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After a two-hour delay, The Blue Jackets and the Ducks battled for 62 minutes.
COLUMBUS, OHIO--- Wow. The Blue Jackets hosted the 1-4-0 Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night, falling 3-2 in a thrilling overtime loss. There is no shortage of storylines in this matchup, so let's take a look at what went down.
QUICK RECAP
After enduring a power outage that set the start time back two hours, the Jackets played at a solid pace to start the contest. Emil Bemstrom got the scoring started on the Jackets third power play of the game, 16:49 into the contest. Check out this Ovechkin-like one timer:
Ryan Strome was the one who tied the game for the Ducks, beating Merzlikins off a rebound.
Adam Fantilli scored his first goal at Nationwide Arena, beating goalie Lukas Dostal with a shot from the left circle.
With just under four minutes to go, Brett Leason scored the game-tying goal, and two minutes and 20 seconds into overtime, Frank Vatrano scored his fifth goal of the season and gave the Ducks the overtime win.
TAKEAWAYS
Apparently, the outage in the arena wasn't the only struggle tonight that had to do with power. There were seven power play opportunities tonight; the Jackets only converted on one. The Ducks penalty kill was nothing special, and the Jackets generated plenty of chances, but they just could not convert for some reason.
Fantilli was yet again one of the best players, and he was all over the ice tonight. According to the recently released NHL "Edge" statistics, Fantilli is in the 98th percentile of players with speed bursts of over 20 mph, with 22. Watching him play, especially tonight, it is easy to see why.
Elvis was solid tonight, conceding three goals on 27 shots. He made some key saves that kept the Jackets in the game.
It was nice to see Emil Bemstrom get on the board. He has a wicked release on his shot, and it was on display tonight.
Marchenko is having a hard time getting going this year. Six games in, and he has yet to score. Same with Alexandre Texier.
David Jiricek is settling in nicely. He is obviously more comfortable playing in NHL games than he was two weeks ago. That being said, he's having a tough time making stuff happen. He also played limited minutes tonight.
OTHER STUFF
Defensive overload remains an issue. Andrew Peeke and Adam Boqvist have sat out consecutive games as healthy scratches, which seems like a waste of their talents. They should either be on the ice or considered for trade.
If you haven't heard, the reason for the delay tonight was a power outage downtown. It affected multiple buildings in the arena district. When it was all said and done, the puck dropped at 8:38 p.m., two hours after it was originally scheduled. The game concluded at 11:07 p.m.
It is currently 12:55 a.m. here at Nationwide Arena, and I am ready to go home. I am not fond of late-night games.
-Ian Phillips for Yamo Media
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