The Columbus Blue Jackets entered the third period of Tuesday’s game against the Kings with a 2-1 lead.
What could go wrong?
Pretty much everything.
With 5:35 remaining in the game and the Jackets still nursing a 2-1 lead, Columbus’ head trainer jumped onto the ice to attend to starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Trainer appeared to be looking at Bobrovsky's neck or chest.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 9, 2015
Bobrovsky’s injury was problematic for several reasons.
First of all, he’s the team’s starting goalie.
Secondly, backup Curtis McElhinney hadn’t played in a game since Nov. 19.
With Kings goalie Jonathan Quick pulled in favor of an extra attacker, you can guess what happened:
McElhinney stopped the first shot he faced in overtime, but no goalie would have come up with this save:
The Jackets may have had the lead for most of the game, but they were outshot 41-23 and outchanced badly, and coach Torts wasn’t thrilled about that:
#CBJ Tortorella: "That was men against boys tonight. We should be embarrassed. I am. I am. Obviously, I’m not doing a good ... "
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 9, 2015
More Tortorella: "... enough job to get the team ready in these type of situations. I’m totally embarrassed by the way we played."
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 9, 2015
Columbus has now lost four of their last five.