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Columbus Blue Jackets' Evason roiled about 'soft' play in loss to Colorado Avalanche
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- Columbus Blue Jackets' Evason roiled about 'soft' play in loss to Colorado Avalanche
This one didn't sit well with the Blue Jackets , including their coach.
After watching a buzz saw that doubles as the Colorado Avalanche shred the Jackets for the better part of three periods in a 4-1 loss Oct. 16 at Nationwide Arena, Dean Evason was candid in his postgame assessments.
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More: Highlights from Cam Atkinson's final day with the Columbus Blue Jackets
"The first three (games), we liked how we played," he said. "We didn't like how we played tonight. That's a good team, but we probably gave them way too much respect and didn't get to our game (to) play the way that we play, and that's the disappointing part here tonight."
The Avalanche (4-0-1) outshot the Blue Jackets (1-3-0) by a 37-23 margin, including 26-14 through the first two periods, and overcame a 1-0 deficit in the second to lead 3-1 starting the third. Those are impressive numbers from a proven Stanley Cup contender but don't fully reflect the carnage caused by Nathan MacKinnon , Cale Makar and the rest of a stacked lineup.
According to Natural Stat Trick , Colorado finished with huge edges in attempts (77-56), scoring chances (45-27) and high danger scoring chances (18-10) for a 5.17-2.68 expected goals margin.
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"At the end of the day, we've got to play harder," Blue Jackets center Sean Monahan said. "It's home ice. We lost the game before (Oct. 13 vs New Jersey ). We've got to find ways to win, and that's the hard part of this league. We've got to step up and get back to work."
Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger shoots at Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood on Oct. 16.
Another way to put it is that watching an NHL team get overmatched because they're watching their opponent too much is painful to watch.
"Sure, they've got some good players, but so do we," Evason said. "That's not how we play, right? We were passive tonight. We were soft. We've got to play hard. If we're going to win hockey games, we've got to play hard, and we didn't play hard enough tonight to win, forget about playing against that team or against any team in the National Hockey League."
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"That team," just happens to be one of the two or three deepest teams in the league, but the Blue Jackets aren't willing to accept that as an excuse.
"We've had enough learning experiences with this group," Evason said. "We shouldn't be in a position to learn that we have to work or (control) the respect level. ... We shouldn't care who the heck we're playing, right? We talk about that all the time. Who, what, when, where? The puck's dropped. Play hard. We didn't do it tonight. We've got to get back to that."
Merzlikins dazzles in Columbus Blue Jackets ' loss to Colorado Avalanche
Some people are going to look at the final score, see that Elvis Merzlikins allowed three of the four goals the Blue Jackets allowed and grumble about his goaltending.
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They couldn't be more inaccurate.
Merzlikins was beaten three times on shots that were redirected and fired through traffic, and he was the only reason the Avalanche didn't have a much larger margin of victory. Merzlikins played most of the game under siege, made several outstanding stops to keep it 0-0 after one period and finished with 33 saves on 36 shots for an impressive .917 save percentage.
Merzlikins and Jet Greaves both look strong after splitting the first four games evenly, which is one of the few bright spots the Blue Jackets can take from their 1-3-0 start.
"The goalie was real good," Evason said of Merzlikins. "Didn't see two tips and didn't see the (other) one, so Elvis was great."
Former Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson stops to see his family as he takes a final lap around the rink prior to a game against the Avalanche on Oct. 16.
Cam Atkinson 's final twirl with Columbus Blue Jackets was memorable
Prior to the game, Cam Atkinson took his final lap around the ice to an ovation at Nationwide Arena, his home building for the first 10 years of his standout NHL career.
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Donning his Blue Jackets uniform for the first time since being traded in June 2021, Atkinson soaked up every moment of his last official skate wearing his No. 13 jersey. He stayed out to join the Blue Jackets as they filed onto the ice, stood on the blue line for the anthem one last time and then joined his wife Natalie and their three kids to watch the game from the stands.
NHL rules deny two Columbus Blue Jackets goals
Nearing the end of the second period, Blue Jackets forward Dmitri Voronkov appeared to tie it 2-2 on a charge to the Avalanche net.
Referees Carter Sandlak and Chris Lee waved it off because Voronkov's left hand batted the puck out of mid-air off his own chest and into the net, which the NHL considers a hand pass. It was announced that Columbus issued a coach's challenge, but the review came from the league's video review center in Toronto .
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That's why no penalty was assessed for delay of game following a failed challenge. According to the NHL, rule 78.5 (i) pertaining to pucks batted into the net with anything other than a stick. The league ruled that Voronkov illegally batted the puck with his left hand before it caromed off his chest into the net.
Late in the third, it happened again. Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson was denied a goal after a teammate batted a puck out of mid-air into the Avs' crease, where he smacked it into the net. The play was ruled a hand pass between teammates, which isn't allowed.
It was the third time in the Blue Jackets' first four games that an apparent goal was either waved off or overturned by video review.
Yegor Chinakhov attracts scouting attention
A packed scouting list doesn't always mean there's a player or players on the trading block, but that might have been the case in this game.
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Yegor Chinakhov, who requested a trade from Blue Jackets president/general manager Don Waddell in the summer, skated in his regular season debut. He didn't skate much, logging nine minutes on 12 shifts with the fourth line, but the scouting section inside the press box was packed.
The game drew credential requests from 25 scouts representing 21 teams, including three from the Edmonton Oilers . Edmonton was linked to interest in Chinakhov during the preseason, but nothing materialized.
Chinakhov sat out the Blue Jackets' first three games as a healthy scratch but played his first game of 2025-26 as a replacement for Miles Wood (upper body/face). Wood will miss at least a week with a facial injury near his left eye, so Chinakhov is expected to remain in the lineup Oct. 18 against the Tampa Bay Lightning .
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets fall flat vs Colorado Avalanche
