Another night. Another overtime heartbreaker for the Columbus Blue Jackets as a Jared Spurgeon overtime goal gave the surging Minnesota Wild their fifth win in as many outings.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| WILD | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Similar to Friday night, Columbus fell behind the eight ball early when Cole Sillinger went to the box for holding at the 7:26 mark. This led to a Minnesota power-play goal at the 8:34 mark from Kirill Kaprizov with assists to Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek.
Columbus got their first chance at the power play just 27 seconds into the game when Minnesota's Zuccarello went off for tripping Gus Nyquist. Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets weren't able to capitalize.
But for Columbus, they lost defenseman Zach Werenski for the rest of the game to a questionable hit from Minnesota defenseman Jacob Middleton. Depending on the severity of the hit, especially if it's a concussion, he could be out for the season.
oh no, this jacob middleton hit on zach werenski ends in an injury to werenski's face pic.twitter.com/BnaKzr8CYN
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) March 27, 2022
Unsurprisingly, Werenski didn't return to the game. This left the Blue Jackets with five defensemen for the remainder of the game.
INJURY UPDATE: #CBJ defenseman Zach Werenski suffered an upper body injury in the first period and will not return to tonights game.
— CBJ Public Relations (@BlueJacketsPR) March 27, 2022
The first period ended with a 14-8 lead in shots and a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard for Minnesota.
In the second period, the two teams kept up the physicality and aggressiveness with multiple scrums.
Columbus was able to squeak one through a mess in front of the net at the 8:16 mark. Jake Bean was credited with the goal while Jack Roslovic and Dean Kukan picked up the assists. But it was really just a pile in front of the net with Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury shoving it in with his right pad. It was Bean's fifth goal of the season.
G R E A S Y pic.twitter.com/rGmNYiXjFv
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 27, 2022
Then with just 1:05 left to go in the second, Columbus took a 2-1 lead on Jakub Voracek's fifth goal of the season. Assists came by way of a Vladislav Gavrikov pass off the wall and Patrik Laine.
#SCORACEK#SCORACEK#SCORACEK#SCORACEK pic.twitter.com/tOxQAox6qD
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 27, 2022
The period ended with the Wild leading 23-21 in the shot category, but a 2-1 Columbus lead on the scoreboard.
At the 7:45 mark of the third period, Minnesota's Alex Goligoski went off for high-sticking Voracek. This gave the Blue Jackets another crack at the power play. Unfortunately, they remained scoreless on the man advantage in two attempts on the night.
With just over two minutes left in the third, Minnesota yanked Fleury from the net to get the extra attacker on the ice. Then with 1:03 left, the Wild put it home on a shot from Kirill Kaprizov for his second goal of the night. Assists came by way of Brodin and Dumba. This goal would send the Blue Jackets to their second overtime game in as many nights.
Shots favored Minnesota 36-24 going into overtime. The Wild completed the comeback on a shot from Spurgeon just 1:24 into the extra period. Assists came by way of Kevin Fiala and Frederick Gaudreau. The Wild took the 3-2 victory with a 38-25 lead in shots.
Columbus and Minnesota ended up splitting the two-game season series at one apiece.
Saturday night's loss was the third-straight for the Jackets, and their eighth in 12 games as the club falls out of contention for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Blue Jackets are back in action Tuesday night when they welcome the New York Islanders to Nationwide Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
