The Blue Jackets keep piling up losses, and they keep finding new ways to lose. A debacle last night against the Colorado Avalanche could be dubbed The Heartbreaker.

After carrying the play for the first two periods and leading most of the game, the Blue Jackets gave up the go-ahead goal in the final minute and lost 3-2 before 17,371 in Nationwide Arena.

T.J. Galiardi's rebound goal with 57.8 seconds sent the Blue Jackets to their 20th loss in 23 games. They have one win in 13 games since Dec. 9.

Coach Ken Hitchcock summed up the game with one word: "heartbreaking."

"That goal (scored) at the end of the game that hurts a lot for everybody," Hitchcock said. "Coaches, players, fans, everybody. That hurt a lot."

Kristian Huselius and Derick Brassard scored for the Blue Jackets, and goaltender Steve Mason had 34 saves. The Blue Jackets, just 3-13-7 since Nov. 19, have scored fewer than three goals in 10 straight games, a franchise record.

"We've played our hearts out here lately," center R.J. Umberger said. "We've got to score more goals. No excuses. We had the lead and control. But we can't finish the puck right now."

The winning goal was scored just 24 seconds after the Blue Jackets came off a power play.

Colorado's Milan Hejduk skated wide of defenseman Mathieu Roy and took a wrist shot that Mason kicked out into the slot. Galiardi split Roy and defenseman Jan Hejda and got behind Chris Clark to get to the rebound, shooting it wide of Mason's stick inside the far post.

After more than 59 minutes, it was the Avalanche's first lead of the game.

"We're narrowing it down to a couple of (bad plays) -- not a lot, like a few weeks ago," Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash said. "But we're always shooting ourselves in the foot. Breakdowns, a couple of bad plays and that's the end."

The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal at 12:28 of the first period when Huselius tapped in a pass from Nash. The goal snapped an 0-of-17 power-play dry spell for the Jackets.

They went up 2-1 at 13:09 of the second when Brassard, elevated momentarily from the fourth line, scored from point-blank range. He floated a rebound over goaltender Craig Anderson just as he was blasted from behind by Colorado defenseman Kyle Quincey.

The Avalanche was the better club in the third period. At the 5:28 mark, Chris Stewart beat Mason's glove to the near post with a wrist shot off a feed from Paul Stastny.

The Avalanche outshot the Blue Jackets 14-7 in the period.

"My feeling is it's going to break one way or the other, and I don't know which way," Hitchcock said. "Either we'll be energized or we're going to get discouraged."

The Blue Jackets lost two fourth-liners to injury in the second period.

Right winger Jared Boll suffered an apparent hand or wrist injury after a fight with Colorado's Cody McLeod. He returned to the bench in the third but didn't take the ice.

Left winger Alexandre Picard suffered an apparent lower body injury and didn't return.

aportzline@dispatch.com