The Columbus Blue Jackets lose the season series and the home losing streak in two quality runs, resulting in a 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers at Nationwide Arena and on the Disney/ESPN/Hulu national broadcast night.
What this game showed is despite being a heavy cap team with money spent up and down the roster and the AHL, the Jackets were not able to keep with a confident playoff contender like the Panthers despite them missing last season due to the amount of injuries. While Florida remains without Barkov and Marchand, the team has been able to produce with power plays, special teams, empty nets, and it comes from the mold of players the former Columbus management in Bill Zito and Gregory Campbell have been able to recruit in Florida as they look to recapture the Stanley Cup.
While the goaltending secured the win for Florida, that position is their weakness this season as they look forward at the remainder of the regular season.
For Columbus, it’s really down to how management built this team, how coaching deploys the assets, and how button mashing is really no longer working when they play against better competition. The only bright spots have been the third line and Kent Johnson this season.
Period I
No goals or penalties occurred as shots were split 10 a piece through 20 minutes.
Period II
Charlie Coyle takes a tripping minor penalty against Seth Jones with 24 seconds erased from the start of the second.
Late in the powerplay, at the 18:00 mark, Sam Bennett recorded the lone PPG goal of the night for his sixth goal of the season from Anton Lundell and Seth Jones.
Two minutes and 17 seconds later, the eventual game winning goal was scored by 2018 Stanley Cup champion Lars Eller for his second with the Panthers with the helpers from Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad.
With only 19 seconds remaining in the second, the lone Columbus goal came off a backhander from Ivan Provorov for his second of the season from Russian linemates Dmitry Voronkov and Valeri Nichushkin.
Period III
Columbus’ only powerplay attempt occurred at the 6:41 make of the third period as Bennett interfered with Mathieu Olivier.
With 7 minutes to go, Adam Fantilli and Brady Tkachuk exchanged some shots on the ice resulting in coincidental minors for 4v4 action.
While on the four on four, Sam Bennett beat Talbot on his glove side for his second of the night and seventh of the regular season from Ekblad and Matthew Tkachuk.
As the clock wound down to 2:16 left in the game, Sam Reinhart potted in the empty net goal for his 10th goal of the season, tying himself with B. Tkachuk and Verhaeghe for team lead. Lundell and Eetu Lustorainen had the apples.
Down to 55 seconds left in the game, Erik Gudbranson and B. Tkachuk left the game with misconducts after more rough housing.
Goaltenders
Florida — Jacob Markstrom
Carried the workload for the Panthers with 38 saves on 39 shots for a 0.974 save percentage.
Columbus — Cam Talbot
3 goals allowed on 28 shots against for an 0.893 save percentage.
Players to Watch
Florida — Seth Jones
Draws only Columbus minor penalty and delivers 18th assist of the season on the resulting powerplay goal scored.
Columbus — Steven Lorentz
Home debut from the Marchenko trade. 11 shifts in 9 minutes of ice time, Donuts across the board.
CBJ Three Stars of the Game
- Ivan Provorov — goal (2)
- Dmitry Voronkov — primary assist (3)
- Valeri Nichushkin — secondary assist (7)
Next Matchup
Thursday night is the only appearance for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Columbus, could be the last time fans see Nikita Kucherov in a Bolts jersey in Nationwide Arena. First look of three with older core with a new younger backup at 7pm.