“We had coverage. It wasn’t by surprise,” Hynes said. “Those are the little details where, OK, we know what it is. We watched it an hour before the game. But that’s what happened.”
There were struggles against St. Louis, too, but the Blues didn’t make the Wild pay.
The Blue Jackets did, even though they almost undermined their offense by committing eight penalties; four were delay of game penalties, with three due to pucks over the boards and one from an unsuccessful goalie interference challenge on Boldy’s goal.
“We want to be difference makers on power play, and I think we did well tonight,” said Buium, the rookie defenseman one-timing in his first career goal from the left circle during the third period of only his second regular-season game. “We also had two in the first that we didn’t score on either. So, scoring on those, and you never know what happens.”
But there were other what ifs.
Losing 62% of faceoffs meant the Wild were chasing the puck, and all but two of Columbus’ goals came on shifts that started with the Blue Jackets winning the draw.