President Mike Priest and general manager Scott Howson should have lobbied for shorter periods when they recently met with the league’s board of governors. Maybe that could have saved the Columbus Blue Jackets from their latest late-game collapse.
The Nashville Predators erased a two-goal deficit with 1:36 left in regulation, then stole the extra point in overtime on their way to a 4-3 victory.
“We played 58 ½ good minutes. Games like that where we are rolling four lines, playing well, getting on the forecheck…it has to be automatic,” said Jeff Carter.
Curtis Sanford made only 18 saves, though he battled screens and relaxed officiating the entire night. Many times after play was blown dead, Sanford emerged from the bottom of a pile-up.
Scoring opened in an unorthodox way. Eight minutes into the first period, Carter snapped a wrist shot off the back bar of the net. The puck bounced out with such quickness and fluidity that the referees hadn’t noticed the goal. On the next stoppage of play, video replay revealed the puck had clearly crossed the goal line, giving the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead.
Derek Dorsett followed the goal by toppling Francis Bouillon in a fairly one-sided tilt. It was only the beginning of an eventful night for the spirited winger.
At intermission, Columbus headed into the locker room with momentum. They were aggressive when they needed to be and composed when appropriate. Active sticks and tight checking on defense kept Nashville’s scorers at bay.
“We had a strong first period, we were especially good defensively without the puck,” said Antoine Vermette.
In the second period, the teams traded goals. Antoine Vermette gave Columbus a 2-0 advantage when he put a backhander under the arm of goalie Pekka Rinne. Minutes later, Mike Fisher cut the lead in half to make it 2-1.
Through two periods, the fighting majors were the only penalties. The clean slate would be sullied in the third when Bouillon got the gate for hooking.
Less than two minutes into the final period, Dorsett stuffed a breakaway goal top-shelf (where mama hides the cookies), to give the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead.
Then everything unraveled.
With 1:36 remaining, Nashville scored with its net empty. The goal alone was enough to worry Columbus, but the action immediately following the tally was scary.
After the Predators’ Patric Hornqvist brought the game to 3-2, he was dangerously shoved head first into the end boards by the Blue Jackets’ defenseman Nikita Nikitin.
Nikitin gave the hit seconds after the goal had been scored, saw only the back of Hornqvist, and made absolutely no attempt to avoid contact. Brendan Shanahan, head disciplinarian of the NHL, will likely hand out a hefty suspension.
Despite Nashville’s protests, no call was made. The Predators, one goal away from sending the game to overtime, were fired up.
Derek Dorsett took the brunt of Nashville’s anger when he was railroaded by Bouillon along the boards. Sammy Pahlsson, close to the play, came to Dorsett’s defense, drawing a cross checking penalty in the process.
"A (expletive) makeup call by the referee that was horrendous,” said coach Scott Arniel.
On the ensuing power play, Sergei Kostitsyn tied the game.
Fans voiced their displeasure with profanity-laced outbursts. In Nationwide Arena, allowing late-game goals has become about as common as $8 beers.
In overtime, Fedor Tyutin’s poor decision to pursue the puck in the corner resulted in a two-on-one Nashville rush. Game Over.
Unlike previous games, the “boo birds” did not make a sound when the goal light switched on. It was not worth the effort.
“You’d think we’d learn from it,” said Arniel.
Affirmative.
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