The Columbus Blue Jackets fell to the Nashville Predators at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday night, 3-1.
The loss to the defending Western Conference champion means the Jackets are officially on a losing streak, having gone 0-2-1 in their past three games.
The club had plenty of chances to bounce back from the Rangers debacle on Monday night, but couldn't answer a late third period goal by Calle Jarnkrok at 14:25.
Dubois Impressing
Pierre-Luc Dubois hadn't scored in the 14 games following opening night, but he sure has looked more comfortable of late. His second goal of the season was an impressive all-around play, stripping P.K. Subban of the puck in the neutral zone before beating Pekka Rinne on a breakaway with a beautiful move to his backhand.
Dubois picks Subban's pocket and doesn't miss on the breakaway. That is a big time play from the rookie.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/9s6gImQWsD
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 8, 2017
He has just four points on the year, but Dubois is on the verge of a breakthrough. In fact, three of those four points have come in the past three games. He's had dominating underlying analytics for a few weeks, now, and he continued that tonight, posting a 57.14 CF%, on the ice for 28 shot attempts (5-on-5) while his team registered 16. On the season, he's second on the team with a 59.57 CF%, trailing just Zach Werenski (59.76) among Blue Jackets skaters with over 100 minutes of 5-on-5 play.
These were two disappointing nights for the club, but Dubois has been a bright spot.
Fourth Line Punished
After Zac Dalpe's careless penalty against the Rangers, it didn't exactly come as a shock that he'd be a healthy scratch. John Tortorella opted instead to play 11 forwards and seven defensemen, but still barely played his two fourth-line wingers: Sonny Milano (6:02 time on ice) and Tyler Motte (5:16).
It's no secret that Tortorella has struggled to define his fourth line, and Milano is clearly at the heart of the issue. Motte had been solid since he was recalled from the Cleveland Monsters, and no matter what you think of Milano, he is second on the team with five goals.
On the second night of a back-to-back and playing their third game in four nights, sparingly using two of your 11 forwards seems to be a questionable call at best.
Penalty Kill Fixed?
Heading into the Monday game against the Rangers, the Blue Jackets had given up just six power play goals. In one period alone, they gave up three, and it cost them at least a point in a game they had control of. Against the Predators, Columbus took four penalties but was successful in killing them all.
Hockey is a game of momentum, and tonight's penalty-killing effort was a step in the right direction, especially after a disastrous effort just one game ago.
Korpisalo: Solid Enough
Joonas Korpisalo has been the target of criticism in the early part of the season, but the truth is he played well enough to win this game.
He stopped 26 of 28 shots (.929 sv%) and was beaten on two high-danger opportunities. Could he have played the bad-angle shot better on the game-winner? Sure. He was simply out-dueled by his Finnish countryman Pekka Rinne, but it's hard to pin this one on Korpisalo.
Hit "Reset"
The Blue Jackets are facing their first bumpy patch of the young season, but now, they have a good opportunity to step back. The pessimist would say the Blue Jackets can't seem to beat the NHL's best, and three straight losses to three playoff teams (Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, Nashville) certainly support this.
The optimist would say that playing three playoff teams in four nights is a recipe for disaster, and that perhaps the club isn't in as dire a position as the last few days would suggest. They're 9-6-1 with a brutal power play and their top guys (Panarin, Atkinson, Wennberg) have combined for seven goals.
The truth lies in there...somewhere. Columbus has just two games in the next six days. They'll take Wednesday off and regroup. After, they'll host the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday and head to Detroit to take on the Red Wings for the first time at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.
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