After a long weekend in Michigan, the Columbus Blue Jackets prospects fell just short of their ultimate goal. They fell to the Chicago Blackhawks by a 3-2 score in overtime and weren't able to come home with a fifth Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup.
First Period
The championship game started quickly for the Blue Jackets as they scored back-to-back goals in quick succession.
The first goal was scored after a nifty sequence involving the team's first line. Vitaly Abramov laid it off to Pierre-Luc Dubois who passed it to Calvin Thurkauf, and Thurkauf found the back of the net. Any other team would die for such interplay, but it was the norm for this first line all week long.
Abramov to Dubois to Thurkauf. What a goal.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) September 12, 2017
1-0. But it didn't last long.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/XiYZIWjLvq
Shortly thereafter, Hayden Hodgson (with the help of Doyle Somerby) combined on a neat play as Hodgson cleaned up Somerby's shot/pass in front of the net -- showing once again that the Blue Jackets were willing to do the dirty work down low and got rewarded for it.
Hodgson wasn't going to let the first line have all of the praise. He cleans up in front and makes it 2-0.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/d6EtHjwmT0
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) September 12, 2017
The Blackhawks would end up out-shooting the Blue Jackets in the period, 6-5, but they wouldn't get a shot until halfway through the period. Chicago was firmly chasing the play for a large portion of the period.
Second Period
It didn't take long for the Blackhawks to strike back in the second period. Radovan Bondra snapped a quick wrister past Blue Jackets goaltender Ivan Kulbakov to make it 2-1, and Chicago was in the game.
After a failed power play for the Blue Jackets, the play went back and forth. The Blackhawks pushed play for the most part and their thrust culminated with Alex DeBrincat stealing the puck from a Blue Jackets defenseman, then scoring his first of two goals to make it 2-2.
The Blackhawks controlled play for most of the second period and came out ahead on the shot count 17-10.
Third Period
The Blackhawks controlled the beginning of the period, and they were even better than they brought to the table in the second frame. The most noteworthy moment was an Ivan Kulbakov save on a streaking Blackhawk late in regulation.
Ivan Kulbakov stands tall and keeps the game at 2-2. What a save!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/96fmbjnD5a
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) September 13, 2017
Overtime
Just over a minute into overtime, DeBrincat struck again off of a rebound after the puck caromed off the glass oddly and won the game for the Blackhawks, 3-2.
NOTES: DeBrincat ended the Traverse City tournament with five goals to lead the entire competition. ... Thurkauf also finished as one of the top scorers after adding a goal to his stat line. ... The Blue Jackets open up training camp this Thursday, Sept. 14, with off-ice workouts.
