After splitting a pair of games in Sweden to open the season, the Columbus Blue Jackets returned to Nationwide Arena Friday night, dropping their home opener to the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2.
The Jackets receiving overwhelming cheers from a sellout crowd of 18,305 as they stepped onto the ice during pre-game festivities, but those cheers soon turned to boos as Columbus was dominated in every facet of the game.
“That was a big, fat egg laid by us tonight,” said first-year Jackets’ coach Scott Arniel. “All 20 players had a tough night tonight. Give Chicago credit, they jumped on top of every mistake we made.”
Chicago winger Patrick Sharp made the most of the Jackets’ mistakes, leading his team with two goals and a franchise-record 13 shots on goal.
Down two goals after one period of play because of a pair of Chicago goals just over a minute apart in the middle of the period, the Blue Jackets were out-shot 19-11 and generally outmanned in the first stanza.
Looking to right the ship in the second, the Jackets came out quick, cutting the lead in half with an R.J. Umberger short-handed goal just 1:11 into the period. After garnering a power play just minutes later, momentum seemed to be shifting in Columbus’ favor.
However, after a blind pass from center Antoine Vermette led to a Jackets’ turnover, Sharp netted a short-handed goal of his own to extend the Blackhawks’ lead to 3-1.
“We were excited and fired up,” Umberger said. “They got a lead on us there and it looked like, at the start of the second period there, we were on the bench, we were hungry. When we got into it, it looked like we were going to make it a game and the short-handed goal was a little bit of a back breaker.”
Two minutes later, Sharp was at it again. Following a Troy Brouwer shot being turned aside by Jackets’ goalie Steve Mason, Sharp put his rebound attempt into the back of the Columbus net to extend the Chicago lead to three.
A chorus of boos filled the arena as the downtrodden Blue Jackets squad returned to the dressing room facing a large deficit.
“I’ve been a fan before being in this position and I was watching the games before, so I know what the feeling is like,” Vermette said. “It’s a long season but the fact that it was tonight sucks.”
Adding insult to injury, the Blackhawks pushed their lead to four with another goal just 15 seconds into the third period before the Jackets added a late Kristian Huselius goal to end the embarrassment at 5-2.
“We should be a little bit embarrassed about the way things went here tonight,” said Blue Jackets’ defenseman Kris Russell. “We have a lot to prove as a team, especially the way we ended last year.”
Looking to put their tough home opener behind them, Columbus headed to St. Paul, Minn. Saturday night for a Western Conference battle with the Minnesota Wild.
Going behind early the previous night, the Jackets reversed the trend Saturday as they were able to draw first blood thanks to a Derek Dorsett rebound goal from the front of the crease.
Led by solid play in net from Jackets’ goaltender Mathieu Garon, who stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced, Columbus would not trail the rest of the night.
Earning two goals to Columbus’ one in the second period, the Jackets and Wild emerged from their respective changing rooms for the third period knotted at 2-2.
But after providing one of the few bright spots for the Jackets the previous night, forward R.J. Umberger mustered his second short-handed goal in as many games to regain the lead 3-2 halfway through the final period.
Following a lengthy review, the play was ultimately confirmed a goal and eventually proved to be the game-winner. With the 3-2 victory, the Jackets pushed their record to 2-2 on the year.
“It was more how we wanted to play,” Arniel said of Saturday night’s win. “Just our compete level, just how we do it as 20 guys. That’s what it takes, you learn from your mistakes. We put our nose to the grindstone.”
The Jackets return home Wednesday night to take on the Anaheim Ducks at Nationwide Arena.
