Blue Jackets misfire in seventh straight loss, falling 2-1 to New York Islanders
ELMONT, NY ― It’s never a good thing when a hockey coach uses baseball terminology during tough times.
Talking about “run support,” during a struggle means a team is fighting it offensively, which is officially the case for the Blue Jackets after a 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday at UBS Arena pushed their season-high losing streak to seven games (0-7-0).
Columbus, which is averaging just 1.4 goals per game during its slide, was outshot 36-21 and needed goalie Joonas Korpisalo’s 34 saves to keep it close in a game the Blue Jackets (10-22-2) fumbled away with several failed scoring chances and a couple critical mistakes by star Johnny Gaudreau.
“Korpi was solid tonight ... gives us a chance,” coach Brad Larsen said. “That’s all you can ask from your goaltender. We’ve got to give him some run support. I mean, we’ve got to score some goals. It’s tough. Zero goals won’t get it done. Scoring late won’t get it done. You’ve got to try and get the lead and get rolling a bit.”
Emil Bemstrom was credited with the Blue Jackets’ lone goal, which was scored with 20.5 seconds left in the third period when defenseman Marcus Bjork fired a slap shot off him that deflected into the net with Korpisalo on the bench for a 6-on-5 advantage.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mathew Barzal scored both goals in the second for the Islanders (21-14-1), who got a 20-save winning effort out of goalie Ilya Sorokin. The loss extended the Blue Jackets’ longest regulation skid since 2015-16, when they dropped the first eight games of that season to usher in the start of former coach John Tortorella’s tenure.
Here’s a closer look:
Columbus Blue Jackets at New York Islanders takeaways
Blue Jackets veterans scuffling during skid
Larsen talked extensively Thursday about the challenge of having a lot of rookies in key spots to replace injured veterans.
Costly turnovers and other miscues by young players were cited as the biggest reason the Blue Jackets entered the game allowing a whopping 35.5 shots per game, but that hasn't been the biggest issue the past two games. Some of the most egregious errors in those two losses were committed by veterans, including star forward Johnny Gaudreau against the Islanders.
Gaudreau’s turnover at the New York blue line 7:07 into the second sprung the Islanders for a rush that ended with Pageau’s goal to open the scoring and he also picked up an extra penalty during a dust-up with Anthony Beauvillier that led to Barzal’s power-play goal nine minutes later for a 2-0 lead.
"We have a young team in here," Gaudreau said. "They’re following us older guys and it’s a pure example on the first goal. I turn the puck over there, they go down and make it 1-0. That’s not what I want to show the younger guys. Poor mistake by me, but we’re in this together and we’re going to keep working at it.”
Larsen is correct about the youth of the roster creating a thin margin for errors, but that coincides with the few remaining veterans needing to lead the way out of the funk. Gaudreau’s errors were the most costly this time, but he’s been outstanding overall in his first Blue Jackets season.
Prior losses in this skid were aided by mistakes from other veterans, including Patrik Laine, who missed this game while fighting a COVID-19 infection.
"They've got to lead no matter what," Larsen said. "I mean, whether we're thin on guys or whether we're a full lineup, your top guys need to be your top guys."
Korpisalo outstanding again
One veteran who did his part was Korpisalo, who made numerous key saves to keep the Blue Jackets in the game. New York outshot Columbus 26-14 through the first two periods, but the Islanders only led 2-0 starting the third because of Korpisalo's 24 stops to that point.
Coming off a lower-body injury to replace rookie Daniil Tarasov a week earlier in a 5-2 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks, Korpisalo came out of the NHL's holiday break with a hot hand in his first start since the injury.
"I’ve been injured too many times, so I’ve had time to learn about (returning sharp)," Korpisalo said. "It's all balanced and I'm seeing the puck all the time. That helps a lot. I feel pretty good."
Korpisalo went 13-for-13 in the first, making several huge saves before the Islanders finally got one past him on Pageau’s rebound goal in the second. His excellence continued in the third, when the Finnish backstop went 10-for-10 before being pulled for an extra attacker with 2:00 left.
Combined with Tarasov’s solid play as a rookie, the Blue Jackets’ goaltending situation is quickly regaining its strength. They'll face a challenge whenever Elvis Merzlikins re-joins the mix following a COVID-19 infection, but for now their goaltending tandem is one of the bright spots.
Missed opportunities causing ongoing frustration
Korpisalo’s work wasn’t rewarded with a goal until Bjork’s blast off Bemstrom with 20 seconds left. That’s not going to get it done in a league where scoring has skyrocketed. It’s also poisonous against a defensively stout team like the Islanders, who bottled up the rookie-laden Blue Jackets despite their own injury issues sidelining six players, including defenseman Adam Pelech.
In the first period, Eric Robinson and Kirill Marchenko missed the net on a great scoring chances that could’ve given Columbus an early lead, including Marchenko firing so far wide on a breakaway that it almost looked like a pass to the left-wing corner.
Gaudreau missed the net three times and failed to record a shot on goal in 19:39 of ice time. Marchenko also missed two attempts and seven others fired off-target at the New York net.
It also wasn’t a great offensive night for the Blue Jackets, who finished on the down sides of a 28-12 margin in scoring chances and 18-7 in high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. That further spotlights how important it is to hit the target more often.
Columbus Blue Jackets at New York Islanders notes
— Laine didn’t make the trip and missed his first game since testing positive for COVID-19 coming out of the holiday pause. It’s been another season plagued by injury and illness for Laine, who’s missed 14 of the Blue Jackets’ first 34 games for a sprained elbow, an ankle sprain and now the viral infection.
— Merzlikins missed his third game with a COVID-19 infection that caused him to miss games last week in Philadelphia and Chicago. Thus far, Merzlikins and Laine are the Blue Jackets’ only two confirmed COVID cases.
— The Islanders came into the game off a pair of wins with four-goal margins, downing both the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins by 5-1 scores before the break. New York has won its past six games against Columbus, including four straight at UBS Arena.
— Cole Sillinger and Bemstrom re-joined the Blue Jackets’ forwards group. Sillinger returned from an upper-body injury that caused him to miss two games before the break and Bemstrom re-joined after another stint with the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League. Bemstrom filled Laine’s vacancy at right wing on the top line, finishing with a goal on three shots and six attempts, while Sillinger played 14:35 skating between Liam Foudy and Carson Meyer on the fourth line.
Quotable: Columbus Blue Jackets at New York Islanders
“You just have to dig deep. Veterans have to step up. The young guys have come in and done pretty well and they’ve been stepping up. Now it’s for the veterans to show the example out there, like today. One-goal game? It's a fine line where we are right now. I think it’s going to turn really soon.”
― Korpisalo on the Blue Jackets' need for experienced players to lead the way out of the losing streak.
“They play that 1-1-3 system, where they sit back and it’s tough to knife through that. There’s a lot of bodies there off the rush and it’s difficult to do. You have to dump it in and get it back. At the end of the day, they might’ve done a better job of that than us, but we did a lot of good things."
― Gudbranson on the Islanders' ability protect leads in the third periods of games.
“The only thing with the American League is just the pace isn’t quite as high. That’s not a slight on the American league. That’s just what it is. The NHL’s the best league in the world for a reason. These guys that come (up), the biggest adjustment I see right away is the pace of the game and having to make decisions quicker.”
— Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen on the difficulty of having so many rookies making a tough transition from the AHL to the NHL.
“In the moment, I’m competitive … so I get frustrated with myself sometimes. But I should probably just relax and realize there’s a lot more hockey to be played. I probably shouldn’t worry about it too much during the game, but I’ll keep getting better at it.”
— Kent Johnson, who went 2 for 9 on faceoffs (22%) while centering the Blue Jackets' second line, on the challenge of winning draws as a rookie.
“It’s hockey, in the end, and you just want to have fun. It’s more fun to be up here, of course, but you don’t want to think too much. You just have to go with the flow a little bit and when I’m here, I’ve got to take advantage of it.”
— Bemstrom on getting another opportunity with the Blue Jackets after his latest recall from the Cleveland Monsters.
Columbus Blue Jackets lineup at New York Islanders
Forwards
Johnny Gaudreau – Jack Roslovic – Emil Bemstrom
Kirill Marchenko – Kent Johnson – Gustav Nyquist
Eric Robinson – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Liam Foudy – Cole Sillinger – Carson Meyer
Defensemen
Vladislav Gavrikov – Marcus Bjork
Tim Berni – Erik Gudbranson
Andrew Peeke – Adam Boqvist
Goalies
Joonas Korpisalo
Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: D Gavin Bayreuther
Injury/illness: RW Patrik Laine (COVID-19), C Boone Jenner (fractured thumb), G Elvis Merzlikins (COVID-19), F Yegor Chinakhov (ankle), D Zach Werenski (shoulder), F Justin Danforth (shoulder), D Jake Bean (shoulder), D Nick Blankenburg (fractured ankle/ankle sprain), F Jakub Voracek (concussion).
Up next for the Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus returns to Nationwide Arena at 1 p.m. Saturday for a rematch against the Chicago Blackhawks, who won 5-2 in the first meeting last Friday at United Center. That one became spicy after a couple big hits and Erik Gudbranson forcing Boris Katchouk to fight, so more fireworks might happen to precede a postgame fireworks display to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets extend losing streak to seventh straight games
