Blue Jackets lose in overtime to Panthers – Hockey Writer – Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets enter Saturday afternoon’s game against the Florida Panthers looking to start their three-game road trip with good momentum. But as has been the custom in recent games, overtime was required.

Sam Bennett scored the game-winning goal with less than 4 seconds left in overtime to give the Panthers a 7-6 victory over the Blue Jackets. Bennett and Brad Marchand each scored four points. Carter Verhaeghe hit a three-pointer. The Blue Jackets got points from 13 different skaters in the losing effort.

The story of the game was that the defending champions didn’t give up despite conceding multiple goals at different points in the game.

game review

The first phase started out mildly. In the middle of the first quarter, the two teams exchanged goals. Damon Severson opened the scoring when he blocked Ivan Provorov’s shot. Evan Rodriguez equalized about two minutes later.

Then things got really crazy. The two teams scored a total of 7 goals in the second half. The Blue Jackets took a 4-1 lead on three goals in about five minutes from Dmitry Voronkov, Miles Wood and Kirill Marchenko.

Then controversy erupted. An important decision in favor of the Panthers.

Verhaeg scored the first goal of the game, chasing the score to 4-2. The puck appeared to hit Marchand’s glove before the goal. The Blue Jackets contested the missed timeout because they believed a pass should have been called. The referee determines that the puck is deflected and is not considered a hand pass. This goal was allowed to be maintained. The Panthers tied the score quickly thereafter.

Verhaeghe scored on a failed challenge to make it 4-3. Three minutes later, Seth Jones scored strongly to make the score 4-4. This wasn’t the only time the Panthers fought back from being down multiple goals.

Cole Sillinger scored with 1:34 left in the second quarter to make it 5-4. At the beginning of the third game, Isaac Lundestrom received a pass from Wood and scored his first goal as a player in blue, making the score 6-4.

The Panthers once again found a way to fight back. Marchand broke through and scored, rewriting the score to 6-5. Anton Lundell tied the game at 6 with 5:42 left in regulation time.

Both teams have a chance to win the game based on their strength. The Panthers fell short at the end of the regular season. The Blue Jackets couldn’t make it midway through the third quarter and into overtime. The game was then decided in the final seconds.

Marchand passed the puck to Bennett, who beat Elvis Merzlikins for the 7-6 win. The Panthers came back from down 4-1 and 4-6 to win this game.

Merzlikins made 33 saves on 40 shots. Sergey Bobrovsky finished the day with 25 saves.

The Blue Jackets now have to fly to Washington, D.C. for Sunday night’s game against the Capitals. The Panthers are right back as they host the New York Islanders on Sunday night.