COLUMBUS, Ohio — There was a nine-day stretch of pure euphoria in Columbus last summer. On July 13, the Blue Jackets landed the NHL’s biggest free agent, signing winger Johnny Gaudreau to a long-term contract. On July 22, Patrik Laine signed a multiyear extension.
It was a more innocent time: The Blue Jackets fancied themselves a playoff club in the Eastern Conference, and a sweltering summer was filled with fall and winter dreams of Gaudreau’s flashy playmaking and Laine’s blinding one-timer.
Advertisement
In the present reality, the Blue Jackets remain parked in last place in the league’s standings after a rather nondescript 5-2 loss Saturday to the St. Louis Blues in Nationwide Arena.
The future, however, deserves closer inspection.
Gaudreau and Laine combined on a power-play goal midway through the first period that highlighted their signature skills. But it also served as a stark reminder that we haven’t seen much of them working in concert this season.
Flashback to first period 🎥 pic.twitter.com/K8ZXPGppyq
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 12, 2023
From the moment their contracts were signed, it was obvious that Gaudreau and Laine would be put together on the same line, a pair of bookend, All-Star wingers on a No. 1 line. That’s how Brad Larsen employed them for most of the season, too.
It sputtered. It stalled. Gaudreau played at a point-per-game pace for much of the season. Laine, currently on a four-game goal-scoring streak, has had some highlights, too. But the two haven’t quite meshed as well as expected.
“It’s been ups and downs,” Larsen said. “Really, that’s kind of the story of the year for them. There’s some good where you think they’re coming, and then you don’t like it, so you can change it. And you try to balance your lines, too, right?
“The thing is, Patty and (Jack) Roslovic, they have some chemistry. There’s something between those two. When Roscoe is on his game, with his speed and playmaking, they can work well together. So if you can balance that out with a guy like (rookie Kirill Marchenko) next to (Gaudreau), which helps us balance it out.
“But to be honest … (Gaudreau and Laine) is some good and some not so good.”
Consider:
- Laine has scored 21 goals this season to lead the Blue Jackets. Gaudreau has 41 assists, including 24 primary assists, to lead the Blue Jackets.
- Only five of Gaudreau’s 24 primary assists have led to Laine goals, however. He’s assisted on almost that many — four goals each — by Marchenko, Boone Jenner and rookie Kent Johnson.
- Laine also leads the Blue Jackets with seven power-play goals. But Saturday was just the second time that Gaudreau has had the primary assist on a Laine goal with the man advantage.
- To Larsen’s point, Roslovic has six primary assists on Laine’s goals, more than any other Blue Jackets player.
The first-period power-play goal was one of the Blue Jackets’ more highlight-worthy goals this season.
The Jackets were down 1-0 when Laine split the Blues’ penalty killers with a pass from the left dot to the right dot to Gaudreau, who gathered and waited and watched.
As Laine dropped lower in the zone through the left circle, Gaudreau snapped off a rifle pass that split the legs of Marchenko in the slot and followed the Royal Road back to Laine’s stick. Laine’s one-timer then beat Blues goaltender Thomas Greiss to the near post.
Advertisement
“I just saw a quick lane through the middle,” Gaudreau said. “(Laine’s) obviously got a great shot, so you try to find him as much as you can. He put it in the back of the net.”
Larsen has rolled his lines for much of the last month with a rookie on each of the top trios. Marchenko has played with Gaudreau and Jenner on the No. 1 line. Johnson has played left wing with Roslovic and Laine.
Maybe it’ll work better next season, or maybe the Blue Jackets will look so radically different at center and on their top two lines — it’s all about the NHL Draft lottery now, right? — that none of what’s happening really matters.
But Saturday’s game was another reminder of how almost nothing has worked right in Columbus this season.
The Blues scored twice more in the first period and carried a 3-1 lead into the third. Jordan Kyrou had a hat trick for St. Louis, including an empty-net goal with 1:17 remaining to cap the scoring.
The Blue Jackets’ second goal was scored by Jenner, his 20th of the season, late in the third. Jenner redirected a shot by Johnson.
The Blue Jackets leaned on goaltender Michael Hutchinson for his first start with Columbus since he was acquired in a trade-deadline deal with Vegas. Starter Elvis Merzlikins went home to Latvia on Friday to be with his family after his grandmother fell gravely ill.
Hutchinson, making his first NHL start since Oct. 22, 2021, made 19 saves.
(Photo of Johnny Gaudreau: Russell LaBounty / USA Today)
