The Blue Jackets showed encouraging progress in a few areas this season despite finishing near the bottom of the NHL standings again.
Protecting leads wasn't one of those areas, especially large leads at any point and narrow leads late in third periods . They coughed up 15 third-period leads, going 2-2-11 in those debacles to leave far too many points on the table. One of the wins was in overtime, forced by a blown 5-0 lead during the third period in Toronto , and a blown 4-0 lead in Anaheim isn't even counted in that tally.
That one was a second-period crumble at the Ducks ' Honda Center in yet another odd victory. The Blue Jackets lost so many late leads they were usually at a loss for words to explain how it kept happening, forcing players to repeatedly voice the same exasperated frustrations. They did make progress in protecting late leads before concluding the season with a 6-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes , but fumbled leads will go down as one of their hallmarks in 2023-24.
Here are five of the Blue Jackets' most galling collapses:
Date/location:Nov. 6, Sunrise, Florida
Final score: Panthers 4, Blue Jackets 3 OT
How the meltdown happened:After allowing three straight goals in the first 6:09 of the game, the Jackets scored the next four to take a 4-3 lead on Alexandre Texier 's goal with 7:30 left in regulation. It lasted only 6:33 before Nick Cousins tied it 3-3 with 57 seconds left to force overtime. In OT, Carter Verhaeghe won it for the Panthers at 1:26, handing Blue Jackets goalie Spencer Martin a crushing defeat after he made 34 saves on 36 shots in relief of Elvis Merzlikins .
Key play:Playing with an empty net for a 6-on-5 advantage, the Panthers sent the puck into the Columbus zone with a minute left to play. Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov intercepted it, but his clearing attempt hit Cousins and dropped the puck right at the forward's feet for a shot from the slot that tied it.
Postgame quote:"You crawl your way back into the game, and just ... one mistake, really, and then you're in overtime. So, it's frustrating. Lots of emotions tonight. Good ones, not-to-good ones. But it's disappointing." ― Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent
Date/location:Nov. 12, New York
Final score: New York Rangers 4, Blue Jackets 3 SO
How the meltdown happened:Goals scored 19 seconds apart by Adam Fantilli and Sean Kuraly gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead late in the second, but the Rangers just barely forced OT on a goal by Alexis Lafreniere with 11 seconds left in regulation time. The Rangers peppered Merzlikins in that period with a 17-1 edge in shots, but the Jackets defended valiantly until that one went into the net with the Rangers' net empty at the other end.
Key play: Artemi Panarin , the Blue Jackets' franchise record holder for points in a single season, ignited the crushing blow. His shot-pass from inside the blue line was received by teammate Chris Kreider in the front of the net, and he dished a feed to Lafrieniere for a tap-in goal from just outside the right post. Merzlikins sprawled out in disbelief, and the sting was even worse after Lafreniere beat him again to win the shootout with a backhand in the fifth round.
Postgame quote:"To let one in with 11 seconds left, it doesn't feel good. You're 11 seconds away, and all you're thinking is, 'Was there one more battle that I could've won to get the puck out?' And you've got to live with it." — Kuraly
Date/location:Dec. 5, Columbus
Final score: Los Angeles Kings 4, Blue Jackets 3 OT
How the meltdown happened: Kirill Marchenko gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead in the first before Johnny Gaudreau and Mathieu Olivier scored in the second to make it 3-0. Rather than building on momentum, the Jackets fell apart. The Kings scored three straight goals in the first 6:38 of the third, all against Merzlikins, and won it 33 seconds into OT on a goal by Drew Doughty . Merzlikins was a perfect 23-for-23 in the first two periods but crumbled under the Kings' late push.
Key play: Phillip Danault scored the first two goals for the Kings, but the second one was the biggest in L.A.'s comeback effort. After initially thinking he'd stopped a shot by former Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov , a good friend of Merzlikins, the Jackets' netminder was beaten after not realizing the puck was resting near the goal line without being covered. Danault saw it, got his stick behind Merzlikins and tapped it home. Arthur Kaliyev tied it 1:30 later off an unfortunate bounce for the Blue Jackets.
Postgame quote:"I think we just play on our heels. We stop playing our game. We stop doing what we were doing good for the first two periods, and we let them back in it. I don't know what the answer is to that. I really don't. But it's one of those things where, 'What do we have to lose at this point?' Let's keep playing aggressive. Why are we trying to just play defense and let teams be in our zone with good shots and stuff like that?" — Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski
Date/location:Dec. 14, Toronto
Final score: Blue Jackets 6, Maple Leafs 5 OT
How the meltdown happened:Much like the Kings game, the Blue Jackets outplayed a heavily favored opponent in the first two periods to build a comfortable lead starting the third. This time, they led 5-0 and had Canadian media's full attention until an epic collapse shifted that attention into a huge negative. Kent Johnson capped a three-point game by scoring his second goal of the game in OT to save some face for the Blue Jackets, but even that prompted a muted celebration from his stunned teammates.
Key play:Also mirroring the Kings, the Maple Leafs got their first two goals in the comeback quickly. Williams Nylander and Mitch Marner scored 3:11 apart in the first 3:49 of the third. Toronto added a third on a power play with less than five minutes remaining, which set the stage for Auston Matthews to score two 6-on-5 goals 30 seconds apart to tie it 5-5 with 45 seconds left. Matthews' first goal was the toughest to swallow after his shot hit Provorov and deflected between Merzlikins' pads with 1:15 left in regulation.
Postgame quote:"I don't really have, like, words for it, I guess? Confusing, a little bit. Obviously, we know we've blown some leads in here this year. The L.A. one was bad, up three in the third. Tonight's ... I don't really know, I guess, how to explain it. ... we've definitely got to figure something out in third periods." ― Werenski
Date/location:Feb. 21, Anaheim
Final score: Blue Jackets 7, Ducks 4 OT
How the meltdown happened:Werenski's two goals in the first period sandwiched a goal by Gaudreau to give the Jackets a 3-0 lead to protect in the second. Kuraly pushed it to 4-0 at 2:49 of the second, and that's when the Ducks opened the floodgates. They tied it 4-4 on four straight goals in a 10:29 span to force the Blue Jackets off the ice with befuddled looks on their faces. After recollecting themselves in the second intermission, the Jackets took out their frustrations in the third. They netted three goals and won by that margin.
Key play:While trying to defend Anaheim's Mason McTavish in front of the net, Blue Jackets defenseman Adam Boqvist accidentally speared goalie Daniil Tarasov through the cage on his goalie mask and cut his eyelid. Tarasov left the game to get stitches, forcing Merzlikins to enter the game cold off the bench. The Ducks scored two more goals to tie it in the final 3:55 of the second, before Tarasov could return for the third to backstop a win.
Postgame quote:"There's anger, there's frustration and you've got to channel it the right way. Hopefully, we can continue to channel it like we did tonight in the third period from now on ... and for 60 minutes." ― Kuraly
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 maddening meltdowns from Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023-24
