The Columbus Blue Jackets opened their last western trip of the season playing their third game in four nights against the San Jose Sharks. Despite a strong start, the Blue Jackets found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
Former Blue Jacket Alex Wennberg recorded a goal and two assists while goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 34 of 36 to pace the Sharks to a 5-2 win over the Blue Jackets. Zach Werenski scored his 16th goal of the season in the loss.
The story of this game was the Sharks withstanding a strong Blue Jackets’ start and then pulling away.
Game Recap
The Blue Jackets started the first period strong. They controlled the play while tilting the ice. The only problem for them was they couldn’t solve Nedeljkovic early. That allowed the Sharks to find their legs and get the only goal of the first period.
Pavol Regenda, who scored a hat trick for the Sharks last time out against the Lightning, made it 1-0 with just 49 seconds left in the first. Tyler Toffoli found Wennberg for a 2-on-1 rush. Wennberg’s pass found Regenda who did the rest to beat Jet Greaves.
The Sharks carried over that momentum into the second. With Zach Aston-Reese in the box for tripping, it was Wennberg who had time and space near the Blue Jackets’ net. His power move created the lane for him to double the lead to 2-0.
The Blue Jackets chased for most of the second period. Greaves kept the Blue Jackets within striking distance. That finally paid off with a late goal in the period.
Werenski from the right circle found an opening over Nedeljkovic to make it 2-1. Then off the next faceoff, the gloves came off for a heavyweight tilt.
Mathieu Olivier and Ryan Reaves had one of the more epic fights in recent memory. Both players threw huge punches. In the end, Olivier was able to take Reaves down. With the score 2-1 Sharks after the second, the Blue Jackets were thought to get life from that fight.
They controlled the shot clock 18-9 in the third but were unable to make it 2-2. Instead, Zack Ostapchuk won a race to a loose puck and scored to make it 3-1.
It took the Blue Jackets just 49 seconds to respond. Sean Monahan, back in the lineup for the first time in four games, cut it to 3-2 on a rebound. That’s as close as they would get.
Mario Ferraro and Macklin Celebrini iced the game away with a pair of empty goals for the 5-2 win. Greaves made 31 saves on the night and allowed the Blue Jackets every chance to win this game. But it was Nedeljkovic who shined brightest on this night as he improved to 6-1-3 all-time against the Blue Jackets.
The one piece of concerning news for the Sharks was the status of Ty Dellandrea. He was tripped into the post and had to leave the game with an injury.
The Blue Jackets are starting to run out of time this season with each passing loss. Their next chance to turn things around comes Thursday night when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sharks head down I-5 for a quick turnaround as they will play the Kings in Los Angeles Wednesday night.
