Record-low crowd sees Thrashers shut out by Columbus

“It was better, but still not enough,” Antropov said. “The last two games you can call embarrassing. The other night we got lucky. Tonight we didn’t create enough scoring chances. They just outplayed us.

“Everybody has to look in the mirror, myself included, and play for the team. That’s the only way to fix the problem.”

The Thrashers entered the game with a NHL second-best 39 goals, but could not mount a consistent scoring threat. Columbus goaltender Mathieu Garon had his second consecutive shutout and has not allowed a goal in 125 minutes, one second. Garon is now 4-0 with three shutouts at Philips Arena. He faced just 25 shots and according to Columbus coach Scott Arniel, “wasn’t overly worked.”

One night after goaltender Chris Mason faced 55 shots in a 4-3 win over the Panthers, Ondrej Pavelec faced 41 shots.

“I don’t think the effort is there at all,” Johnny Oduya said. “Better than [Wednesday] but we got lucky. … It’s just not good enough. It’s pretty simple. We are not really skating and using our speed.”

The Thrashers (6-5-2, 14 points), as has become their custom, fell behind early. With the Blue Jackets’ second-period goal, the Thrashers have allowed the first score in nine of their 13 games this season.

“Individually we are not winning enough battles,” Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said. “As a team you have to win battles, but it’s up to each individual to start the process. We are not winning enough battles in the defensive zone. Now a team starts running cycles on you and you tire out in your end. You much prefer to play in the other end.

"You have to have everybody involved in scoring goals. We’ve had some slumps, but we’re not putting enough shots on net. You have to win battles on both ends of the rink if you’re going to compete in the National Hockey League. We just didn’t win enough battles in the last two games.”

The Thrashers had recorded eight points in their past five games. In front of the sparse crowd, the Thrashers fell to 2-3 at home this season. The Thrashers broke the franchise-low attendance figure of 8,820 set Oct. 20.

“Definitely,” Zach Bogosian said when asked if it was difficult to play in a half-empty building. “It’s never good feeling when you come out and you are all pumped up and there’s not that many people in the stands. After playing here for three years, you kind of get used to it. The more fans would be a lot better, but it’s not an excuse we can use.”

The Blue Jackets scored first on Derick Brassard’s second-period goal. Brassard was on the receiving end of a Rick Nash backhanded pass through the crease that was tipped by Jakub Voracek. It caught Pavelec on the wrong side of the net, and Brassard had his fifth goal of the season 4:46 into the period.

“They had a lucky bounce in front of the net,” Pavelec said. “It is what it is. We didn’t score and they scored two goals. That’s why they got two points.”

The Blue Jackets took a two-goal lead when Marc Methot scored in the third period. The defenseman fired a shot from the point, after Columbus won a faceoff, for his first goal of the season. RJ Umberger added an empty-net goal to ice it.

“They played a good road game,” Rich Peverley, who had a five-game point streak snapped. “They got the puck in, cycled us and every time it got out, they put it back in.”

The Thrashers host defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago on Saturday in their third game in four nights for a third consecutive week.

“You can’t say one thing that happened,” Bogosian said. “They outworked us. You just have to go home, look yourself in the mirror and come back ready Saturday because it’s not going to get any easier playing against Chicago.”