Neutral-Zone Crap: Bedard race is heating up
Columbus managed to pull out a big loss Thursday night to stay in last overall...Plus, where are all the shut-down defencemen?...Plus Nikolaj Ehlers, Matthew Tkachuk and Situational Scoring
If the Columbus Blue Jackets go on to win the draft lottery and the right to select generational talent Connor Bedard first overall, they may well look back fondly on Thursday night as one in which they ground out a very, very important loss.
Instead of cruising to victory after taking a 3-0 first period lead, the Blue Jackets put their work boots on and gave up three goals in the second and two in the third to the lowest-scoring team in the NHL. The 5-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks was a pivotal one. Not only did it keep the Blue Jackets in last place in the standings, it avoided a three-point game and moved the Ducks three ahead of them in the race for the No. 1 seed in the draft lottery.
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