Blue Jackets' late push not enough to overcome Penguins' fast start

PITTSBURGH — It’s a good thing the Blue Jackets finished their penultimate game Thursday with a victory in their final home game.

Twenty-four hours later, playing their fourth game in six days against a team that usually has their number, it went about as expected in the Jackets’ season finale at PPG Paints Arena.

Despite netting a pair of late goals to make the final score closer, the Blue Jackets lost 5-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins after trailing 5-1 starting the third period. It was their 11th straight loss in this arena, dating back to Dec. 21, 2015, and improved Pittsburgh’s record to 15-3-1 over Columbus in the last 19 meetings regardless of location.

“Some guys had some tough games tonight, but we’re four games in six nights right now against some real good teams, and I think we just ran out of gas a little bit,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “You could see some of the mistakes we made, some of the focus mistakes, and the last two games we weren’t doing that against a real good team (Tampa Bay). We really tightened up in those games, and tonight we were just a little bit loose.”

Evgeni Malkin, Evan Rodrigues and Marcus Pettersson gave the Penguins a 3-0 lead in the game’s first 6:26 by scoring three straight goals to chase Blue Jackets starting goalie Jean-Francois Berube. Elvis Merzlikins replaced him, keeping the Penguins at bay with some outstanding work in net, but Pittsburgh scored two more late in the second on goals by Kris Letang and Brian Boyle.

That made it 5-1 after two periods, after Justin Danforth got the Blue Jackets on the scoreboard at 10:25 of the second with his 10th goal. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Gustav Nyquist scored power-play goals in the second, pulling the Blue Jackets within two goals at 5-3, but that was as close as they got.

Nyquist had a goal and assist to give him 401 career points, getting his 400th by assisting on Bjorkstrand’s goal. Jakub Voracek reached 800 career points with a pair of assists, giving him six goals, 56 assists and 62 points to lead Columbus in scoring.

“I wish it was more meaningful at this point of the season to get to those (milestones), but it feels good to reach that,” Nyquist said. “Overall, over the course of the season, we’ve had some good lessons. Tonight was another one.”

Blue Jackets goalie Jean-Francois Berube picked bad night to be rusty

Berube showed earlier this season that he can be a serviceable backup option in the NHL, but his final two outings were rough. Berube hadn’t played in 12 days, and that one start was a 6-4 loss April 17 in Anaheim that was the only prior appearance he’d made in 18 games before this game.

The rust factor was high and Larsen knew it, even telling Merzlikins before the game to be ready to play, “just in case.”

Well, “just in case,” happened a little more than six minutes into the game and Larsen went to his No. 1 to put out a roaring fire to start the game. It was the right call for a team hoping to finish the season with more wins than losses, but the early barrage of goals was too much to overcome.

Berube looked like a guy who’d watched a lot of hockey from the bench the past month, which is what NHL backups are asked to do regularly. It's what makes them valuable assets to winning teams. Those who can sit out for long stretches and give their teams a chance to win when called upon are hard to find, which Berube’s last two outings showed.

The Jackets’ backup slammed his stick against the left goal post when he saw Merzlikins come into the game, but it’s hard to blame Larsen’s quick hook after Berube was beaten twice through the pads – once by Malkin on his own rebound – and once under the arm for a trio of tough goals to swallow.

“Obviously, for J-F, I’m sure he wanted to stay, but I’ve got to make a decision there,” Larsen said. “A couple of those goals, like … I could talk to (goaltending coach Manny Legace), but it doesn’t really matter at that point.”

Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see what the Blue Jackets do with their NHL goaltending situation in the summer.

Merzlikins is the clearcut starter, but Berube’s bid to be his backup is taking on water quickly. Joonas Korpisalo and Daniil Tarasov will each be coming off hip surgeries, and Korpisalo is a pending unrestricted free agent, so the Jackets might be in the market for a goalie or two in free agency or via trades.

Berube is also a pending free agent and could still be in the mix to return next season.

Another game at PPG Paints Arena, another Blue Jackets loss

This rendition of Blue Jackets against Penguins in the lion’ den called PPG Paints Arena was filled with Columbus caveats for their 11th straight loss here.

The Blue Jackets were playing their fourth game in six days and concluding a back-to-back that started Thursday with a stirring 5-2 victory over the Lightning at Nationwide Arena. They were also missing six lineup regulars that included captain Boone Jenner, star forward Patrik Laine and top defenseman Zach Werenski.

The Penguins also needed to win to secure third place in the Metropolitan Division, which gave them a first-round matchup against the New York Rangers (110 points) rather than the powerhouse Florida Panthers (122 points).

Still, even with tired legs and dwindling motivation, this was another humbling loss to the Penguins in this building — after losing their 10th straight in Pittsburgh on Mar. 22 in a 5-1 shellacking. The Jackets should be commended for pushing back in the third, but they’ve got to figure out their Penguins complex next season.

It should be moved a few spaces higher on a lengthy “to do” list this summer, labeled: “Expunge Penguins/PPG Paints Arena from collective head.”

Pittsburgh, generally speaking, is so far implanted in the Jackets’ brains that a tiny Penguins logo is probably stamped on the hippocampus area of every single Columbus player by now. Credit Crosby, Malkin and the rest for that, but the Blue Jackets certainly don’t help themselves whenever these teams play.

That's especially true here.

This time, Crosby and crew built a 3-0 lead in the same amount of time it probably took the Penguins’ captain to lace up his skates for the pregame warmup. Malkin scored the first at 3:51, Rodrigues made it 2-0 exactly 2:00 later and Pettersson drove Berube from the net 55 seconds after that one — making it 3-0 just 6:26 into the game.

That’s no way to go through the start of a hockey game and it wasn’t all Berube’s doing — though he certainly wasn’t sharp. There were lost puck battles, turnovers and too much standing around watching the Penguins play hockey in that stretch, which put Berube in some tough spots. It happened again on a pair of goals late in the second with Merzlikins in net, pushing the Penguins lead to 5-1.

This game ultimately meant very little to the Blue Jackets, but they have to become more competitive against the Penguins next season, especially on the road.

“It’s better to play these games, I think, than against teams that are out of the playoffs,” Nyquist said. “This is where we want to get to. This is where we’re aiming and we all have a big summer ahead of us to take steps and come back and be better for next year.”

Justin Danforth finishes impressive first NHL season for Blue Jackets

Danforth’s goal was his 10th of the season in just his 44th NHL game.

That’s close to a 20-goal pace over the course of a full-82 game slate, which would be quite helpful for the Jackets in one or both of his next two contracted years in Columbus.

The speedy first-year forward is undersized, 29-years old and virtually unknown in NHL circles before this season, but he’s more than proven himself at this level. It shouldn’t be a surprise if he keeps carving out more ice time and a bigger role for himself next season.

“I think it’s a year of growth for me,” said Danforth, who was nominated by the Columbus chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association for the Masterton Trophy, awarded annually to an NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey. “There’s been ups and downs this year. It’s been a tough year mentally, especially to start the season, getting sent down. It’s been a grind. To get 10 goals, it’s a good way to start, but I think there’s more to come.”

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Penguins' early surge too much for Blue Jackets to overcome in finale