Aside from the first 10-15 minutes of this hockey game, the Blue Jackets were in pretty good shape and playing one of their better games of the young season. But unfortunately, spurts don’t count, and the early moments dearly cost Columbus Thursday night as it dropped its third straight game, this one 4-0 to Colorado.
The Avalanche opened the scoring just 51 seconds into the game on a goal by newcomer PA Parenteau, got another later in the first period from Matt Duchene, and had to withstand a feverish second period from the Blue Jackets along the way.
Through it all, their goaltender was solid; Semyon Varlamov had an answer for whatever Columbus threw at him and nullified any sense of momentum coming from the visitors’ bench. He made 33 saves on the evening and made it look easy at times, frustrating the Blue Jackets during several power play chances and a late third-period push.
Parenteau’s goal came off an innocent looking rush started by Duchene, who cut to the middle of the ice and sent a pass through three Blue Jackets sticks to a waiting Parenteau on left wing. Parenteau had no wasted motion and whipped a one-timer through the legs of Sergei Bobrovsky, who slid over but could not get set for the shot.
Duchene got speed into the offensive zone off the bench and drove hard to the net minutes later, cleaning up a big rebound for a 2-0 Avalanche lead. Milan Hejduk took the initial shot, but no Columbus defender picked up Duchene off the bench and he had a clean look at Bobrovsky. The Blue Jackets rebounded and finished the first period with a cleaner and better effort, but were unable to dent Varlamov.
John Mitchell and Duchene tallied third period goals for the Avalanche.
For the Blue Jackets, it’s back home to Columbus late tonight and possibly practice tomorrow afternoon. They welcome the undefeated (4-0-0) Chicago Blackhawks to Nationwide Arena for a Saturday night showdown that will be the Blue Jackets’ biggest test of the season.
The third Avalanche goal was a real tough one for the Blue Jackets. Going into the second period down 2-0, Columbus had to get back to its pressure game and make Varlamov work for some saves. They did a better job and used the power play to build some good vibes, but the Avalanche got the most important goal in the game.
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