Sleepwalking against Seattle Kraken costly for Columbus Blue Jackets
Brian Hedger
SEATTLE ― It was a road trip that started with the Blue Jackets showing some moxie in a couple of tough matchups that included Johnny Gaudreau’s emotional return to Calgary.
They pushed the Calgary Flames to overtime in that one last Monday at Scotiabank Saddledome, stunned Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers two days later in OT at Rogers Place and earned an opportunity to roll those highs into a weekend back-to-back against the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken.
That’s when the bottom fell out.
Columbus was swept by the Canucks and Kraken for similar reasons to why they're last in the NHL at 33 points. Costly turnovers, too many lost battles, reckless puck control, bobbled pucks galore and a general malaise for the first 30 minutes, all helping the Kraken down the Blue Jackets 3-1 Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena.
“(A good start) didn’t have a chance, the way we managed the puck,” said coach Brad Larsen, whose team was being outshot 24-6 at one point in the second. “It was like we were playing with a soccer ball. We just kept giving it away and giving it away, and that doesn’t bode well for you.”
Seattle stayed patient with its neutral zone setup and forced the Blue Jackets to pick their way through a couple different strategic ploys. It worked most of the game for the Kraken (29-15-5), who forced goalie Elvis Merzlikins (28 saves) to come up with a number of difficult stops to prevent a blowout.
Morgan Geekie was the first to beat Merzlikins in the first for the game’s opening goal. Alex Wennberg, a former Blue Jackets center playing his 600th NHL game, tacked on another one in the second and Eeli Tolvanen capitalized on a turnover in the third for the final margin.
Kent Johnson cut the Seattle lead to 2-1 with his 10th goal of the season in the second for the Blue Jackets (15-32-3), but it wasn't enough. After losing 5-2 Friday in Vancouver, it wasn’t the effort Columbus needed to match a good Kraken team that emptied its energy reserves going into its extended bye week and the All-Star break.
The Blue Jackets (15-32-3) have one more game Tuesday against the Washington Capitals before their break arrives and they look like a group that could use it.
“We’re all playing 82 games, we’re all in the middle of the season and we all go through those stretches where we’re playing a lot of hockey on the road,” star forward Johnny Gaudreau said. “So, we’ve got to come prepared a little bit better.”
Columbus Blue Jackets teammates, Patrik Laine and Erik Gudbranson have in-game spat
According to the Bally’s Sports Ohio broadcast, Wennberg’s goal at 8:33 of the second period caused a flare-up between Blue Jackets teammates Patrik Laine and Erik Gudbranson.
Gudbranson and defense partner, rookie Tim Berni, were each unable to break up the play around the net between Jordan Eberle and Wennberg – who split the Columbus defenders to snap a shot past Merzlikins from the doorstep of the crease. Laine apparently yelled something that set Gudbranson off to the point that he needed to be settled by the coaching staff before play restarted.
Larsen is not concerned about it.
“No, I think it’s great,” he said. “I think they worked it out.”
Columbus Blue Jackets rookie Kirill Marchenko chasing history
Marchenko’s scorching start to his NHL career has put his name atop an all-time rankings list for the Blue Jackets and among an obscure statistic with the league.
Netting his 12th and 13th goals Friday in Vancouver made Marchenko just the third player in NHL history to start his career with 13 goals and zero assists, an anomaly that hasn’t happened in almost 100 years.
The first two to start their careers with such a goal-heavy presence were Joe Malone for the Montreal Canadiens in 1918, starting with a 16-0-16 scoring line, and John McKinnon in 1927 for the Canadiens and former Pittsburgh Pirates (13-0-13. Marchenko’s 13 goals in his first 26 games also set a Blue Jackets all-time record for goals in that many games to start a player’s career.
“I’ve talked about him a lot,” Larsen said. “I like his passion, his enthusiasm. I love that he’s finding different ways to score … power play, 5-on-5 and in different ways even within those power play goals. So, at the end of the day, he’s been a real positive and bright spot for goal-scoring, which hasn’t come easy for us.”
Marchenko went into the matchup Saturday with goals in three straight games, including a tying goal Wednesday in Edmonton that sent the game to overtime for Kent Johnson to win with his ninth goal of the season. Marchenko’s tally in that game was his 11th in his first 25 games, tying Matt Calvert for most goals by a Blue Jackets rookie in that number of games to start an NHL career.
“He’s hungry to learn,” Larsen said. “That’s what I love about him. He’s got this real passion to learn and he works at his game constantly. It’s not coming just because of luck. It’s coming because he’s putting the work in."
Columbus Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen shortens bench against Seattle Kraken
Multiple shifts and in some cases, entire periods, are now being cut out for select players while the Blue Jackets attempt to overcome deficits in the third period.
Saturday night in Seattle, he sat rookie forward Liam Foudy the entire period, only played forward Mathieu Olivier for one shift in the third and sent rookie defenseman Tim Berni over the boards just twice in the final frame. Left wing Eric Robinson was also held to three shifts that period and didn’t play again after being on the ice for Tolvanen’s goal that gave the Kraken a 3-1 lead.
Berni’s attempted exit pass from his own zone started that play for Seattle and he then was unable to block Tolvanen’s shot, which zipped between his legs before beating Merzlikins – who was screened by his own defenseman.
Larsen’s ice time decisions in the third led to some interesting forward configurations in the game’s final 14:21, including second-year center Cole Sillinger shifting to play wing on a line centered by Sean Kuraly. Larsen also shortened his bench to start the trip in Calgary, when he kept Jack Roslovic, Emil Bemstrom and Olivier out the entire third period.
New injury puts Columbus Blue Jackets' Adam Boqvist on the shelf again
Adam Boqvist’s career and season are off to frustrating starts.
Since being selected eighth overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018, the 22-year old defenseman has logged just 147 games over four seasons primarily because of injuries. The list of ailments that have hindered Boqvist’s development is lengthy and stretches back to his first two seasons in Chicago, prior to being included in the July 2021 trade that sent Seth Jones to the Blackhawks.
That trend has continued in Columbus, where in two seasons he’s been out with injuries almost as much as he’s been healthy. Last year, Boqvist played just 52 games because of multiple issues and this season he missed 24 games with a broken foot that happened Oct. 25 in a 6-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes.
Boqvist also missed the game against Seattle with an upper-body injury that happened in Vancouver, clearing the way for Jake Christiansen to step into the Blue Jackets’ third defense pairing after being recalled from the Cleveland Monsters. A season after contributing 22 points on 11 goals and 11 assists, Boqvist has 10 points (all assists) and is still seeking his first goal.
“It’s been different this year,” he said Friday. “It’s weird. I don’t really know what to say, but we’ve been playing a lot in the (defensive) zone and that doesn’t help my (offensive) game. It helps my game grow, hopefully, because that’s the area I need to improve most, so this is a good thing for me to learn from.”
Finding a way to stay in the lineup would also help.
Bjorkstrand, Wennberg greet Columbus Blue Jackets in Seattle
This was the first of two games for the Blue Jackets against the Kraken, which meant it was the first time they saw former Columbus forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Alexander Wennberg.
Wennberg had his contract bought out prior to the 2020-21 season, so there’s only a couple former teammates left on the Blue Jackets’ roster. Bjorkstrand was traded to Seattle in July after Johnny Gaudreau signed his seven-year deal with Columbus and Patrik Laine re-signed for four seasons.
It was a move made with a heavy heart by Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who needed to sign off on it to create salary-cap space. Bjorkstrand wasn't thrilled to leave, but has settled into life in Seattle with his wife, Jill, whom he married just days before the trade was completed.
The couple are now expecting their first child in April, a boy, and Bjorkstrand’s enjoying the Kraken’s second-year success. Seattle was third in the Pacific Division with 61 points, which was just one point back of the top two teams and as many points as the 2021-22 expansion franchise had through 81 games last year.
Bjorkstrand has 9-16-25 through 49 games and Wennberg's goal in brought his scoring line to 10-14-24. Wennberg is also a father now. His son, Rio, is 18-months old.
Columbus Blue Jackets add versatile forward Lane Pederson
The Blue Jackets have passed on some intriguing names on the NHL’s waiver wire this season, including former Nashville Predators first-round pick Eeli Tolvanen – whom the Kraken claimed on Dec. 12 and was in the lineup Saturday.
They didn’t let Lane Pederson get past Columbus in the picking order Saturday, claiming the 25-year old center/right wing from the Canucks after putting Gustav Nyquist (upper body) on injured reserve. Pederson played juniors in the Western Hockey League and entered the professional ranks without being drafted.
Originally signed by the Arizona Coyotes, the 6-0, 192-pound forward made his NHL debut for that organization in 2021 and has since toggled between the American Hockey League and NHL for the San Jose Sharks and Canucks. Pederson had 17 goals, seven assists and 24 points in 18 AHL games for the Abbottsford Canucks this season and had 1-2-3 in 11 NHL games.
Pederson is Canadian and will need to get his immigration documentation sorted out before he joins his first practice in Columbus. He’ll wear No. 18, last worn by Pierre-Luc Dubois, and could get an extended NHL look in Columbus during the season’s final two-plus months.
Columbus Blue Jackets equipment manager Jamie Healy honored for 2,000th professional game
This was the 2,000th professional game for Blue Jackets head equipment manager Jamie Healy, who was honored by the team’s coaching, equipment and training staffs before the game. All, including healy, wore white T-shirts bearing his photo and the milestone.
Healy was promoted this season to replace Tim Leroy in the head equipment manager role, but he’s been on the Blue Jackets’ staff since the team’s inaugural 2000-2001 season. Prior to Columbus, Healy worked two seasons for the Kalamazoo Wings in the International Hockey League, one season with the Alexandria Warthogs of the Western Professional Hockey League and one season with the ECHL’s Peoria Rivermen.
He was also honored on the scoreboard at Climate Pledge Arena during a stoppage in the first period, which drew a round of applause from the crowd.
“Behind the scenes, (equipment staff), you know, we land at whatever time in the morning and everyone’s going to the hotel … they’re coming right here (to the arena) and unloading stuff,” Larsen said. “They get in late and then they’re the first ones here unpacking stuff and making sure things are right. They do not get enough credit for what they do here and to last as long and be around for that many games, it’s incredible. It’s a great night to celebrate for him.”