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Blue Jackets drop second straight, falling to Ducks after costly mistakes
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- Blue Jackets drop second straight, falling to Ducks after costly mistakes
ANAHEIM — If you're a fan of lockdown defense and stingy goaltending, this wasn't the game for you.
Neither the Blue Jackets nor the Anaheim Ducks had much success keeping pucks out of their own net, but both made sure the scoreboard operator at Honda Center stayed busy.
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After a combined 10 goals were scored, only one into an empty net, the Ducks skated off with a 6-4 victory over the Jackets in game that included Columbus scratching Patrik Laine with an upper-body injury and losing star defenseman Zach Werenski to an upper-body injury in the first period.
"We need to do a better job and lock it down a bit more," said defenseman Jake Bean , who led the Blue Jackets with two goals. "We did generate a lot. I think (scoring) chances in the first were 7-7, even though they were up 3-1. I guess we've just got to keep that rolling on the offensive side of things and just try to be a bit more responsible in our (defensive) zone."
Troy Terry (two goals, one assist) and Derek Grant (one goal, two assists) paced Anaheim, which had five players score goals and six finish with multiple points.
Aside from Bean's goals, Columbus got goals from Sean Kuraly and Cole Sillinger to keep it close. Jean-Francoise Berube started in net for the Blue Jackets (35-35-6), allowing five goals on 31 shots while giving Elvis Merzlikins his first night off since Mar. 22 in Pittsburgh – ending a string of 11 straight starts.
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Anaheim raced to a 3-1 lead in the first period on Terry's two goals and one by Gerry Mayhew. Columbus countered with Bean's goal plus his second one early in the second to cut the Ducks' lead to 3-2. Kuraly's goal in the second pulled the Jackets even at 3-3 starting the third, but the Ducks took control from there.
Trevor Zegras made it 4-3 at 1:03 of the third, Cam Fowler scored what proved to be the winner at 3:28 for a 5-3 lead and Grant scored into an empty net to seal the win with 56 seconds remaining, countering a goal scored by Sillinger at 7:22 of the period to get Columbus within a goal at 5-4.
It was the second loss in as many days for the Blue Jackets, who lost 2-1 Saturday at the Los Angeles Kings .
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"We found our legs pretty good on a back-to-back," Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. "Just big mistakes tonight. That was the thing that really hurt us. I could tell our focus was a little bit off early. It's just a real simple coverage that we blow and then a couple big mistakes that cost us."
Blue Jackets injuries continue to mount with Laine, Werenski issues
The first inkling that it might be a tough night was potential injury news released late afternoon that one of the Jackets' skaters would be a gametime decision.
It turned out to be Laine, who didn't play and is "day-to-day" with an upper-body injury. His absence created a huge void atop the forward lines and created a spot for Brendan Gaunce to draw back into the lineup as the fourth line's center.
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Larsen juggled his line combinations to compensate, giving rookie Kent Johnson and Oliver Bjorkstrand a promotion from the third line into the top six and skating them with Jack Roslovic (assist). Gustav Nyquist left Roslovic's line to join rookie Cole Sillinger and Jakub Voracek , while the third line returned to one of its most effective iterations with Eric Robinson , Sean Kuraly and Justin Danforth .
Emil Bemstrom slid out of the top six and into a spot on the fourth line with Gaunce and rookie Carson Meyer, but that wasn't the end of Larsen's injury finagling.
Werenski was next to exit after colliding with Anaheim's Sam Carrick 2:50 into the game. The Jackets' top defenseman sustained an upper-body injury after stepping up to engage Carrick as he crossed the Columbus blue line and his face appeared to take the brunt of the collision.
Werenski was instantly dazed, skated to the bench and headed straight to the locker room for treatment. He didn't return and an update on his condition was not immediately given. With only six games left in the season, it's fair to wonder whether Werenski or Laine have played their final game of the campaign.
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"It sucks,"Larsen said. "I mean, it's two real good players for us, but you don't sit there and worry about it. You can't. Guys got to go play, you know? And we were in that game. It wasn't like we got blown out. ... We just don't get it done."
Laine and Werenski join an extensive list of key players already out, including captain Boone Jenner (lower back), forward Alexandre Texier (personal leave), forward Yegor Chinakhov (upper body) and goalies Joonas Korpisalo and Daniil Tarasov – who each sustained season-ending hip injuries.
Jake Bean nets second two-goal game of the season for Blue Jackets
Since returning from a 14-game absence with a groin strain, Bean's play has begun to stand out more offensively.
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He came to the Blue Jackets in a trade last summer from the Carolina Hurricanes billed as a young offensive defenseman, but has gone through some stretches this season without being noticed much inside the opposing blue line. That's happening fewer times now and wasn't the case at all against the Ducks.
Bean tied it 1-1 at 4:07 of the first with his first goal of the game, taking a pass from Roslovic and ripping a wrist shot past John Gibson, and then beat the Ducks' backstop again with a wrister from the slot to pulled the Jackets within 3-2 early in the second.
"I think it's kind of game-to-game," Bean said. "It kind of just depends on the night, I think. I do want to continue to push offensively. I think that's a big part of my game."
Indeed, this was Bean's second two-goal game of the season after notching his first Nov. 3 in Colorado during an overtime victory he ended with his second of the game. It didn't hurt that his defensive partner was Adam Boqvist, a like-minded defenseman with a high level of offensive skill.
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Bean, however, is still striving to become a two-way defender.
"You watch (Werenski), he plays a lot of offense, but he's also responsible and he has enough (energy) in the tank to play defense at the same time," Bean said. "So, that's something I'm trying to find at this level, playing against top guys. I can play offense all day, but it's a little harder when you play offense for 45 seconds and then you've got to go defend against (Anaheim's) Ryan Getzlaf."
Blankenburg gets lineup promotion from Blue Jackets coaching staff
Three games into his NHL career, rookie Nick Blankenburg has already impressed his new coaching staff – Larsen included.
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The former University of Michigan captain skated with Vladislav Gavrikov on the second pairing and they each finished with a minus-2 plus/minus rating. Blankenburg started out on the third pairing with Bean in his first two games, but the 5-foot-9 former Michigan walk-on was moved up to the second unit in Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
Blankenburg, who recorded his first NHL point with a secondary assist in his debut game, has also been deployed as a penalty-killer at times for his ability and willingness to block shots. Asked after the loss to the Kings if Blankenburg had earned trust from his coaches, Larsen was quick to answer.
"Darn, right … yeah," he said. "Watch him play. That kid's assertive. No one told him he's (5-9). I'll tell you what, he never got the memo."
Larsen said Blankenburg's decisions with the puck and accuracy on exit passes stand out as impressive skills in the defensive zone. Getting into shooting lanes and taking hits are other good traits.
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"There was one play in the second period (against the Kings) when he was below the goal line three times and he makes the right play every single time coming up the middle of the ice," Larsen said. "Those are plays that defensemen in this league that play four or five years don't try to make."
Blankenburg's constant scanning also caught the attention of the coaching staff.
"He's always aware of what's going on around him, because he's shoulder checking," Larsen said. "His head never stops moving. And that could be due to his size. He's probably had to do that in his career, but, yeah … he really impressed me."
Merzlikins needed a night off on Blue Jackets' bench
A couple weeks ago, Larsen told reporters he planned to start Merzlikins in every game that remained on the Jackets' schedule.
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That was more or less a test for the 28-year old goalie, whose string of consecutive starts ended at 11 straight starts with Berube facing Anaheim. Larsen consulted with goaltending coach Manny Legace after Merzlikins took a tough loss Saturday with 36 saves in a 2-1 loss to the Kings, and they decided to give him a breather.
"I thought Elvis had a really good game in L.A.," Larsen said. "We've been riding him pretty hard and I wanted him to think he was playing (every game). And his response was great. I didn't (sit) him because of bad play. I didn't play him because he's been carrying the load. And his first response is, like, 'Did I do something wrong?' and I'm like, 'No, no. You've been playing well.' So, that's the right response. It was more just to give him some rest."
The decision allowed Berube to get back in the Blue Jackets' net for the first time since Feb. 25 in Raleigh. He allowed three goals on 10 shots in the first period, but found a better rhythm after the third one to keep his team in the game. The Ducks couldn't solve Berube on 12 shots in the second, but broke through for two more against him in the third to precede Grant's empty-netter.
"It's never easy, but my job is to be ready whenever my name gets called," Berube said. "I thought I did a good job in practice, making sure that whenever I had the chance to get back in there, I would be good to go. I felt good. They had a couple good plays (for goals) to start the game and I would've liked to come out with a big save for the team. Unfortunately, it didn't happen."
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bhedger@dispatch.com
@BrianHedger
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets fall to Anaheim Ducks, losing second straight
