Blue Jackets squander fast start in Vegas, fall to Golden Knights
Turnovers, inability to escape defensive zone cause problems for goalie Elvis Merzlikins against Stanley Cup contender.
Brian Hedger
LAS VEGAS – Prior to every home game at T-Mobile Arena, there’s a loud audio/video production before the Vegas Golden Knights emerge from their locker room.
It’s meant to whip fans into a frenzy and spark a fast start for Vegas, but a different plot unfolded Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. it was the Blue Jackets who started fast, building a 2-0 lead in the first 8:42 of the game and then crumbling in a 3-2 loss caused primarily by a slew of unforced errors.
“We just started to get a little cute with it at both blue lines,” said defenseman Jake Bean, who had primary assists on two Blue Jackets goals by Gustav Nyquist and Alexandre Texier in the first period. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we know we’re a team that needs to get the puck deep when there’s not a play to be made. Then it just kind of spirals from there.”
Keegan Kolesar, a former Blue Jackets’ prospect, had a goal and assist to lead the Golden Knights (11-7-0). Reilly Smith and Mattias Janmark scored in the third for Vegas, which got a helping hand from a missed offsides call late in the third.
Nyquist scored 45 seconds into the game and Texier followed it with a dazzling shorthanded goal eight minutes later for the Blue Jackets (9-6-0), who built a quick two-goal lead for goalie Elvis Merzlikins (32 saves).
Rather than helping their netminder, the Jackets forced him to face a slew of odd-man breaks, breakaways and stifling forecheck shifts in the second and third periods — including two that led to goals by Smith and Janmark in the third.
Blown offsides call leads to Mattias Janmark’s late winner against Blue Jackets.
Aided by poor decisions with the puck by the Blue Jackets in their own zone, the Golden Knights buzzed around the Columbus zone for long stretches of the second and third periods. It happened again late in the third, but it was a missed offsides call by linesman Caleb Apperson that became a big reason for the Jackets’ loss.
Apperson, who was staring right at Janmark as he received the puck inside the Columbus blue line, didn’t blow his whistle and let play continue. The Golden Knights re-entered the zone onside and Janmark scored moments later off a rebound caused by teammate Nicolas Hague’s shot striking his stick near the left goal post.
The puck dropped into the blue paint, Janmark tapped it into the net and the Golden Knights celebrated as Larsen and Blue Jackets video coach Dan Singleton debated calling for an offsides review. Larsen made the decision to have the linesmen take a look at the play, but the goal was allowed because of NHL Rule 39.8 about coaches’ challenges.
The NHL’s ruling states that Janmark’s initial offside couldn’t be reviewed by on-ice officials because it allowed the puck to escape to the neutral zone before coming back over the Jackets’ blue line a second later. The only play that could be reviewed was the zone entry, which wasn’t offside after Janmark started the play from within the Columbus zone.
Singleton advised Larsen not to call for the review, citing the NHL rule stating which plays can be reviewed and which cannot, but the Jackets’ coach gave it a whirl anyway.
“That’s on me 100 percent,” Larsen said. “It’s offside. They should’ve blown it, but as soon as that play exits, it’s a whole new play. So, you see the linesman (Apperson) and he’s got his whistle to his mouth. He doesn’t blow it, which he should’ve, but that’s a blown call and the puck goes back in. Danny (Singleton) had it right and I was frustrated. I couldn’t help myself. That’s my fault.”
Larsen said he knew the rule, but “couldn’t help himself” on the review.
Elvis Merzlikins couldn’t keep Vegas Golden Knights from overcoming Blue Jackets lead
Almost two years earlier, Merzlikins notched his first NHL shutout at T-Mobile Arena with 25 saves to blank the Golden Knights. Afterward, he spun his goal stick around like Elvis Presley to celebrate.
Elvis’s second trip to Vegas was much more difficult.
Merzlikins did what he could to preserve slim leads of 2-0 and 2-1, including a dazzling stop to nix a 2-on-1 in the third, but he couldn’t keep the Golden Knights at bay the whole game.
“We kind of hung him out to dry there, especially in that stretch (of the third),” Bean said. “He does what he does. He helps us stay in games and we’ve got to find a way to eliminate all (the errors), because none of that is acceptable – especially in a game that is so close against a team that is so good. We need to be sharper than that.”
Vegas outshot Columbus 14-8 in both the second and third periods for a combined total of 28-16 in the final 40 minutes, forcing Merzlikins to scramble repeatedly to keep the game close.
“Solid first and then we were forcing things, turning pucks over, and then it unraveled,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “It’s just hard to watch us play like that for two periods. That’s not us. We haven’t done that much lately, so to watch us play like that was frustrating. It’s frustrating to watch.”
Alexandre Texier scores Blue Jackets’ first shorthanded goal, possible ‘goal of the year’ candidate
The Blue Jackets did a lot of good things killing penalties in their first 14 games, but hadn’t scored a shorthanded goal.
Texier took care of that at 8:42 of the first period and did it in style. After getting the puck from Bean on the right wing, Texier dragged the puck around Golden Knights forward Mark Stone in the faceoff circle, cut sharply to the net, dangled it in front Brossoit and then beat the Vegas goalie past the blocker inside the left goal post.
It was a jaw-dropping play that brought the NHL’s loudest environment to a state of stunned silence afterward. It was also Texier’s sixth goal of the season, which is two more than he scored in 49 games last season.
“It’s an awesome move,” defenseman Zach Werenski said. “He made a great play to finish it and get around (Stone). He does that in practice a lot, so we’ve seen it in practice a lot. For him to pull it off in a game is pretty cool.”
Kolesar’s goal for Golden Knights matches Blue Jackets' Texier in 2017 trade matchup
Vegas outplayed Columbus for most of the second, outshooting the Blue Jackets 14-8 and pulling within 2-1 at 7:07 on a Kolesar’s first goal of the season.
It capped a long sequence in which the Jackets couldn’t get the puck out of their own zone, eventually leading to a turnover by Boone Jenner behind the net that quickly turned into the goal. Kolesar one-timed Jake Leschyshyn’s feed from behind the net past Merzlikins for the first goal the Blue Jackets’ netminder has allowed in T-Mobile Arena in two starts. The tally was also notable because Kolesar scored it, matching Texier’s goal in the first.
Columbus drafted Kolesar in the third round (No. 69) of the 2015 NHL draft and traded his rights two years later for the 45th pick in the 2017 draft – which the Blue Jackets used to select Texier in the second round. Kolesar added an assist on Janmark’s winner a two-point game.
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski reaches 200-point milestone
Werenski entered the game with 199 career points, all for the Blue Jackets during his six-year NHL career. He made it 200 with a secondary assist on Nyquist’s goal 45 seconds into the game and pushed it to 201 with another secondary assist on Texier’s shorthanded goal.
The 24-year old defenseman also led all skaters in ice time, logging a whopping 27:08 on 31 shifts.
Max Domi returns for Blue Jackets in loss to Golden Knights
Max Domi heals fast from injuries and apparently caught a fortunate break in his recent bout with COVID-19. After “a grind” during the first half of a 10-day quarantine period, Domi is feeling back to normal and the time off allowed his fractured ribs to heal further.
Domi returned to the Blue Jackets’ lineup at left wing on a line with Jack Roslovic at center and Justin Danforth at right wing, finishing with one shot and a minus-1 rating in 12:24 on 17 shifts. He was also excited to return in Vegas, where he played in the first NHL game at T-Mobile Arena for the Arizona Coyotes – a special night that began with a tribute to those who lost their lives in a tragic shooting spree at a concert near the Vegas Strip.
"It was pretty emotional with everything that happened, so this place will always have a pretty special place in my heart and it’s one of the most electric fanbases,” Domi said. “In my opinion, it’s one of the best rinks to play in, so it’s always fun to come in here as an away team. I don’t know anyone who’s come in here and said it was tough to get up for this game. You go out for warmup and it feels like you’re in a nightclub, so you can’t beat that.”
Blue Jackets three stars
First star
Elvis Merzlikins, goalie
Merzlikins rekindled some of the magic from his first NHL shutout Jan. 11, 2020 in Las Vegas, but couldn’t steal a victory against the Golden Knights’ onslaught in the final two periods.
Second star
Zach Werenski, defenseman
The Blue Jackets’ top blueliner notched a pair of assists, logged a game-high 27:08 and led the Jackets with six shots and 10 attempts. Werenski also surpassed the 200-point milestone with a pair of assists.
Third star
Alexandre Texier, forward
Texier played 10:45, and 2:54 of it was spent killing penalties. That role is what led to his shorthanded tally, an impressive display of skill, skating and shooting the puck.
bhedger@dispatch.com
@BrianHedger