Blue Jackets vs New York Islanders: Five takeaways from gritty OT loss

ELMONT, N.Y. — The Blue Jackets were short seven regulars, including their top defense pairing, and five of them began the season in the American Hockey League.

That’s important to note after the Jackets stood toe-to-toe with the New York Islanders in a 4-3 overtime loss Saturday night at UBS Arena, where the patchwork Columbus group nearly pulled off a stunner against a team that moved into second in the Metropolitan Division with the extra point.

“A lot of guys made a ton of contributions tonight,” said Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen, who was in no mood to nitpick. “We’re thin. We’re a thin group, but they pushed this team to overtime. I’m not going to get negative on this game at all, not one bit. These guys worked their (tails) off tonight.”

Three Blue Jackets defensemen were recalled Friday from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters and played, including 24-year old rookie Marcus Bjork scoring his first career goal in his NHL debut. Joonas Korpisalo also scrambled in net for a third straight start, continuing to play well in his return from hip surgery.

Overall, the Blue Jackets' effort was impressive, gutsy and one of their best during a brutal 4-9-1 start. It was also too familiar at times and might’ve been foreshadowing for what’s to come with 68 games left.

Here are five takeaways:

Sillinger, Bemstrom scored big goals for Columbus Blue Jackets

Their relief was visible from the nosebleed section.

Cole Sillinger and Emil Bemstrom each scored their first goal of the season and lifted huge proverbial weights off their shoulders. Sillinger hadn’t scored since a gorgeous goal was erased by an offside review in the season-opener against the Carolina Hurricanes and Bemstrom worked his way back after being cut from the NHL roster in training camp.

This was only his second game since being recalled from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters and he showed why he was tied for that league’s scoring lead with 14 points in 12 games when he left.

Filling Jakub Voracek’s spot on the second line, Bemstrom was denied on two great looks in the first before beating Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin in the second with one of the Jackets’ prettiest goals this season — a backhand off a short breakaway under the crossbar. Jake Bean and Gustav Nyquist made nifty passes, but Bemstrom’s finish was eye-opening.

“I felt good out there,” he said. “I had a couple good shots in the first period, but I didn’t score on them. You’ve just got to forget them and keep moving on. I did that today and finally got one.”

Sillinger, meanwhile, made noise with two big hits in the first and a putback of his own rebound to cap a power play early in the second from his net-front spot on the second unit.

“Sometimes that’s just the way it goes,” Sillinger said of a 13-game goal drought to start his second NHL season. “The puck’s not going your way and you feel kind of like the world’s ending, you know? It’s nice to get one in.”

Bemstrom and Sillinger provided leads for the Blue Jackets, who need more nights like this from them and other young players while so many key pieces are out.

Korpisalo on a mission for Columbus Blue Jackets

Roll things back to the summer of 2021 and you can see how much motivation Korpisalo has this season.

The Blue Jackets had tried to deal him, but didn’t pull the trigger after getting mid-round draft picks for return offers. He then arrived for training camp with a year left on his contract and was met with news that Elvis Merzlikins — also with one year remaining — signed a five-year contract extension a day before camp opened.

Both goalies struggled last year, playing behind a porous defense, and Korpisalo dealt with a tear in a hip labrum that began affecting him in 2020-21 — the season that followed his record-setting 85-save performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL’s 2020 Toronto playoff bubble.

It was surgically repaired last spring, after Korpisalo stayed put at the trade deadline, and the 28-year old netminder was forced to bet on himself. He signed a one-year contract in the summer worth just $1.3 million, continued to rehab and showed up this season intent on extending his NHL career.

Now that he’s back to full health, Korpisalo looks more like the guy who stymied the Lightning in those 2020 playoffs during a five-OT classic. He was fantastic in this game, making 42 saves against 46 shots and keeping it close while the Islanders buzzed around the Columbus zone.

Asked how much motivation he's added the past two years, Korpisalo was direct.

“A lot,” he said. “I mean, surgery, a couple (bad) seasons, all that. All summer, I was waiting to get back to show what I have and what I’ve got. I’m just enjoying playing hockey, you know? It’s fun, after all, so I feel good.”

Larsen said he’s willing to ride the hot hand and give Korpisalo the lion’s share of work if he stays sharp. Should that happen, it will push Merzlikins to sharpen his own play during a rocky start.

New faces, same issue for Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets were missing top defenseman Zach Werenski, who’s out for the season after tearing his right shoulder labrum against the Flyers. They’re also without his partner on the top pairing, Nick Blankenburg, along with puck-moving defenseman Adam Boqvist and veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson.

The list of wounded doesn’t stop there. Voracek, Justin Danforth and Sean Kuraly were also missing up front, which left the Blue Jackets severely short of experienced NHL manpower.

That would typically explain why the Islanders dominated shots, attempts, scoring chances and puck possession, but those were trouble spots for the Jackets even before the injuries mounted. Despite a yeoman’s effort while short staffed, they were again outshot by a wide margin (46-29) and put Korpisalo in too many tough spots to win.

"Korpi played a hell of a game there, giving us a chance," Sillinger said. "We’ve just got to do a better job at playing consistent and focusing on those little details in certain areas of the ice."

The Blue Jackets did show improvement clearing their own zone, but were unable to stop the Islanders’ cycle game when most needed. Brock Nelson’s second of two goals capped a marathon shift late in the second to tie it 2-2 and Scott Mayfield knotted it 3-3 in the third, sending an exhausted group of Blue Jackets back to their bench gasping for air.

Larsen went on the offensive afterward, when asked why Columbus continues to get pinned in its own end.

“If you watched tonight’s game, we broke the puck out (of our own zone) probably as good as we have all year,” he said. “Watch that game closely. That’s a good hockey team (the Islanders). They’re going to put some pressure you, but if you watch that game ... I disagree. Let’s put it that way.”

Another way to put it is that losses will continue to pile up if the Blue Jackets keep getting pinned in their own end for long, tiring shifts, and that’s regardless of the players who suit up. It’s fair to note the Jackets’ strength of schedule plus their injury issues, but this has been a glaring problem spot from the start and it bit them again Saturday in a game they could’ve won.

Bjork has ‘dream’ debut with Columbus Blue Jackets

Other than losing in OT, this game couldn’t have gone much better for Bjork in his first NHL game.

The 6 foot 4, 211-pound Swedish defenseman played a solid 15:01 and netted his first career goal with a big blast in the third that beat Sorokin cleanly from the right circle. Watching in the stands were his father, Thomas, and girlfriend, Amanda, who arrived from Sweden on Saturday afternoon. Bjork’s mother and younger brother, Christopher, watched on television back in Sweden.

“It’s my dream come true,” Bjork said, before taking his traditional rookie solo lap to start warmups. “This is why I came over from Sweden. It’s a great opportunity. That is why I came over to the (U.S.), to prove myself, and I want to be up here with the boys and play for Columbus.”

Bjork played the past four seasons in the Swedish Hockey League, including parts of the past two for Brynas. He finished last season with three goals, 12 assists and 15 points in 52 games and showed significant improvement in the defensive zone — especially using his big frame.

That showed with four hits against the Islanders, who are known as a “heavy” team that grinds on teams physically. Bjork didn’t look out of place at all, stayed glued to his man in front of the Blue Jackets’ net and then showed off a cannon slap shot for his goal.

Starting in the AHL allowed Bjork to get his footing playing at a faster tempo on smaller North American rinks and his physicality plays well on any size sheet. He felt prepared for his first taste of the NHL and it showed.

“I think it suited me pretty good to go to the AHL and play on the small rink from the bigger rink,” said Bjork, who skated with Gavin Bayreuther on the third pairing. “It built my confidence being in the AHL from the beginning.”

Bean took advantage of ice time for Columbus Blue Jackets

After injuries to Werenski, Blankenburg and Gudbranson were announced Friday, Larsen said Bean would get a good opportunity to shine by soaking up key minutes.

Bean, skating at the right point on the second pairing with rookie Jake Christiansen, capitalized by skating 21:10 and finishing with two assists. He quarterbacked both power-play units, spending 3:35 on the man-advantage, and added three shots, a hit, two takeaways and one blocked shot.

“There’s not many guys who go, ‘Man, I wish I had less ice time,’” Larsen said Friday. “They all want more ice time. Alright, here you go. It’s on a silver platter. He’s going to get some power-play time with a good unit. He’s going to get some big minutes here, playing against some good competition, so we’re going to get a very good picture of what he can handle and what he can’t.”

The coaching staff had to like what they saw from Bean on Saturday night.

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets takeaways from loss to Islanders