Sounds of unrest resonated to the rafters of Nationwide Arena last night as the Columbus Blue Jackets lost 6-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Chicago opened the scoring roughly seven minutes into the game off a defensive breakdown that seemed to embody the Blue Jackets’ play this season. Chicago forwards charged up-ice unchallenged, Viktor Stalberg fired a shot off the pads of Steve Mason, then captain Jonathan Toews clearly outworked Antoine Vermette to get to the slot and fire the loose puck into the net.
That type of extra-effort separated the two Central Division teams during Military Appreciation Night in Nationwide Arena.
Many times throughout the night, the puck slid across Chicago’s goal crease though nobody was there for the tap-in goal, making it an easy night for goalie Corey Crawford who finished the game with 27 saves.
“We do look like we’re skating in quicksand sometimes, maybe it’s thinking, maybe it’s (them) second guessing themselves,” coach Scott Arniel said about his team’s effort.
Shortly after Toews put the Blackhawks up 1-0, Grant Clitsome tied the game with booming slap shot on the man-advantage. From there, Chicago took control. At the end of the first period, the Blackhawks outshot the Blue Jackets 16 to 5.
In the second period, Andrew Brunette and Steve Montador scored back-to-back power-play goals. Patrick Kane then transformed a lazy pass off the stick of Vinny Prospal into a breakaway goal with 2:06 remaining.
Trailing 5-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of play, the Blue Jackets needed to score early and often to have a chance against the ‘Hawks. Much like a rival would, Marian Hossa beat Columbus to it. Only 32 seconds into the third period, Hossa exerted great patience settling a bouncing puck on to his stick then lifting it over a sprawling Steve Mason.
Later, Mark Letestu scored to mark his first career goal as a Blue Jacket, though not many were left to applaud his achievement. His power-play goal came off a feed pass from Rick Nash, who picked up his 500th NHL point with the assist.
Speculations surrounding the possibility of a management change heighten with every loss. Arniel, who spent the past four days making tweaks to his lineup and on-ice strategy, came under scrutiny once again as his team failed to produce.
“We’ve hit a lot of bottoms, and this is another big one,” said Arniel after the 9-2 loss to Philadelphia.
For Blue Jackets fans, so is this. And with Winnipeg coming to Columbus on Saturday, that might be too.
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