That’s better.
The Blue Jackets didn’t change much from their previous game against the Vancouver Canucks and were on the better end of things against the Los Angeles Kings. They had a little hiccup early allowing the first goal, but after that were on the Kings with pressure and outplayed a team, they should of. These are the games you should be winning, and they did.
Here are tonight’s three things:
Blank Space
In his prior 22 games, Lukas Sedlak had a blank space in the goals column, but that changed tonight. The Blue Jackets fell down early on a goal by Dustin Brown, and this had the disappointing here we go again feeling. The Blue Jackets were not down long as the fourth line of Lukas Sedlak, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Alexander Wennberg came out with a great shift and tied up the game. Oliver Bjorkstrand, who’s quietly had a point in three of his last four, made a really nice royal road pass to set up Sedlak.
Stay Stay Stay
Whether he stays or goes, it is an absolute delight watching Artemi Panarin night after night. His skill level is unmatched. He was making things happen against the Kings. He was bafflingly left wide open as he scored the Jackets second goal of the game. He was then the beneficiary of some puck luck as a Seth Jones point shot was blocked and ricocheted right to Panarin for the easy tap-in for his second of the night.
we loaf it#CBJ pic.twitter.com/HsE868s6Vr
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 14, 2018
He didn’t get an assist, but he was still creating plays. He set up Pierre-Luc Dubois for a phenomenal chance and Dubois rang it off the bar. Overall Panarin was on the ice for a team-leading eight high danger chances at five on 5, only two of which were his shots. He was fantastic tonight, and we all need to appreciate his greatness while we can.
…Ready for it?
Because if you are not you might miss it. That’s how fast the Blue Jackets were scoring goals. They scored two goals in the second period 20 seconds apart, a new season best.
#CBJ with a new season best for fastest two goals as they strike for a pair 20 seconds apart and they lead 4-1 after 40 minutes. Previous best was 31 seconds apart on Oct. 27 vs. Buffalo (Atkinson at 16:42 and 17:13 of the 2nd period).
— CBJ Public Relations (@BlueJacketsPR) December 14, 2018
This is just what the Jackets needed. They were pushing the Kings hard and just like against Vancouver they weren’t catching the bounces, until these two goals. When you play well as the Blue Jackets have been the last two, the goals will eventually start to drop.
