Based on how they started the game, you would have thought the Blue Jackets were hell-bent on making Artemi Panarin's return to Nationwide Arena as miserable as possible.
As it turns out, Panarin and the New York Rangers had the last laugh.
This was another frustrating one for the Blue Jackets, who have (for all intents and purposes) taken themselves out of the playoff conversation before Christmas. Barring a midseason run – one that includes a lengthy winning streak – Columbus will be hard-pressed to make it to the dance for a fourth straight year.
Here are tonight's three things.
The Beginning
It was good. Pretty darn good, right?
And then it wasn't.
The Blue Jackets were flying out of the gate. First on pucks. First to get it back. And then, with plenty of offensive zone time, they got pucks on the net. Sure, Alexandar Georgiev had himself a night, making 45 saves in the Rangers' 3-2 win, but the Blue Jackets managed only a 1-1 draw in a stellar first period. New York drew level on a Blue Jackets defensive breakdown with less than 30 seconds to go in the period, and Brendan Lemieux chopped a centering pass through Joonas Korpisalo from the door step.
The Middle
It was bad. The tug-your-collar, yiiiiiiiiikes kind of bad.
For all the momentum the Blue Jackets built in the first period, they gave it right back in the second period. This is a team that can't avoid to take shifts off and coast through portions of the game, but they took some bad penalties and one ended up costing them. Jacob Trouba scored a power play goal at 5:46, and then Panarin popped loose in coverage and beat Korpisalo for a 3-1 Rangers lead at 15:32. These are the mistakes the Blue Jackets just cannot afford to make, and they're making them at brutal times.
Imagine if this was a 1-1 game, or at worst, a 2-1 game going into the third period?
The End
Well? The Blue Jackets finished the game with 47 shots on goal.
They attempted 85 shots in all situations. They had a power play opportunity with 2:10 left in regulation and more than a minute of 6-on-4 time, most of which was spent in the Rangers end of the ice. They came away with no goals, and ultimately, no points.
At least we got this beauty of a goal from Seth Jones.
As far as individual efforts go, this doesn't get much better from Jones.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) December 6, 2019
WOW.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/8Y8Cbu0G3I
So it's gone for the Blue Jackets most of the season, and it's become a frustrating theme for them of late. To have played as well as they did for most of the game and get nothing out of it, well, that's pretty deflating.
