Stating the obvious, the Columbus Blue Jackets need a win.
At November's midway point, they're still searching for their first victory in the month. The latest blow is the 0-4-1 road trip, which the team was in nearly every game and was probably due a better fate.
During October, the team scored at will. Now, those shots aren't getting past the opposing goaltender. The Jackets are outshooting opponents and, as the expected numbers have displayed, have probably been the better team of late, at least throughout major spurts and portions of games without a result to show.
#CBJ head coach Dean Evason: "Goal scoring is funny, right? It goes in streaks. A few weeks back, we couldn't miss and pucks were finding their way in and we were getting some bounces and all that good stuff. Now it's gone the other way a little bit."
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) November 11, 2024
But, the scoreboard is the true measure of success regarding wins and losses. Columbus might have outplayed the San Jose Sharks last week but they couldn't get more than a single goal past Vitek Vanecek.
Funny enough, the Blue Jackets made a habit of scoring six goals apiece in their first four wins. Now, they've gone seven straight games with two or fewer goals.
Per Natural Stat Trick, the below displays a snapshot of how the Blue Jackets performed on their road trip, holding edges in shot attempts, shot totals, and expected goals in every game at 5v5, even including the 7-2 loss to the Capitals on Nov. 2.
| Blue Jackets vs Capitals | CF | CA | SF | SA | GF | GA | xGF | xGA |
| 5v5 | 74 | 44 | 28 | 20 | 2 | 7 | 3.75 | 2.49 |
| Nov. 2 |
The Capitals buried the Jackets with a five-goal first period so it's probably expected the Blue Jackets would come out aggressive and blast the goaltender with shots.
| Blue Jackets vs Sharks | CF | CA | SF | SA | GF | GA | xGF | xGA |
| 5v5 | 65 | 40 | 37 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 4.02 | 1.21 |
| Nov. 5 |
Vanecek set a career-high with 49 saves in a 2-1 overtime win for San Jose, improving to 7-0-0 lifetime against Columbus.
| Blue Jackets vs Kings | CF | CA | SF | SA | GF | GA | xGF | xGA |
| 5v5 | 46 | 34 | 20 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 2.0 | 1.27 |
| Nov. 9 |
The Jackets scored first again but a three-goal third by L.A. was the undoing.
| Blue Jackets vs Ducks | CF | CA | SF | SA | GF | GA | xGF | xGA |
| 5v5 | 71 | 49 | 30 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 3.31 | 2.11 |
| Nov.10 |
Once again, a hot goaltender in John Gibson stonewalled Columbus with 38 saves. It was his first start since emergency appendectomy surgery in September.
| Blue Jackets vs Kraken | CF | CA | SF | SA | GF | GA | xGF | xGA |
| 5v5 | 66 | 52 | 33 | 28 | 2 | 3 | 3.45 | 1.90 |
| Nov. 12 |
The Jackets had one of their best periods of the season in Seattle, taking a 2-0 lead into the first-period intermission. But a four-goal second-period knockout punch by the Kraken undid the goodwill Columbus built up.
First period in Seattle:
— CBJ Stats (@BlueJacketStats) November 13, 2024
Shots On Goal: 19-8 #CBJ
Shot Attempts: 31-13 #CBJ
Scoring Chances: 14-3 #CBJ
High-Danger Chances: 6-2 #CBJ
Expected Goals: 1.36-0.29 #CBJ
An IV of that into the left arm, please and thank you.
For the trip, the only number that matters is 0-4-1 and the positive trends we pointed to inside each game didn't lead to victories.
That's sports.
At the same time, the numbers inside each game point to strong indicators that if the Blue Jackets keep shooting and holding edges in expected goals, they should get those goals provided they keep with the process.
It's frustrating when the team is outplaying its opponent in key metrics but gets beaten in two or three areas that directly lead to goals, such as turnovers that led to Kings goals last Saturday night.
#CBJ D Zach Werenski after tonight's loss: "It's unacceptable, to be honest. Enough of the moral victories. We've played well enough in a lot of games this year to win and we end up losing them. That's on us. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and find a way to win."
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) November 11, 2024
Despite a collective good effort on most nights, including having the better of the 5v5 scoring chances in their last four games, it hasn't been enough to keep the team from its longest losing streak since last season when they dropped nine straight from Nov. 4-19.
#CBJ and #LetsGoPens meet tonight for the 55th time. #CBJ are 16-29-9 all-time vs. Pittsburgh, including 4-15-5 in the last 24 meetings dating to 2016-17.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) November 15, 2024
Jackets have won 2 of the last 3 games in Nationwide, both beyond regulation.
Last regulation win by #CBJ was 11/29/19.
Columbus will look to change that tonight against a team they've had little success against when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:00 p.m. ET.
