DETROIT ― In a way, it looked like the Blue Jackets hopped into a time machine Tuesday and traveled back to November while clinging to a late one-goal lead at Little Caesar's Arena.
More: Blue Jackets blow third-period lead, lose 3-2 to Ottawa in shootout
With the Detroit Red Wings pushing for an equalizer, the Blue Jackets got pinned into their own zone for long stretches and leaned heavily on goalie Daniil Tarasov to preserve a slim lead with an assortment of jaw-dropping stops.
Eventually, the Red Wings kicked the door down and skated off with a 4-3 overtime comeback victory they badly needed on Patrik Kane's OT winner. It felt a lot like the numerous late leads that vanished on the Blue Jackets a few months ago, and was the second time it happened in their past four games ― also leading to an OT loss March 14 to the Ottawa Senators . The Blue Jackets, however, swear these last two flubs didn't leave nearly as much of a mark as the first 13 they frittered away in a season filled with near misses.
"It's not the same," coach Pascal Vincent said. "It's completely different. The result is the same, don't get me wrong, but the way it was played out ... completely different."
Maybe not 'completely' though.
Similar to a shootout loss Nov. 12 to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, the Jackets allowed the tying goal against Detroit during a 6-on-5 advantage for the Red Wings (35-28-6) with their net empty in the waning seconds of regulation.
Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner attempted to seal the game with an attempt at the empty net from his own blue line, missed left and iced the puck for a key draw inside the Columbus zone. He lost the ensuing faceoff to Andrew Copp , watched Kane's shot from the right circle create a perfect rebound into the low slot and saw Lucas Raymond send it past Tarasov with 12.6 seconds on the clock.
Four months earlier in New York, the Rangers tied it 3-3 with 11 seconds left before winning by shootout. In retrospect, the final sequences in Detroit were a little reminiscent of a few situations that sunk the Blue Jackets earlier this season. They couldn't get out of their own zone, hung their goalie out to dry, couldn't hit the empty net and eventually paid a hefty price.
Like those losses, however, the Jackets will take this one as a learning experience. There's no other choice.
"The one thing I would say about this game tonight is that twice we could've just laid the puck in the neutral zone instead of icing the puck, so that's something we're going to fix and maybe it's a different result," Vincent said. "But the mind-set is completely different (now). We're still pushing (with a lead). We're still looking to create offense. So, it's completely different."
Here are five takeaways:
If there's any bright side for the Blue Jackets, it's the fact they've played well enough all season to now have 15 leads in third periods that have gotten away .
They fell to 2-2-11 in those games, including four that vanished in the final minute of regulation and six within the final two minutes. The loss to Detroit was the second time the Jackets lost a lead and game when holding a one-goal lead with less than 15 seconds left in the third.
So, the Jackets are good enough to smell a lot of victories. They just keep finding ways to lose them.
Against the Red Wings, it was their lackluster second as much as crumbling in the third, after Kirill Marchenko put them up 3-2 with an early power-play goal. The Jackets dominated the Red Wings in the game's first 20 minutes, outshooting Detroit 20-5 and building a 2-0 lead on breakaway goals by Zach Werenski and Alexandre Texie.,
They just flipped it around in the second with a 10-7 shot margin that favored Detroit and goals by Raymond and Moritz Seider in the first 4:23 of the period. That's the kind of stuff that needs to be eliminated. Making leads hold up in the third is another area of crisis.
The Blue Jackets have shown some progress in the third, but the results still aren't falling their way enough.
"I think in the third we're way better than early in the season, that's for sure," Texier said. "We've learned from our mistakes, not to sit back too much and wait. I feel like we still can do a better job in the third, but I don't feel that was too bad tonight. I think it's a big step for us in the third, and overall, the whole game, we went in the right direction. We've just got to find a way to win those games."
Tarasov was beaten in overtime on a pinpoint shot in overtime that beat him to the short side, under the crossbar near the top left corner of the net. It was a vintage Patrick Kane clutch goal for a team that desperately needed a victory to harbor hopes of remaining in the chase for a wild-card spot.
"I don't like the fourth goal," Tarasov said. "It was all on me, the short side shot from 'The Kaner,' so he just beat me."
Vincent admired his young goalie for attempting to shoulder the blame, but there was no way he'd let it stand without defending his young goalie on the play.
"I really appreciate that, but no," he said. "That's why he's such a good goaltender, but he played such a good game. No fingers should be pointed at Daniil Tarasov tonight."
Vincent instead gave credit to Kane, who has 26 goals, 55 assists and 81 points in 61 career games against the Blue Jackets.
"Patrick Kane takes the perfect shot (on Raymond's goal)," he said. "From that angle, the perfect shot creates the rebound, so that's an elite playmaker who does elite stuff at key times. And his goal in overtime, I'm not sure there's enough space for a puck to get in ... and he finds a way to get it in."
This was Werenski's 22ndgame against the Red Wings, whom he grew up cheering for in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
It was also another game with him limping around in the postgame locker room after blocking a shot late in the third of a gutting overtime loss. Werenski left the ice briefly after blocking the shot, tried to walk off the pain, finished the game and was assessed by the medical staff after the game.
Vincent did not have an update on Werenski, and the Blue Jackets are off Wednesday for their flight to Denver to continue the road trip. Their top defenseman finished the game with his breakaway goal, two assists and three points to increase his point total to 43, but he couldn't help the Jackets avoid being swept by Detroit in the season series (0-2-1).
The Blue Jackets' front office will again have one of its own handling general manager duties for a national team at this spring's upcoming men's world championships.
Rick Nash, the Jackets' director of player development, will be Hockey Canada's GM for the tournament May 10-26 in Czechia. A year ago, Blue Jackets director of player, Chris Clark, had the same role for the U.S. contingent in Finland.
Nash, 39, is in his fifth season working for the Jackets' front office He was also an assistant GM for Canada's silver medal team at the 2022 world championship. As a player, Nash represented Canada at three winter Olympics, four world championships and once in the world junior championship. He won Olympic gold in 2010 and 2014.
"Hockey Canada has meant a lot to me throughout my career, and I couldn't be more excited to lead our team at the world championships in May," Nash said in a statement. "Representing Canada has been a great source of pride for me throughout my career and I am looking forward to working with our staff to put together a team that will work extremely hard towards our goal of winning a gold medal in Czechia."
Having success as a GM at world championships can be a springboard to landing the same role with an NHL team. It certainly helped former Blue Jackets associate GM Bill Zito stack his resume in 2018 with the U.S. prior to getting the Florida Panthers ' GM job two years later.
The Blue Jackets are currently without a GM after firing Jarmo Kekalainen in February, but president of hockey operations John Davidson – the acting GM – said the search for his replacement would begin with external candidates. Clark added to his resume last spring by putting together a solid team for USA Hockey and Nash how has the same opportunity with Hockey Canada.
It's been another impressive year of development within the Blue Jackets' organizational system, which received another plaudit Tuesday afternoon.
Michigan forward Gavin Brindley , whom the Blue Jackets selected last year in the second round (34thoverall), was named the Big Ten's player of the year after a remarkable sophomore season. Brindley, an undersized scoring forward, had 24 goals and 27 assists for 51 points in just 36 regular season games to tie for the team's scoring lead with Winnipeg Jets prospect Rutger McGroarty.
Brindley had 12-26-38 as a freshman last season, when he was teammates with Blue Jackets rookie center Adam Fantilli – whom the Jackets selected third overall last summer. Michigan will face rival Michigan State in the Big Ten's tournament championship game before finishing the season in the NCAA tournament.
After that concludes, Brindley will likely have an interesting choice to either sign with the Blue Jackets and start his professional career or opt for another year in college.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Red Wings pull off latest comeback over Blue Jackets: 5 takeaways
