Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
“This whole game was a joke,” Evans said when asked why his team allowed seven goals. “That’s how I account for it. By all means. The whole game was a joke.”
His post-game messaging delivered a consistent message, but not a clear one.
In the loss, the Blue Jackets led 1-0, 4-1, and 6-4 throughout the game, but could not stop the Panthers’ offensive attack.
The result clearly played a part in Evans’ bad mood, but it seems to be more beneath the surface.
Evans was visibly frustrated during the game, especially after Columbus had closed the scoreboard after a goal in the first period when Brendan Gans was deemed to have kicked the puck into the net.
The Blue Jackets didn’t let their momentum slow down on the offensive end, however, as they silenced Amen Bank Arena for the next three goals of the game.
But midway through the second round, Evans found himself on the wrong side of another assessment.
Panthers forward Brad Marchand swatted a flying puck behind the Blue Jackets’ net with his arm before Seth Jones buried Florida’s second goal of the night.
Evans chose to challenge the play for a one-handed pass, but the puck was ruled only after an NHL review overruled Marchand, and the goal stood.
Asked what “jokes” started with the game’s decision, Evans repeated his same refrain.
“It’s a joke. An absolute joke,” he said. “That game was where it was at.”
The Panthers scored the next two goals to tie the game. And though the Blue Jackets rebuilt their lead 6-4, it wasn’t enough as the Panthers scored on Sam Bennett’s winner with less than four seconds remaining.
Columbus will have to wipe the slate clean quickly as it returns to action against the Capitals in Washington on Sunday night.
But Evans didn’t worry about his team bouncing back from Saturday’s devastating loss.
“Our people are great. Our people have no problem,” he said. “They know what happened. They’ll be good to go tomorrow night. We’ll play hard; we played hard all night. We played great.
