wearing the jersey," Granato said. "The stakes are high because they felt they didn't reach what they could've or should've, maybe, last season. And that's a lot of pressure. They're dealing with a lot more pressure coming into this year that they've put on themselves... for good reason, right? They're hungry. But it is pressure, and it's dealing with pressure." Yet if there's one thing learned about this team in recent years, it's that pressure tends to crush them under its weight every time—not in a good way. They don't emerge as a shining diamond; they get obliterated by it, and it's happening again.
Looking at the past doesn't help, either. "There's lots of intangible there," Granato said. "We can debate it, we can argue it, but you cannot look back. We cannot look back. We have to move on. Our next game, we have to take the video from this, have discussions from this and find a way to feel good about yourself and your game, and get your compete level back up high." Scoring more than one or two goals per game might help, too—something they've done just six times in 17 games, including a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 1 to open the season and a 7-2 romp over the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 3.
That Avalanche game was similar to the Lightning matchup, as Colorado was finishing a back-to-back on the road at Nationwide Arena. Unlike that game, the Blue Jackets' ineptitude in the offensive zone led to Tampa Bay's victory in a game that was tied 1-1 entering the third period. A puck that snuck through the pads of goalie Jet Greaves made it 2-1 on the period's second shift, and a turnover by newcomer Matthew Knies deep in the Blue Jackets' end led to Brandon Hagel's goal 6:35 later off a one-timer from a sharp angle. That was all the offense the Lightning needed, as they closed off the most dangerous areas of their own zone to keep the Jackets at bay.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Lightning generated lopsided edges in the game's most dangerous scoring chances: 14-6 at 5-on-5 and 14-9 at even strength, once again showing the Blue Jackets' inability to turn size and strength into quality looks. "I feel like with the way our team's built, I think it should be a fight for who gets to the net-front," Knies said. "There's a lot of big players, strong players, and yeah, I think we do it... but it can't be on occasion, really. It's got to be every time and be predictable with it."
On the bright side, Knies scored the Jackets' only goal from the front of the net, redirecting a pass from Kent Johnson to cap a power play in the first period. The problem is that it was his first goal since scoring two in the season-opener, after joining the Blue Jackets two days earlier in a blockbuster trade that sent Kirill Marchenko to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Knies and others are still searching for sparks. "It's not our attitude, it's not how we come out or anything like that," Provorov said. "We just have to find a way to put the puck in the net. I mean, we scored one tonight. We scored one the game before. We scored only two the game before that, so we've got to find a way to put the puck in the net. It sounds dumb, but if you score more goals than the other team, then you win. If you don't, then you don't."
Next up are the Philadelphia Flyers (5-10-6) on Nov. 14 in the Blue Jackets' final home game before a four-game road trip. No pressure or anything, but it's essentially a must-win game for each team.
Originally reported by yahoo.