Blue Jackets, following OT escape, eye smoother effort vs. Predators

After nearly experiencing an epic collapse, the Columbus Blue Jackets will try for their second win in as many days when they host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

The Blue Jackets won seven in a row and 11 of 12 before losing 4-2 at Boston on Thursday and falling 4-3 in overtime against the visiting New York Islanders on Saturday.

Columbus led 4-0 through two periods against the host New York Rangers Monday before squandering the lead. Kirill Marchenko’s overtime goal gave the Blue Jackets a 5-4 victory, rescuing them from an embarrassing defeat.

The Blue Jackets, who moved within three points of the Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot, missed an opportunity to pick up a regulation victory. They have just 20 on the season, fifth fewest in the conference.

Wins in regulation are the first tiebreaker for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Boston has 25.

Columbus coach Rick Bowness said his team made it much harder than it needed be due to some “self-inflicted” mistakes, such as defensemen pinching up ice at the wrong times or a lack of desperation in chasing down pucks.

“We’ll address that and take the two points and get ready for tomorrow,” he said postgame.

Soft third periods have been an issue for Columbus all season. According to Champs or Chumps, the Blue Jackets have lost 16 games in which they held a lead. That’s tied for fourth most. Nine times, they led in the third and still managed to lose. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins have endured more late collapses, 10.

The issue could come up again Tuesday as the Blue Jackets host a Predators squad that ranks second with 18 comeback victories. Nashville is also one of five teams with eight or more rallies from third-period deficits. Vegas leads the NHL with nine.

Unfortunately for the Predators, they allowed the Red Wings to come back from a 2-1 deficit midway through their Monday afternoon game, and Detroit registered a 4-2 victory in Nashville.

Two of Detroit’s first three goals came off rushes, including a short-handed tally by Albert Johansson that put the Red Wings up for good with less than four minutes left in the second.

Predators defenseman Roman Josi said afterward that the Blue Jackets play a lot like the Red Wings.

“Those are some things we can correct,” said Nashville’s captain, who notched his 30th assist of the season in the loss. “I thought in the zone, we played well defensively, but when you play these fast teams that are good off the rush, you got to make sure you come back and don’t give up too many odd-man rushes.”

Nashville, too, is on the outside of the playoff picture. The Predators, 1-2-2 in their past five games, are four points behind both the Utah Mammoth and the Edmonton Oilers, who hold the two Western Conference wild-card spots.

Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski, a key member of the gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic team, missed the Monday game due to an illness. He owns a nine-game point streak (two goals, 11 assists) and leads the team with 45 assists and 65 points.

Steven Stamkos, who leads Nashville with 30 goals, did not score on Monday, but he has five in his past six games.

–Field Level Media