One of Columbus' biggest problems this season has been their consistent inability to get out to good starts.
Playing against a very solid Washington team they fell behind 2-0 early, and never quite recovered en route to a 4-3 loss.
Some thoughts:
1) Injuries have obviously factored in largely to the mess of the season this has become, but the Blue Jackets certainly aren't doing themselves any favors with all these slow starts. They don't have a ton of scoring depth and they moved their best puck-moving defenseman, so it's never easy for them to come from behind. That was the case again last night.
2) In David Clarkson's last few seasons in New Jersey he was averaging about 2.5 shots per game. In his season and a half in Toronto he was averaging ~1.5. Through three games as a Blue Jacket he has two SOG and 14 penalty minutes. To me he looks like a guy who has lost all his confidence and is trying to make his mark/fit in by standing up for teammates rather than helping them win games. The Jackets already have Jared Boll and co. to stand up for themselves. They need Clarkson to play hockey. It's obviously early on in his Blue Jackets career, but I don't think he'll find success playing the way he is now. I think he needs a long summer to reset, and that's what he'll get soon enough.
3) Marko Dano has been playing some real good hockey of late, and that trend continued against the Caps. His speed was a real problem for Washington's defense, as several occasions he blew past their defenders (notably Tim Gleason) to generate a scoring chance. He finished the night with six shots on goal and a 74CF%.
4) I'd be ignorant not to praise fellow youngster Alex Wennberg for his play. He logged almost 21 minutes of ice (career-high), played in all situations, and recorded an assist while posting a game-high 79CF%. The Jackets are out of the race and they've suggested it will be important to develop their young guns the rest of the way. That's what we're seeing so far.
5) If the season ended today the Jackets would have the 5th overall pick. Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin are the consensus top-3 and then there's Dylan Strome, Mitch Marner and Zach Werenski that should round out the top-6. It'd be huge for the Jackets to get one of those guys, and most (if not all) could likely step in and play next season.
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