Columbus Blue Jackets @ Florida Panthers: 2024-25 NHL Season Game 62

I'll open this blog by warning you, tonight was not the Columbus Blue Jackets night. 

The game would start off potent with an ugly crosscheck to Kent Johnson by a Panthers player. Kent Johnson was fine and the play was legal, it was just a really hard hit. Due to the hard hit, James van Riemsdyk would feel the need to step up for Kent Johnson, and I fully supported this, but it would result in him going to the penalty box just 00:50 into the game. The official call was roughing. The good news was that the Jackets would kill off this penalty. The bad news was that Denton Mateychuk would go off not long after. At 4:52, due to a holding penalty. On this Florida Powerplay, S. Reinhart would score goal thirty-two of his season, the primary assist would be number forty-one this season for A. Barkov and the secondary assist would be number twenty-nine for A. Ekblad. The goal, scored at 5:58, would be challenged by the Blue Jackets as they claimed the puck hit the netting behind the visitor goal, where the glass is, and was thus out of play. They would not win this challenge and be assessed a delay of game penalty, another 2 minutes in the box. Thankfully, the Panthers wouldn't score on this powerplay or for the remainder of the period, but, unfortunately, the Jackets wouldn't either and the Panthers would hold a one-goal lead after period one. This was even after a fight between Panthers' J. Gadjovich and Jackets' Joseph LaBate got into a fight, and the Jackets would have a powerplay for Panthers' J. Gadjovich starting said fight. This same player for the Panthers would also fight with Jackets' Mathieu Olivier with seconds left in the period, but this would amount to nothing beyond something fun to watch. 

It wouldn't get much better in period two. Denton Mateychuk would find his way would find his way back to the box at 5:39 for tripping, and, at 6:34, M. Samoskevich would add goal eleven to his season. In addition, A. Barkov would add his second assist tonight, forty-second this season, on the primary while S. Reinhart would add his thirty-fourth assist this season on the secondary. Not long after, S. Bennett would hock Jackets' Captain Boone Jenner, but in two minutes the Jackets wouldn't even be in their zone long enough to set up a chance against former Jackets' Goaltender, S. Bobrovsky. Again, it was a rough night, and this period would show it with S. Bobrovsky having just 10 shots to stop to this point...yikes. The Panthers would hold their two-goal lead and take it to the third period. 

Normally, I don't highlight penalties this much, but it's concrete to describing just how wrong tonight's game went. E. Rodrigues would get a 2-minute high sticking call against James van Riemsdyk, giving the Jackets a powerplay they couldn't convert on at 4:06. Then, N. Schmidt would get a 2-minute penalty for delaying the game at 10:29, but again, the Jackets just couldn't convert. Denton Mateychuk would get called for a tripping, but the Jackets would kill off this Panthers Powerplay at 12:20. However, seconds after pulling Elvis Merzlikins for an extra man, A. Barkov would close this shutout for his home team with his seventeenth goal this season at 17:48. S. Reinhart would pick up the primary assist, giving him thirty-five this season while S. Bennett would add his twenty-first assist this season on the secondary. S. Bobrovsky would go on to complete the shutout of the visiting Blue Jackets at home with a final score of 3-0. 

Of course, S. Bennett would have the First Star of the game with a 1-2-3 night. S. Bobrovsky would have the Second Star of the Game with a perfect game 16/16, 1.00 Save Percentage. And, the Third Star of the night would be A. Barkov with a 1-2-3 night. 

That said, Elvis Merzlikins deserves a highlight after having a .942 Save Percentage, thanks to his ability to go 33/35 with the Panthers' Shots on Goal. This was not an easy night for him, and if not for him being so solid in net this easily could've gone from a shutout to a blowout because, believe me, the Panthers had plenty of shots that should've been goals. 

The Blue Jackets will look to rebound, and they have to, Sunday night. They will play the red-hot New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden. They are an original six team in the NHL and after some recent trades they are close behind us in the playoff race. Even with this loss tonight, we still hold the First Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, but we can't keep dropping games. This is a must win, conference showdown, and it's time to push like we never have. Of course, it's easy for me to say, but the confidence in the 5th Line has to hold because every NHL Team has a bad night. Did you see the Jets lose the other night? The Capitals? They both did, and I'll be honest, I'd rather lose to a team that isn't chasing us than one that is. So, let's lace our skates a little tighter and bring the best the Jackets have to offer to New York at 6:00 p.m. Sunday night. 

Go CBJ!