Takeaways from Blue Jackets' loss to Montreal Canadiens
In the end, it was a familiar bearded face that polished off the Blue Jackets on Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena.
David Savard, their hulking former defenseman, chugged toward the Columbus net and did something early in the third period that he used to put his body in harm’s way to avoid in this arena. Savard scored the winning goal for the Montreal Canadiens in a 3-1 victory against his former team, deflecting the puck past Joonas Korpisalo with a skate for his first goal in 36 games.
Of course, he did.
“He was one of those 'goalie’s best friends' when he played here,” Korpisalo said. “He almost had more saves than me here.”
Savard now has a goal against the Blue Jackets and it was a winner that defeated the team he spent his first decade with in the NHL — accruing countless bumps, bruises, abrasions, memories and friendships.
“In warmups, he was like, ‘Give me one, give me one!'" Korpisalo said. "It was the same thing throughout the game. Then I saw it was ‘Savy’ who scored and I was like, ‘Oh, no.'"
Oh, yes, it was him. The former "Lumber Jacket," got the last laugh.
Here are three more takeaways:
Columbus Blue Jackets coach leaning heavily on fourth line
Trailing by a goal in the third, Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen shortened his bench by using three forward lines in the final seven minutes — led by his first and fourth lines while sitting his third group.
Boone Jenner's line, which has Johnny Gaudreau and Gustav Nyquist as wings, got nine shifts. Sean Kuraly's fourth line, which includes Mathieu Olivier and Eric Robinson, got eight. Kuraly’s line also scored the Blue Jackets’ lone goal, which Olivier put into the net at 1:08 of the third after Robinson forced a turnover while forechecking.
“The players dictate (ice time),” Larse said. “I mean, it’s pretty simple. They score another goal for us. They’re giving me a lot of good minutes for a lot of good games here, so it’s trust on both ends there. They’re generating, they’re forechecking, they’re banging, they’re tracking pucks. They’re getting their looks, too, so it’s easy.”
Kuraly's line is not the typical unit that's sent out a bunch while trailing by a goal late in a game. This season, nothing is typical for the Blue Jackets, who started 3-9-0 and then lost almost half their lineup to injuries.
Larsen sat the third line of Liam Foudy, Cole Sillinger and Emil Bemstrom for the final 7:18 of the third, creating a heavier workload for the other three groups, but they hadn't generated much in the shifts they did get.
That's one reason the Jackets' fourth line was used more like a top-six unit.
Failure to convert breakaways hurts Columbus Blue Jackets again
A week earlier against the Canadiens, the Blue Jackets failed to convert on three breakaways in the first period of a 6-4 victory at Nationwide Arena. This time, they got two breakaways early in the second and couldn’t covert.
Montreal goalie Samuel Montembeault gloved Olivier’s wrist shot after he was sprung on a breakaway stepping out of the penalty box and then Gustav Nyquist’s backhand was denied 14 seconds later during the same shift.
That’s 0 for 5 on breakaways in six periods, all against a goalie who was 0-3-0 with a 4.82 goals-against average and .861 save percentage in four games against Columbus in his career. That's the type of thing that will drive coaches crazy and give players nightmares, especially after close losses.
“We probably got a lot more chances than they did, but sometimes that’s just how it goes,” Olivier said. “Sometimes you have more chances, but you end up losing.”
Columbus Blue Jackets giving Boone Jenner heavy workload again
Boone Jenner’s back gave out late last season after the Blue Jackets’ captain averaged 2:21 more per game than his previous career high of 18:07 in 2019-20.
He missed the final 23 games, cutting short what could’ve been a career-best season had he been able to finish it. Jenner’s ice time in the first 18 games this season (19:48) was down slightly from the 20:28 he averaged in 2021-22, but he skated 21:52 on 23 shifts in this game to lead all forwards.
Larsen clearly feels that’s a necessity, especially during winnable games, and it’s easy to see why.
Jenner finished with a minus-2 plus/minus rating, but put five of six shot attempts on net and won 19 of 28 faceoffs for an outstanding 68% win percentage at the dots. He also spent 2:56 during the Blue Jackets’ three power plays, 47 seconds killing penalties and the remaining 18:09 at even strength.
The question to ask, however, is how long will the captain’s body hold up?
Missing three key forwards who are injured is part of the reason Jenner is leaned upon so heavily, but his ice time is something Larsen and associate coach Pascal Vincent will need to monitor closely and possibly scale back a bit.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets takeaways from loss to Montreal Canadiens
