The Blue Jackets' (20-12-1) second straight game within the competitive Metropolitan Division resulted in a 2-1 loss on the road at the Carolina Hurricanes (14-11-7).
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| HURRICANES | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
IN A PARAGRAPH
In a game that was as unwatchably bad as each game the Blue Jackets have played against the Hurricanes this year, Columbus never led. Despite outshooting Carolina 36-24, Carolina scored early and then added a 4-on-4 in the second period tally to earn the win.
CBJ NOTABLES
- Alexander Wennberg scored his second goal in five games and now has two tallies and two assists in that span.
- Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 24 shots.
- Cam Atkinson had an assist and five shots on goal in 20:07 of action
STAT ATTACK
The Blue Jackets finish 2-2-0 vs. Carolina this year. ... Columbus lost a one-goal game for just the second time this year. ... The Jackets are now 7-5-0 vs. Metro foes and 8-6-1 on the road ... Carolina played at home for the first time since Dec. 2, returning from a six-game road trip that ended Friday night in Buffalo. ... Columbus outshot its opponent for the 23rd time in 33 games. ... Carolina earned its first regulation win since Nov. 19.
WHAT HAPPENED
It took just 3:40 for Carolina to get on the board thanks to Jordan Staal, but the puck actually went into the net off the stick of Jack Johnson. Strong work by the Stall-Justin Williams-Brock McGinn line led to a centering pass from Staal to McGinn across the crease, but in trying to break up the pass, Johnson accidentally knocked it by Bobrovsky.
Columbus then started gaining momentum thanks in part to the game's first power play, then finally got on the board at 12:01. Good work along the wall by Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson resulted in Atkinson firing a pass to Wennberg, who deftly deflected it through the legs of Carolina goalie Scott Darling.
Carolina's fans thought the Hurricanes had taken the lead late in the period, but Brett Pesce's shot through a screen from the right point rang the far post and bounded back out, leaving it 1-1 at the end of the first with Columbus holding a 15-7 edge in shots.
Neither team got much going in the early half of the second period, but near the midway point Bobrovsky was deputized for one of his best saves of the night, going post-to-post right to left to deny Josh Jooris on a 3-on-1.
The Hurricanes did solve the Jackets' goaltender a few minutes later though at 12:58 with the teams skating 4-on-4. Bobrovsky stretched to his max to use the left pad to stop a shot by Derek Ryan that changed directions on him, but Noah Hanifin followed and quickly drove the rebound home to give Carolina a 2-1 lead.
Pierre-Luc Dubois had one of Columbus' best chances of the third with about eight minutes left, taking a pass from Artemi Panarin and sending a backhanded toward the net that trickled just wide of the post.
The Jackets pulled Bobrovsky with just over a minute to play but couldn't get the tying goal.
ROSTER REPORT
Columbus used the same lineup from Thursday's win, with forward Markus Hannikainen and defenseman Gabriel Carlsson scratched.
NEXT UP
The Blue Jackets return to the ice Monday for a road contest at Boston at 7 p.m.
