Final Score: Kings 3 – Blue Jackets 2
Game Summary
Blue Jackets “welcomed… former players Jeff Carter and Marion Gaborik to Nationwide Arena. Carter as usual was booed every time he touched the puck. He got the last laugh though, scoring the game tying goal with under two minutes to go sending the game to OT. The Kings eventually scored in OT to win 3-2.
In a different year this would have been a great outcome for the Jackets. They were in a game they had no business being in and were able to scrape out a point. However this year with the Jackets desperate for points, coming close just isn’t enough. The Jackets need all the points they can get and let another one slip away.
Sergei Bobrovsky was ridiculous in net. He was the sole reason the Jackets were even in a position to get two points. The Kings dominated each period, out shooting the Blue Jackets a whopping 41-23. Bob make a ton of highlight reel saves, only allowing one goal.
A strange situation happened late in the third with Bob. The Blue Jackets iced the puck and Bobrovsky called for the trainer. The trainer had a discussion with Bob and appeared to be looking at his head and neck. Bob had to leave the game and didn’t return. The situation was strange because nothing happened prior that would have made you suspect he was injured. It wasn’t like he was on the bottom of a pile or took a puck to the mask. There has been no update on his status, but I will try and pass along information as it becomes available. If this turns out to be a serious injury, the Blue Jackets can say bye to whatever slim chance they had at a miracle run to the playoffs.
Curtis McElhinney was forced into the game and unfortunately took the loss. You cannot fault Mac at all for this. He hasn’t played in nine games so he was dealing with rust as well as coming in cold.
Scott Hartnell scored again, his second goal in the last two games. That healthy scratched has had the effect John Tortorella wanted. It seems to have fired Hartnell up. Both goals for Hartnell have been on the power which has been area where the Jackets have struggled recently. Their PP% sits at 18.1%, 19th in the league.
After the game the talk outside of Bobrovsky’s injury was the play of Ryan Johansen. He got a lot of grief for getting beat on the game winning goal. People started bring up the out of shape stuff again. All this is nonsense. Did Johansen get beat on that goal? Yes. He also led the forwards in ice time and had just played a five minute 3 on 3 overtime; which players have said is basically a bag skate. He easily could have been fatigued, that doesn’t make him out of shape. And to the people who think he played a poor game I point you to the Stat of the Night. Johansen was the Blue Jackets best player tonight and it wasn’t even close.
Stat of the Night
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