Hockey is a 60 minute game, but unfortunately for the Blue Jackets, when they played the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight it only took two of those minutes to undo their chances at earning two standings points and resulted in them falling by a score of 5-2.
Let’s take a look at the core numbers that were the defining moments of tonight’s game:
TWO: The Jackets played a solid first period, and finished up the first 20 minutes tied 1-1. After the game, head coach John Tortorella said he was happy with the way the team was playing.
Three minutes into period number two, Scott Hartnell deflected a Dalton Prout shot into the net behind Ben Bishop and gave the Jackets their first lead of the game, up two to one. And then…
THREE THREE’s: The Jackets took three penalties in the second period in a total of three seconds. First, Dalton Prout was called for cross-checking, and then Gregory Campbell received a faceoff violation penalty. Then, three seconds later, Jack Johnson was heading to the box for delay of game after a puck went over the glass.
This resulted in a whole lot of 5-on-3 play for the Jackets and they couldn’t hold back the Lightning gauntlet. Two power play goals were scored while a myriad of Jackets sat in the penalty box. Which takes us to…
THIRTY TWO: Steven Stamkos scored those two power play goals just thirty two seconds apart from one another. That erased the Jackets lead and gave the driver’s seat back to Tampa. But it was still a one-goal game. Until…
TEN: Two and half minutes after the Stamkos scoring barrage, the Jackets were looking to claw back into things. Ben Bishop went to play the puck behind the net, collided with Scott Hartnell and Hartnell ended up getting called for a major penalty for charging. And a TEN minute game misconduct.
https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/680924806443876354
Jen Neale at Puck Daddy has already done a very good job of compiling the curiousness of this call, so I recommend giving that a quick read if you haven’t already.
But the impact of this play was not just losing Hartnell for the night, there was also a skirmish afterwards that resulted in Ryan Johansen receiving a 5-minute major penalty as well.
That meant that for at least five minutes, the team was going to be without the top two points scorers on the team and that the leading point scorer (Hartnell) wasn’t coming back at all. Makes climbing out of that goal deficit a bit harder.
In addition, the Lightning would score on the power play, again, and double up the Jackets in goals with a 4-2 tally that the Columbus boys could never really challenge.
FOUR: “The Young Kid,” as Tortorella likes to call goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, started his fifth game for the Blue Jackets and let in all four of those goals against on 18 shots. In his post game press conference, Tortorella said he didn’t like all of those goals, and accordingly, Korpisalo would sit for the third and Curtis McElhinney would play for the final twenty, allowing one goal on seven shots.
Tweet of the Night:
30 minutes of penalties. Six Tampa power plays.
Three power play goals against – all in the second period. #CBJ need to play 5-on-5.
— Rob Mixer (@RobMixer) December 27, 2015
Quote of the Night:
John Tortorella talking about three penalties in three seconds:
“I’d never seen that before. That was the beginning of the end for us.”
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