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Oct 9, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) blocks the shot of Columbus Blue Jackets center Kent Johnson (91) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Blue Jackets Must Move Past Moral Victories

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Mark Scheig | Last updated Oct 11, 2025 8:45 AM ET

The Columbus Blue Jackets came out with purpose on Thursday night against the Nashville Predators. They did a lot of things well.

Several players were noticeable. Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov, Damon Severson and Jet Greaves topped that list among others. As well as the Blue Jackets did, it wasn’t good enough.

Predators 2, Blue Jackets 1. Final in regulation.

The Blue Jackets played one of their best second periods in recent memory. They dominated just about every statistic. They thought they’d go into the locker room up 2-1 after a goal by Mathieu Olivier.

The Predators challenged the goal for goaltender interference. They won the challenge and escaped to the room in a 1-1 tie going to the third period.

Ryan O’Reilly’s power-play goal proved to be the difference in the game. A good opening-night effort for the Blue Jackets resulted in zero points in the standings.

That’s where we begin our discussion leading into Saturday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild. The Blue Jackets must move past looking at moral victories at this stage.

Double-Edged Sword

The concept of moral victories are all over the sporting world. It can be used to describe certain losses teams suffer.

For example, an underdog team taking a superior team to overtime before losing could be seen as a moral victory. It’s something to build on for the future.

While Thursday night’s performance in Nashville is certainly something to build on, this season’s Blue Jackets can’t be using that as a moral victory.

Why? The Blue Jackets said it themselves. The players said they expect to make the playoffs. Head coach Dean Evason in the latest “Behind the Battle” was seen delivering remarks to his team in which he said their goal was to win the Stanley Cup.

Everyone will lose games in the manner the Blue Jackets did on Thursday night. Juuse Saros stopped 37/38 to lead the Predators to victory.

Once O’Reilly scored the 2-1 goal, the Predators stabilized their game and didn’t allow much to the Blue Jackets in terms of room on the ice. They were able to focus on playing defense. They got the job done.

The Blue Jackets should see Thursday night as a wasted opportunity. In a league where every point matters, allowing two goals against and getting 38 shots on goal usually results in a win. It didn’t this time.

Good Teams Don’t Need Moral Victories

The Blue Jackets have to a find a way to win these games when they cave their opposition in. How one-sided was the second period?

According to Nat Stat Trick, the Blue Jackets held a 28-6 advantage in shot attempts at 5-on-5 as well as a 14-2 edge in scoring chances. That’s how teams want to play when they have the long change in the middle period.

Even at 1-1 going into the third, the Blue Jackets had to feel good about where they were at. More performances like that will result in a lot of wins this season.

But in the end, it still wasn’t good enough. The Blue Jackets know that. They have to find a way to get a second goal. They also have to find a way to generate more chaos when they’re up against a hot goaltender like Saros.

What should Thursday’s takeaways be from a Blue Jackets’ perspective? They did a lot of things well. They were dominant in stretches. They have opportunities to grow, improve and refine their game. They will learn some lessons about how to manage key points in the game.

However, they shouldn’t look at Thursday as a moral victory of any kind. They lost a tough game and didn’t get two points.

It’s now on to the next one Saturday night in St. Paul against the Minnesota Wild. The time has come for everyone involved to look past the concept of moral victories.

The Blue Jackets are far enough along in their progress in which those words shouldn’t come up when they lose like that. While there’s an argument to feel good about the way they lost, they shouldn’t feel good at all.

If anything, it should motivate them to find the right result in their next game. That matters more than anything a moral victory can offer.