The Columbus Blue Jackets are in a downward spiral entering the final month of the NHL regular season for the 2021-2022 year. Their last two games were both regulation losses to the New York Islanders, one time at home, and the other on the road. Before recapping the month, we will recap the month of March, the consequence of what was, and what is ahead of April, as well as Ohio's best hockey team.
On March 29, the Islanders defeated the Jackets by the final score of 4-3 in their home barn.
Columbus opened the scoring with defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, with his fourth of the season. Patrik Laine and Andrew Peeke has the lone helper.
New York came back with 4 unanswered goals. Brock Nelson evened the game on the power play, with his 32nd of the season; captain Andres Lee and center Matthew Barzal had the helpers. Josh Bailey got the go-ahead goal with his 8th; Jean-Gabriel Pageau had the lone assist. Anthony Beauvillier added his 11th to extend the lead for the Isles; Nelson and Lee had the apples. The final New York goal, and eventual game-winner, came from former Devils' first rounder Zach Parise, for his 11th. The final New York assists came from Noah Dobson and Barzal.
Gavrikov got his second goal of the game for his 5th; Jakub Voracek and Laine had the assists. Oliver Bjorkstrand got the final goal of the game for his 24th of the year, and it was unassisted.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 42 of 45, for a 0.933 save percentage. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 25 of 29 shots for a 0.862 save percentage.
CBJ Three Stars of the Game
1. Vladislav Gavrikov -- 2 goals (5) 2. Oliver Bjorkstrand -- goal (24) 3. Patrik Laine-- 2 assists (26)
On March 31, the Islanders beat Columbus 5-2 at the UBS Arena.
The Islanders opened the scoring with Sebastian Aho's first of the season; Brock Nelson had the lone assist. Oliver Wahlstrom added to the lead with his 13th; Zach Parise and Matt Barzal had the helpers.
Emil Bemstrom ended the shutout hopes for New York. The Columbus winger got his 4th of his shortened season; Eric Robinson and Jake Bean had the assists for the Union Blue. Justin Danforth got the tying and final Jackets goal, for his 6th career NHL goal. Russians Vladislav Gavrikov and Yegor Chinakov had the assists.
Kyle Palmieri got the game-winning goal with his 12th of the regular season. Josh Bailey and Adam Pelech had the apples for the Islanders. Barzal got an unasssited goal for his 13th of the year. Ryan Pulock got an empty net goal for his third, and that was also unassisted.
Semyon Varlamov saved 30 of 32 shots, for a 0.938 save percentage; Elvis Merzlikins saved 31 of 25 shots for a 0.886 save percentage.
CBJ Three Stars of the Game
1. Justin Danforth-- goal (6) 2. Emil Bemstrom-- goal (4) 3. Vladislav Gavrikov-- assist (25)
Columbus finishes the month of March with a 5-game losing streak, with thier last win on March 19th against the St. Louis Blues. In the month of March, their final record was 5-6-4. They were also a -16 in goal differential. The Jackets are currently 10th place in the Eastern Conference, with a 32-31-5 regular season record, and also sit 21st out of the 32 teams. If the NHL Draft were to begin today, they would hold the 7th overall (from Chicago via Seth Jones) and 12th overall draft selections in the July 2022 selections, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
New Jersey was the only team Columbus defeated from the Metropolitan Division.
The Los Angeles Kings defeated the Jackets in overtime.
Boston beat Columbus in a shootout.
Toronto beat Columbus in regulation.
New York Islanders shutout the Jackets at the UBS Arena, 6-0.
Columbus stunned Minnesota Wild in a shootout.
The Union Blue put a sting in the Vegas Golden Knights' playoff hopers, with a 6-4 upset.
Columbus beat Ottawa, where Ottawa lost defenseman Thomas Chabot for the regular season, in a 4-1 victory.
Washington dominated Columbus, 7-2 on St. Patrick's Day.
Columbus upset the St. Louis Blues, despite Blues' foward David Perron getting a hat-trick, 5-4.
Pittsburgh rolled over Columbus with a 5-1 win, the day after the trade deadline.
Columbus lost to Winnipeg in Winnipeg, in an overtime defeat, 4-3.
Minnesota helps new goalie Marc-Andre Fleury defeat the Blue Jackets, 3-2 in overtime.
The Islanders defeat the Jackets in their final home game in March, 4-3 in regulation.
NY Isalnders close March in a 5-2 win over Columbus at the UBS Arena.
On March 5, Columbus retired their first jersey number in franchise history, being number #61 in Rick Nash. Nash was the 2002 #1 overall draft selection by Columbus, playing with the Jackets as their captain for most of his decade tenure. Nash also split the back half of his career with the NY Rangers and Boston Bruins. The Ontario native is currently the Jackets' assistant to general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen.
On March 21, the Jackets traded winger Max Domi to the Carolina Hurricanes in a three team trade, while retaining 50% of his salary. In the move, they sent a 6th round pick, from the Toronto Maple Leafs, to retain 25% of Domi's salary. Carolina sent defensive prospect Adian Hreschuk, who was selected 94th overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Since trading Josh Anderson, they have turned the big winger into two defensive prospects in Samuel Knazko and Hreschuk.
The best team in hockey in the Buckeye State is the new 2022 NCAA hockey champions. The Women's hockey team with the Ohio State Buckeyes won their first ever title, with a 3-2 regulation win over Minnesota Duluth. With former experience and development from players in the PWHPA and PHF, there was enough track work to help this team continue to grow, and they did just that in Ohio State. This team is a team to watch in hockey for the rest of the decade, at the absolute minimum. Everything is there for them to go again. Let's see where it goes. Ohio State and Womens Hockey deserves this!
Next, is the Boston Bruins... blog tomorrow on them.