The three-game sweep of the NHL starts in Columbus, where it has not gotten any better for the Blue Jackets. The New York Islanders hung a 4-0 loss on the Jackets Tuesday for their seventh straight loss to start the season.
“This isn’t a lack of effort,” Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson said. “Guys are trying, I promise you that. Coaches can’t play for us. It’s 100 percent not on them. Times are tough right now and we have to stay together.”
That’s not the impression as an observer.
“It’s disappointing in the sense for a good part of the game we played some good hockey, but it wasn’t good enough,” Columbus coach Todd Richards said. “Right now we need results.”
The Isles got goals from Nikolay Kulemin, Thomas Hickey, Cal Clutterbuck, and John Tavares.
Columbus was 0-for-6 on the power play.
“We were unable to capitalize. It’s disappointing,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. “It’s our job, those guys on the power play. We were given an opportunity to win the game. You’ve got to score goals.”
Jaroslav Halak had 37 saves for the shutout win.
“The guys stood up, especially the PK,” Halak said. “It’s tough when you’re struggling like that. At the [start] of the season, no one imagined Columbus would be one of those teams. Look at the lineup. There’s pretty good hockey players over there. It’s just not clicking.”
In Newark, the Devils were pushed to an overtime win over the Arizona Coyotes when Adam Larsson scored just 43 seconds into the extra session.
“I made a terrible pass to [Stempniak] but was lucky it didn’t bounce over his stick or else it would have been a 3-on-0 the other way,” Larsson said. “Travis made a real good pass to me.”
Travis Zajac and Mike Cammalleri added goals for the Devils in regulation.
“We came out attacking in the first two periods,” Zajac said. “We got into penalty-killing trouble in the third but battled through it and got a win. We’re a team that’s going to need different guys contributing on different nights and we’re going to have to win collectively as a group so it’s just nice to contribute.”
The Coyotes picked up goals from Anthony Duclair and Mikkel Boedker.
Boedker’s goal came with less than a minute to go in regulation to get the Coyotes even.
“He needed a goal,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. “It was a big goal for us.
“The overtime goal [by New Jersey] was poor execution up the ice by us.”
In Nashville, James Neal scored twice and Filip Forsberg‘s goal in the shootout propelled the Predators past the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4.
Forsberg set up Neal for a late goal in regulation that tied the game at four all.
“That was a great pass,” Neal said. “I thought he did a great job of hunting the puck down before the pass. He was in a race with the [defenseman], wins a big battle, and then passes one over to me. It was a great play.”
Forsberg had two assists on the night, all on Neal goals.
“I thought the guys played hard,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It was a really good road game. We gave ourselves a chance to win that game all the way down to the end, including in overtime. I thought we had the better chances in overtime and the puck didn’t go in, and now you’re down to the shootout, and who knows after that?”
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