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Two straight losses for Columbus Blue Jackets despite impressive effort: 4 takeaways
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- Two straight losses for Columbus Blue Jackets despite impressive effort: 4 takeaways
Short-staffed from another injury spate , the Blue Jackets did what they've done all season Tuesday night at Harbor Center in Buffalo .
Despite falling 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres to split a four-game road trip with their second consecutive loss, the battered Jackets fought to the final horn. Trailing 3-1 starting the third period, they nearly forced overtime after Ivan Provorov 's goal with 7:22 remaining cut it to a one-goal deficit.
Blue Jackets center Luca Del Bel Belluz looks to make a pass around Sabres left wing Jason Zucker.
There just wasn't enough firepower to pull off a full comeback after adding Kirill Marchenko (fractured jaw), Zach Werenski (upper body) and Dante Fabbro (upper body) to a list of injured regulars that already included Boone Jenner (shoulder), Sean Monahan (wrist), Yegor Chinakhov (back) and Erik Gudbranson (shoulder).
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More: Columbus Blue Jackets deliver in OT again: 5 takeaways from a thriller in Vegas
Next up are home games Thursday against the Utah Hockey Club and Saturday against the New York Rangers before a break for the league's 4 Nations Face-Off, which can't arrive soon enough for the injury-plagued Blue Jackets.
Here are four takeaways:
Sabres right wing Alex Tuch (89) celebrates his goal with center Ryan McLeod.
Columbus Blue Jackets drop out of playoff spot after loss to Buffalo Sabres
The loss in Buffalo dropped the Blue Jackets out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. They're now 26-21-7 and tied at 59 points with the Detroit Red Wings , whom the Jackets will host March 1 at Ohio Stadium.
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The Red Wings and Blue Jackets each trail the Boston Bruins (27-22-6, 59 points) and Tampa Bay Lightning (28-20-4, 59 points) by a point as the NHL's mid-February pause nears. Behind those four are the New York Islanders (57 points), Rangers (54 points), Montreal Canadiens (53 points), Pittsburgh Penguins (53 points) and Philadelphia Flyers (52 points) in a clogged playoff chase.
Even the Sabres, who are last in the East with 49 points, are within 10 points of Detroit and Columbus.
Blue Jackets defensemen Damon Severson (78) and Jordan Harris (22) can't stop Sabres center Dylan Cozens from making a clearing pass.
Columbus Blue Jackets come up short against Buffalo Sabres despite dominant third period
Structural coverage breakdowns in the second period cost the Blue Jackets again, but the game overall was one of their better statistical performances in a while. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blue Jackets finished with edges in 5-on-5 scoring chances (21-20) and high-danger chances (10-9). They held the Sabres to just one shot in the third.
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Going into Tuesday night's contest, they'd been outplayed in their previous 10 games in those categories despite going 6-3-1 and 4-1 in those games that went beyond regulation. Despite their massive personnel shortage in Buffalo, the Blue Jackets flipped the script on the Sabres.
That's the type of effort it'll take in their final two games this week.
Blue Jackets center Kent Johnson takes a shot on goal during Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Sabres.
Kent Johnson 's backhand 'Spin-O-Rama' goal was lone bright spot for Columbus Blue Jackets
Playing without their top three offensive weapons, the Blue Jackets were thrown into offensive disarray. Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson became the team's top two threats, and it was the latter who scored a highlight goal to tie it 1-1 early in the second period.
Getting the puck off on the left wing from James van Riemsdyk , Johnson used a quick reverse spin for a backhand 'Spin-O-Rama' shot that zipped past goalie James Reimer for his 16thgoal of the season. It was also his 35thpoint in 40 games since missing 14 games in the season's first month.
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Rather than moving to Fantilli's top line to replace Kirill Marchenko (broken jaw), Johnson stayed on the second line to continue playing with Van Riemsdyk. Rookie Luca Del Bel Belluz moved up from the third line to center the first group.
Blue Jackets right wing Mathieu Olivier squares off with Sabres defenseman Dennis Gilbert.
Columbus Blue Jackets' Mathieu Olivier hammered Buffalo Sabres defenseman David Gilbert in pointless opening bout
Mathieu Olivier has developed a reputation as one of the NHL's heavyweight enforcers, so getting him to accept a fight has become a bit of a status symbol. The Sabres, however, had ulterior motives after stewing over their muted response to an illegal hit in their previous game against the New Jersey Devils that knocked top center Tage Thompson out of the lineup.
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That's how Olivier wound up fighting Buffalo's David Gilbert off the opening faceoff in a scrap that looked like something out of the NHL of the 1980s or 1990s. Gilbert tried to reclaim some lost dignity for his teammates but wound up taking a straight right to the mouth followed by three massive rights to his helmeted head before he dropped to a knee to end it.
That fight wasn't a good look for the NHL, the Sabres or Gilbert, who took a needless beating from a player who had nothing to do with Buffalo's misguided angst.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets lack firepower vs Buffalo Sabres: 4 takeaways
