The first road preseason game typically follows a familiar script.
In this case, the Blue Jackets dressed a primarily young lineup and used two of their depth goaltenders (Brad Thiessen and Ivan Kulbakov) in a road game against the St. Louis Blues, who were using a veteran lineup on home ice. Columbus fell 3-2 in overtime despite taking a second period lead, and was fueled by Zac Dalpe goals and two Sonny Milano assists.
Penalties were, once again, a theme. There were 15 combined power plays (eight for the Blue Jackets, seven for the Blues) and we saw plenty of slashing calls and a face-off violation for good measure. The game was a mess, as one would expect, but teams are still trying to adjust to the rule changes as the regular season draws closer.
"There's a learning curve and hopefully we can get on the right side of that curve," said Blue Jackets assistant coach Brad Larsen. "They had a pretty good lineup...it took a little bit to get our feet underneath us. I thought both of our goalies played pretty well for us."
Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice for St. Louis, including the power play game-winner in overtime.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets resume preseason action on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Nationwide Arena.
