Oof.
The Blue Jackets carried their third-period slump in Philadelphia over to the first two periods of tonight's 4-1 loss against the Edmonton Oilers.
Zach Werenski scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets and Joonas Korpisalo was chased from the net after surrendering a 4-0 lead. Elvis Merzlikins performed admirably in relief duty.
Let's get into tonight's three things.
Sluggish Start
Going back to the Philadelphia game, the Blue Jackets gave up nine unanswered goals in roughly 35 minutes, spanning from the third period against the Flyers to five minutes into the second period against the Oilers. Zach Werenski scored to make it 4-1, but that was as close as the Blue Jackets would get.
It's not often that teams are able to recover from a 4-0 hole, and the Blue Jackets did themselves no favors by putting themselves in that position tonight.
No Composure
Man, have the Blue Jackets been poor with their discipline as of late.
They took five penalties tonight, and three in the first period alone. The Oilers grabbed a power-play goal as they built their imposing 4-0 lead. As the Blue Jackets tried to get back into the game, they continued to take penalties and shoot themselves in the foot.
On the power play side, the Blue Jackets scored a power-play goal tonight. However, they looked lost during their opportunity at 5v3, and their power play % sits at 11.43%. It's been a common theme over the past three years in Columbus.
Elvis Shines
Joonas Korpisalo was pulled early in the second period after the Oilers made it a 4-0 game. Elvis Merzlikins was thrown into the fire, and he did nothing except play brilliantly. He stopped all 19 shots he faced, slamming the door on a very talented Oilers attack featuring the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Drasaitl, and more.
Korpisalo has given up 10 goals in his last two games, and it may be time for John Tortorella to start reconsidering who his number one goaltender is. If Merzlikins can continue to put together performances like this, he'll certainly force Tortorella's hand.
