COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Blue Jackets spent almost all of Tuesday trying to dig out of an early hole.
They tied it twice but could never go ahead, and fell 6-5 in a shootout to the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationwide Arena.
It was the second time in two weeks the teams played a 6-5 game. Columbus won by that score Feb. 11 in Chicago by scoring four third-period goals.
The Blue Jackets (8-7-5) pushed the game to extra time on two third-period goals by Oliver Bjorkstrand. Patrick Laine assisted on the tying goal and scored twice on the power play. Cam Atkinson had the other goal.
But after a scoreless overtime in which the Jackets dominated possession and Atkinson, Jack Roslovic and Bjorkstrand all had breakaway chances, the Jackets came up empty in the shootout.
Alex DeBrincat scored the only goal in the shootout, beating Joonas Korpisalo with a nice move. Atkinson, Laine and Roslovic couldn't score for Columbus, with only Laine the only one to even get a shot without the puck slipping off the stick.
Patrick Kane had a goal and three assists for the Blackhawks.
The Blue Jackets were on their heels at the start of the game. Chicago dominated the first period, with the majority of the action in the Columbus zone.
The Jackets' struggling penalty kill failed its first test after Kevin Stenlund was called for high-sticking Dublin native Connor Murphy.
The Blackhawks scored after a flurry in front of Korpisalo when Carl Soderberg brushed the puck past the Jackets' goaltender. It was the fourth goal allowed in Columbus' last eight penalty-kill situations.
Less than two minutes later, Chicago made it 2-0. Chicago's Mattias Janmark deflected Max Domi's pass leaving the Columbus zone, and the puck bounced backward to Pius Suiter for a 2-on-0 chance with Kane. Not exactly ideal for the Jackets. Sure enough, Kane buried the pass from DeBrincat past Korpisalo.
It looked like the game might really get ugly for Columbus. At one point, Chicago led in shot attempts, 23-5.
But the Jackets got the final goal of the period. Atkinson chased down a long pass from Boone Jenner for a breakaway and flicked a backhand past Chicago goalie Kevin Lankinen with 8:26 left.
The first period ended with Chicago having a 29-10 shots advantage and led in shots on goal, 17-5.
Columbus tied it 48 seconds into the second period on a power-play goal by Laine after Roslovic won a faceoff and Seth Jones set up Laine's rocket of a one-timer from the left slot
Eight minutes later, Chicago regained the lead. Korpisalo stopped a 2-on-1, but Chicago kept the pressure on, and the goaltender eventually lost his stick and was mostly out of the crease when Brandon Hagel flipped the puck in.
Laine again tied it with another power-play goal from almost the same spot, this time a wrist shot that whistled past Lankinen into the top left corner of the net.
Chicago scored again with just under 5 minutes left when Dominik Kubalik scored from just inside the blue line on a shot through traffic past Korpisalo.
The Blackhawks made it 5-3 on a 5-on-3 power play early in the third period when Adam Boqvist beat Korpisalo from the left slot to the near post.
The Jackets again closed to within a goal with 10 minutes left on Bjorkstrand's goal, which came after he hit the post earlier in the shift.
Bjorkstrand then tied it when he took a deft pass from Laine and scored from the left slot with 4 minutes left in regulation.
