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Severson's two tallies were not enough to propel Blue Jackets past the Coyotes.
COLUMBUS--- A Thursday night game against the Arizona Coyotes was somehow more entertaining than a so-called "rivalry" game with Pittsburgh. The Jackets hosted Arizona for Hockey Fights Cancer night on Thursday, losing another one-goal game, 3-2.
There was a sense that Columbus wanted this one a lot more than the game on Tuesday night. The Jackets have won just one game in the last 12, and everyone in the dressing room wants to turn that around, especially youngster Adam Fantilli, who had 10 shots tonight. "It's frustrating... I thought tonight was the night. I thought we were doing really, really well. They got two quick ones. I thought we pushed back really well... but we couldn't close it out," Fantilli said. "It's not going to turn around on its own... we're getting there."
Damon Severson found the back of the net for the second time this year, just a matter of seconds after a Blue Jackets power play concluded early in the second period. Yay for the goal, boo for the power play. The Jackets sit at 27th in the league for power play percentage, 6-53 at 11.3%.
After the Yotes fought back and found themselves up 3-1, with two goals coming in a matter of 30 seconds midway through the third, Severson found the back of the net with 1:57 to go. Even though at the end of the day that goal didn't do much, it was a good confidence boost for Damon, who has had just one goal all year until tonight.
"It's always good to contribute in a positive way," Severson said. "My totals offensively haven't been quite where I want them to be this year; that's a step in the right direction personally, but I'm just a piece to the puzzle that's hopefully going to get this team out of this funk and get us on a little bit of a hot streak here."
Johnny Gaudreau has still not scored on a goalie all year. For a player who has been a consistent point-per-game player his entire career, this is something of a five-alarm fire for Columbus. Paying a player nine-something million dollars a year for not even half a point per game is laughable. Gaudreau did not play the last 6:15 of the third period. Patrik Laine also did not see the ice for the last half of the third.
The Jackets are back in action Saturday, on the road against the Capitals. Hopefully, they can get something going now. 4-9-4 is worrisome for a team with the amount of talent they have.
-Ian Phillips for Yamo Media