I'm less frustrated at this game then I am from the San Jose one. Columbus, like SJ, is a bad team, with a terrible D core outside Werenski. This means they have to play that balls-out full-press style of hockey we already know our team struggles with due to our D-core and it's lack of ability to outlet during a strong forecheck. It's why the Jackets are so hot and cold home v. away, the crowd oohs and aaahs at home and that helps them keep their foot on the gas. During this game we showed way more poise against the press then we did against San Jose, holding onto pucks and panicking far less. We generated at least 5 extremely high danger chances that Merzlikiens somehow came up with. Had we buried at least one of those before the Jacket's first goal, this game changes dramatically, as all of a sudden teams aren't so keen to be all-gas-no-brakes once stung.
One last observation - Our goaltending duo, after putting up a top 3-5 effort last year, has fallen way off a cliff. Binner is sitting around +3.5-5.5 GSAx depending on if you prefer Moneypuck or Evolving-Hockey, whereas Hofer is at -5-6.5. Basically we've gotten almost zero help from our goalie tandem this year. They aren't sinking us, but they aren't bouying us either. I'm really hoping Hofer can have a better second half, b/c he's been having a tough season so far.