The Blue Jackets' record is now 38-23-11 with 87 points. They're now third in the Metro and one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Columbus Blue Jackets got goalied by Jakub Dobeš, but what else is new?
Damon Severson (8) scored the only goal for Columbus in a 2-1 loss to the Montréal Canadiens on Thursday night. Jet Greaves was phenomenal in the loss, though, stopping 18 of 20 shots, including 4 of 4 on the power play.
The CBJ had plenty of scoring chances. In fact, they dominated chances by a 2:1 ratio and had 13 high danger chances to the Habs 4. Yeah, they got goalied by Dobeš.
Including regulation and OT, and excluding the Panthers OT loss, the Blue Jackets have lost 7 games since Rick Bowness took over. The losses include Ottawa, Boston, NYIx2, Utah, LA, and Montreal. All of those teams are battling for playoff spots, and nothing is guaranteed for any of those teams.
The CBJ have had some very good wins since Bowness took over, but the losses to the desperate teams are a bit concerning. If they can't beat the teams who are grinding for a playoff spot, how can they beat the actual playoff teams when it counts?
The schedule doesn't get any easier the rest of the way, so if they want to make the postseason, they're going to need to dig deep and win some big games.
First Period - SOG 13-6 CBJ - Columbus Goal - Severson
The CBJ started fast and put lots of pressure on Jakub Dobeš with plenty of good looks. So good in fact that Juraj Slafkovský was called for holding Kirill Marchenko, who was driving to the net, giving the Jackets their first power play at 4:18 of the first period. The Canadiens killed it off fairly easily.
Jayden Struble gave the Habs a 1-0 lead when he was left all alone to drive in on Jet Greaves, who left no doubt.
Damon Severson tied the game when he and Boone Jenner took off for a two-on-one breakaway. Severson buried a rocket shot past Dobeš to tie the game at one.
Second Period - SOG 8-6 Montreal - No Goals
The first six minutes of the period had plenty of back-and-forth, with Montreal having the better chances. Jet Greaves had to make a few good saves to this point.
7:41 into the period, Miles Wood finished a check on Lane Hutson that drew the attention of Jake Evans. Both would go off for roughing. The Blue Jackets had the puck for the entire two minutes it was four-on-four and had some good chances.
At the 14:36 mark, Zach Werenski was called for interfering with the Habs Josh Anderson. The Jackets killed it off with ease. Werenski was not happy, as he thought the crowd, and Anderson sold the call just a tad.
There was an anxious moment late the first when Mason Marchment was slightly hooked on a breakaway and went slamming into the boards. He would lay there face down for several seconds before a referee would come to check on him. He got up and skated off and seemed to be ok.
At the end of the period, the Canadiens totaled 19 blocked shots for the game. The Blue Jackets are dominating the faceoff dot by winning 60.6%.
Third Period - SOG 7-6 CBJ - No CBJ Goals
Zachary Bolduc scored 4:36 into the period to give the Habs a 2-1 lead. There was a lot of back-and-forth action up to this point, but only Montreal was able to take advantage.
Damon Severson left the game with around 8 minutes left in the period with an undisclosed injury. He looked to be in pain.
The Jackets would pull Jet Greaves late in the third period, but couldn't beat former Ohio State Buckeye Jakub Dobeš, who was excellent.
Final Stats
CBJ APPPlayer Stats & Notes
- Damon Severson scored his 8th goal of the season.
- Boone Jenner picked up his 23rd assist of the year.
- Isac Lundestrom recorded his 7th assist.
- Adam Fantilli had 8 hits and 4 shots on goal.
- Zach Werenski only had 1 shot.
Team Stats
- The Jackets went 0/1.
- The Columbus PK stopped the one Canadien power play.
- Columbus won 48.9% of the faceoffs - 23/47
- The Blue Jackets had 27 hits and 8 blocks.
Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets are back home to take on the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
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