The Columbus Blue Jackets Blew a Golden Chance To Win Game 4

In losing Game 4, the Columbus Blue Jackets look vulnerable for the first time in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Ever since sending the President’s Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lightning packing in the first round, the Columbus Blue Jackets have been the people’s champion underdog in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Although the Boston Bruins have put up more of a fight than the Lightning ever did during their four game sweep, Columbus entered Game 4 on Thursday with a chance to grab a 3-1 series lead. Instead, it was Boston who was victorious.

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The Bruins 4-1 win not only evened the series, but was the only game in the series decided by more than one goal. On Thursday night in Columbus, the cannon was mostly silent. The loss falls squarely on the Blue Jackets, as they had every chance and opportunity gifted to them to win that game and take a commanding series lead before the series shifted back to TD Garden.

First off, Columbus has had more rest than the constantly battling Bruins. With the second round match up between Boston and Columbus beginning April 25, the Blue Jackets were coming off over a week of rest (their first round match up ended the 16th).

The Bruins only had two days off since their comeback series win over the Leafs. Only the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals had a more grueling first round series. As if that wasn’t tiring enough for Boston, this series already has had two overtime games, including one double overtime contest.

It’s beginning to show on the ice, as well. Columbus has far been the more physical team of this series, with a demanding lead in hits throughout the four games so far. Could the long, demanding schedule of playoff hockey catch up to the Bruins and cancel out their home crowd advantage?

Luckily for the Jackets, some of Boston’s best players have been under performing. The offensive juggernaut during the regular season David Pastrnak has had a terrible showing in the playoffs, being demoted to the third line.

In Boston’s game four victory, he was held to just about 15 minutes of ice time after playing close to 23 minutes in Game 2. In a series where you’re most likely to see Pastrnak in a Dunkin Donuts commercial than the score sheet, Columbus gifted him a two point performance on Thursday night, with a goal and a power play assist.

Even with Pastrnak’s mini resurgence, Boston’s win fell completely on one player – Tuukka Rask. The Finnish goaltender backstopped the Bruins to victory, with a 0.975 save percentage. That included stopping all six shots from the Blue Jackets power play, while his counterpart on the opposite end of the ice Sergei Bobrovsky let in two power play goals to help the Bruins victory.

One of Rask’s save’s came of a Boone Jenner penalty shot. With Boston holding a 1-0 lead, the penalty shot came off a Brad Marchand tripping call, perhaps the hockey gods delivering a bit of karma and justice when the NHL decided his game three antics should go unpunished.

Kudos to the Blue Jackets for keeping their cool and not putting a bounty on Marchand’s head, after his hit on the head of Scott Harrington in game three. Still, out of the two teams Thursday night, Columbus was the more penalized of the two, giving the Bruins power play six chances to get to work.

Jenner, with the best opportunity of the night to turn the game in Columbus’s favor after the Bruins strike first, misses the penalty shot, making his attempt almost as if he was aiming directly for Rask’s blocker.

Now the Blue Jackets enter the much less welcoming territory of Boston’s home crowd. So far throughout the four games of this series, the team that has held the shots advantage has ended up winning the game, with the exception of Game 3 where Boston had the shot advantage but received the loss. If Columbus can get off enough shots to make Rask work even harder than he has, they might be able to pull off the upset at TD Garden.

Their last win at home might have them seeking revenge, but a win in Boston would be a lot harder to pull off than the win they had the chance to take at Nationwide arena. If the Blue Jackets can’t seize these type of opportunities that are given to them, the Cinderella story might end sooner than expected.