In a word: yikes.
You'd have to dig into your memory to remember a Blue Jackets home-ice loss that was more troubling than this one.
Of course, if you've followed this team for any period of time, you've seen your share of stinkers. This one ranks pretty high on the list.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| COYOTES | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
And it didn't seem all that bad at first. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the opening goal only 31 seconds into the game, banking a puck off an Arizona Coyotes defender from below the goal line after his initial chance was stopped. From there, though, it was a slow meltdown into one of the worst efforts the Blue Jackets have put forth at Nationwide Arena. They just couldn't do anything right, and they couldn't get anything going.
Artemi Panarin turned the puck over, and it led to a Coyotes goal seconds later.
Zach Werenski missed a check in front of the net, and Arizona scored on the play.
Sonny Milano turned the puck over in the neutral zone, and the Coyotes scored off the rush within moments.
It was that kind of night, and the Blue Jackets didn't give you much reason to think they were going to snap out of it. Christian Fischer had a hat trick for the Coyotes, who won for the first time in four games on their road trip and Kuemper made 34 saves as the surprise starter.
Injury Update
Jones made his season debut for the Blue Jackets, after missing the first seven games with a sprained MCL (suffered in the preseason). He was paired with Zach Werenski.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets are off to St. Louis, where they'll face the Blues on Thursday night at Enterprise Arena.
