The Columbus Blue Jackets were outworked by the Minnesota Wild in 5-4 loss.
The Wild opened the scoring earlier with a goal by Staal that went off Harrington's skate, then proceeded to dominate the period, only allowing the Jackets one shot in the first fifteen minutes. But a bouncing shot by Nyquist created an opportunity for Columbus and Foligno capitalized to tie the game. And just when it looked like they were going to escape the first tied, Minnesota struck and retook the lead.
The second picked off where the first ended, with Minnesota dominating the play and limiting the Jackets' chances, but a power-play eight minutes in allowed Columbus to get their skate back under them and they picked up a few good chances on net. The Wild regained the momentum after Koivu found the back of the net after the puck deflected off Gavrikov and onto his stick in the slot. Koivu again found the back of the net in the last minute of the second and double his scoring output for the season.
Early in the third, the Jackets flipped the ice as Bemstrom and Dubois found the back of the net to make it a one-goal game. Unfortunately, for the Jackets a puck hit the lineman on the dump in and the Wild capitalized as the Jackets tried to recover.
Let's get into tonight's three things.
Shore's Debut
Devin Shore was lone deadline addition for the Blue Jackets and while he wasn't able to make the trip to Columbus, he met his new team in Minnesota.
Shore did not see much ice time in his first game with the club, but he did draw a penalty five minutes into the first, but the Jackets were unable to capitalize. Shore was credited with an assist on Bemstrom's goal - which would have been his first point with the club - but his assist was taken away. Despite that Shore was a pivotal part of the play by poking the puck away from the defender and knocking it towards the net.
Shore didn't see a lot of ice in his first game with the club but was able to make an impact when he was out there.
A Bouncing Puck
At the end of a shift, Nyquist flicks the puck on net and due to the bounce, Stalock was not able to control the puck. The rebound landed on Foligno's stick and he went top shelf to tie the game at one in the first.
These shots were the Jackets' second and third shots of the game. Additionally, Nick Foligno now has four goals in his last four games.
Jackets Wake Up
After forty minutes of being dominated by the Wild, the Jackets found their skates in the third and flipped the ice and momentum. Bemstrom found the net first after finding the loose puck sitting next to the post, then Dubois got in on the action a minute and twenty seconds later by picking up the loose puck out front and burying it.
In the last three minutes, Werenski picked up the puck in the neutral zone, found open ice and buried the puck to make it a one-goal game, but it was too little too late.
If Columbus had played the entire game as they did in the third, it would have been a much different game.
