COLUMBUS, Ohio — Uh oh.
The Columbus Blue Jackets were the NHL’s hottest club heading into the Olympic break, crawling their way out of the Eastern Conference cellar to within sniffing distance of a playoff spot.
But that mojo has gone missing.
The Blue Jackets lost an early 2-0 lead, fell behind after three bad-bounce goals by the New York Islanders in the second period, and lost 4-3 in overtime on Saturday before a standing-room-only crowd of 18,925 in Nationwide Arena.
The Islanders, who are one of the clubs the Blue Jackets are chasing, ended at 1:47 of OT when New York’s Simon Holmstrom got behind Adam Fantilli at three-on-three play and scored past Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves.
The Jackets also lost in Boston on Thursday. It marked the first time the Blue Jackets have lost two straight games since Rick Bowness took over as coach on Jan. 12.
“You have to take advantage of every change you get, and when you don’t, lucky bounces like that can lose the game,” Fantilli said. “I thought we carried play for 85 percent of the game, and we played in their end as much as we wanted to.
“They had a couple lucky bounces. If it goes the other way, we’re not having this conversation, so … ”
Fantilli, Isac Lundeström and Mason Marchment scored goals for the Blue Jackets, while Greaves stopped 22 of 26 shots, including all 10 he faced in the third period. He had his shutout streak of 136:39 snapped with the Islanders’ first goal in the second period.
The loss was damaging.
The Blue Jackets now sit five points behind the Bruins for the second wild-card spot and seven points behind the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division, with the Washington Capitals just above them in the standings.
“We probably deserved four points and we came away with one point against two teams we’re chasing,” said Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who was honored in a brief pregame ceremony for winning Olympic gold with Team USA last week.
“We have 24 games left now, so it’s extremely disappointing, but we have a lot of hockey left and we’re still in it.”
In many ways, Saturday’s game felt like an exaggerated repeat of Thursday’s game, a 4-2 loss in Boston.
The Blue Jackets felt like they dominated the first and third periods against the Bruins, and pointed to the 40-23 shots advantage as proof. They also watched one of Boston’s goals sail into the net off their own player (Lundeström) and complained about getting just one power-play opportunity.
On Saturday, the Blue Jackets held a 23-11 shot advantage midway through the second period before their puck luck faltered. The Islanders’ three goals in regulation were the greasy type that playoff hockey demands.
They pulled to 2-1 when the Islanders’ Scott Mayfield backhand lobbed a puck toward the net. It struck either Anders Lee or Greaves, before dropping into the slot for Lee to sweep home at 11:37.
Only 22 seconds later, it was tied.
Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau followed his own shot toward Greaves and sandwiched Blue Jackets defenseman Dante Fabbro between him and Greaves in his hungry pursuit of the rebound.
The Blue Jackets challenged the goal — Bowness said they saw Pageau’s skate interfere with Greaves — but the NHL didn’t buy it.
The third goal was the most ridiculous.
Mayfield started it again, sending in a wrister from the right circle that caromed off Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko, shot toward the net and glanced off Werenski’s right leg of skate, dribbled past Greaves.
“I feel for Jet,” Marchment said. “Those are some pretty good bounces for them.”
The Blue Jackets tied it with only 1:02 remaining in the second period when Fantilli redirected a Werenski shot, but they could muster nothing more in the third.
In OT, Fantilli was caught up ice, allowing Holmstrom to skate past him for a clear shot.
“We’re not having this conversation if I don’t get beat back to the net in the overtime,” Fantilli said. “That can’t happen.”
The Blue Jackets were once again miffed about their lack of power plays. They had one in Boston, none on Saturday vs. the Islanders. It’s only the second time all season they haven’t had at least one man advantage.
“I can’t explain it,” Bowness said. “Honestly, I can’t. I’m seeing things that, OK, I think are penalties and the referees obviously don’t. But that’s two games now, and we’ve had one power play. I can’t explain that.”
The Blue Jackets had a memorable Olympic break, if only because Werenski won a gold medal with Team USA. He received a standing ovation from most fans in Nationwide Arena when he was recognized briefly before the national anthem.
But the Blue Jackets may have been the NHL’s only club that would have liked to keep playing. They were winning games, climbing up the standings, and watching their confidence soar throughout the lineup.
They are still playing well. But the results aren’t following like they did when Bowness first stepped behind the bench.
“They know we’re playing good hockey,” Bowness said. “We dominated for two periods again tonight. They know we’re playing good hockey. You’ve just got to fight through it. We can’t change anything.
“We wouldn’t be creating chances if we weren’t playing well. If we weren’t playing well enough, then that’s a whole other discussion right now. We played well enough to win both, and we didn’t. We got a point. So get ready for the (New York) Rangers (on Monday).”