After the first five games , all losses , Jeff Carter suffered a broken foot that kept him out of the line @-@ up for 10 games . While Carter was injured , the Blue Jackets continued to lose games . In the eighth game of the year , they had a chance to end the losing streak against the Ottawa Senators . Columbus held a 3 – 2 lead with under a minute to play . Jason Spezza tied the game on a late power play , and with just 4 @.@ 7 seconds remaining , Milan Michalek notched the winning goal for the Senators . The loss helped set a franchise record for futility with a 0 – 7 – 1 record to start a season . [ note 1 ] The losing streak came to an end three days later with a win over the Detroit Red Wings . During the game , several milestones were reached . James Wisniewski made his Columbus debut , Ryan Johansen and John Moore scored their first career NHL goals and Grant Clitsome had a career @-@ high three assists . Columbus was unable to create any momentum from the win , however , and continued to struggle , culminating in a 2 – 12 – 1 record , which was the worst start to an NHL season for any team in 19 years . With the team struggling , management attempted to  shake things up  by making some roster moves . The first move was the acquisition of center Mark Letestu from the Pittsburgh Penguins . Next , they traded defenseman Kris Russell to the St. Louis Blues for Nikita Nikitin . As the clubs slow start continued , there were rumors that Head Coach Scott Arniel would be fired and replaced with Ken Hitchcock . Hitchcock had previously coached the Blue Jackets to their only playoff appearance in club history and was still under contract with the franchise through to the end of the season . Before any of these rumors came to fruition , the St. Louis Blues asked Columbus for permission to hire Hitchcock , which the Blue Jackets allowed . Hitchcock began his Blues coaching career with a 6 – 1 – 2 record in his first nine games , while Columbus amassed a 6 – 13 – 3 record to start the season . During the same time frame as the Hitchcock rumors , goaltender Curtis Sanford returned from his groin injury on November 13 . He made his first start of the season against the Boston Bruins , losing 2 – 1 in a shootout . Sanford continued his strong play , posting a 3 – 1 – 2 record , 1 @.@ 38 goals against average and .947 save percentage over his next six games . Sanford started 12 consecutive games before Steve Mason made his next start . The number of starts might not have been as numerous , but prior to the November 23 game , Mason was hit in the head by a shot from Rick Nash during pre @-@ game warm @-@ ups and suffered a concussion . Mason returned from his concussion after two games , making a start against the Vancouver Canucks . Mason allowed only one goal in the game despite suffering from cramping in the third period , temporarily being replaced by Sanford for just over three minutes . Columbus won the game 2 – 1 in a shootout , breaking a nine @-@ game losing streak to the Canucks . After the game , Arniel stated that Sanford was still seen as the team 's number one goaltender . However , Mason started four of the next six games with the Blue Jackets going 0 – 5 – 1 during that stretch . fill in the blank  : After the first five games , all losses , ______ suffered a broken foot that kept him out of the line @-@ up for 10 games . 
Output:  Jeff Carter