The Columbus Blue Jackets were back in Nationwide arena on Friday night, following an 0-3 California road trip. They were looking for a pick-me-up win against the lowly Ottawa Senators.
They jumped ahead early, going up 1-0 halfway through the first period then remained quiet on the scoring front as the Senators tied it up seven minutes into the third. The score would remain 1-1 through the end of both regulation and overtime as the game headed into shoouts.
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | SO | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| SENATORS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Sadly, the Blue Jackets fell in shootouts as none of their three skaters could find the back of the net to match Ottawa left winger Tim Stutzle's goal.
Let's get into the three things from tonight.
Missing The Big Guns
Columbus was without nine of their own Friday night, including their biggest stars - Zach Werenski and Patrik Laine. They were once again missing their captain, Boone Jenner as well. Adam Boqvist was also ruled out from sustaining a lower body injury in practice on Thursday.
So the list of #CBJ players out tonight reads Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski, Patrik Laine, Adam Boqvist, Alexandre Texier, Yegor Chinakhov, Joonas Korpisalo, Daniil Tarasov
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) April 22, 2022
Seven of the nine team members were out due to injury and Alexandre Texier was still on his indefinite LOA, which should run through the end of the season. Also absent was defenseman Dean Kukan, who was a healthy scratch.
The Jackets played their hearts out, but missing so much fire power took its toll as they went silent for the last two-and-a-half periods of regulation as well as overtime and shootouts on their way to a defeat.
Two Games - Two Points
As the fifth overall pick in this past draft, Kent Johnson came in with some high expectations. And while it might've taken until his fourth game to log his first NHL point, he has heated up as of late. With his first point on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks and another point in this one, Johnson now has two points in two games.
The Port Moody native fought through traffic and dropped the puck back to Cole Sillinger who zipped it up to Jack Roslovic as he ripped it into the net, just past the glove of Ottawa goaltender, Filip Gustavson.
Johnson still had a few learning moments, but he acquitted himself well and once again saw his hard work pay off on the stat sheet.
Roslovic Still Hot
With the aforementioned goal, Roslovic now has ten points in the past six games with eight of those points being goals. The only thing that would have made it sweeter is if Jack was able to score on his shootout opportunity.
Roslovic has been up and down with his scoring this year, but there is no denying that he has been very hot as of late. He seems to have found his way back into good graces of the coaching staff as well, as he has seen his minutes increase over the past couple months.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets stay at Nationwide Arena on Sunday for a 1:00 p.m. puck drop against the Edmonton Oilers.
