Soft and slow, disjointed and disengaged. The Columbus Blue Jackets have struggled with the pace and passion of playoff-prep hockey, but they bottomed out in an embarrassing way on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

It’s hard to fathom how the Blue Jackets, who were the NHL’s hottest club 10 days ago, and who actually held a playoff spot when play began on Thursday, could look so overwhelmed in a game that held so much meaning to their postseason chances.

If this were a boxing match, it might have been stopped after the first period. Carolina took a 3-0 lead, scored a soul-crushing goal only 13 seconds after the Jackets finally got on the board, and cruised to a 5-1 win before 18,556 in Lenovo Center.

“There’s not very much that I liked,” Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness told reporters in Raleigh, N.C. “They scored three goals tonight on something we covered this morning about better coverage around our net.

“(The players) didn’t do what we wanted them to do. I saw some selfish play that I haven’t seen until now.”

The Blue Jackets finished with only 10 shots on goal (only two of which were by Blue Jackets’ forwards), matching a franchise record that has stood for more than 23 years. On April 1, 2003, the Jackets had 10 shots on goal in a 4-0 loss in Philadelphia. They had the third-worst record in the NHL that season.

Thursday’s game was reminiscent of games they used to play in those lost seasons. There were no scrums with the Hurricanes. No big hits. No signs that the Blue Jackets were thoroughly frustrated with such a lousy effort and an ugly loss.

In fact, there were two instances where it looked as if the Hurricanes were trying to engage the Blue Jackets into giving them more of a game physically.

With the Blue Jackets on the power play, Carolina’s Jordan Staal dropped a shoulder into Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov as he watched his puck on the way to the net. Provorov responded with a slash, negating the power play.

Later in the period, just after a play was blown dead, Carolina’s K’Andre Miller swatted the stick out of the hands of Blue Jackets’ forward Danton Heinen. That got a brief rise out of Heinen, but the flare-up quickly faded.

“We’re really good when we have our team game going and every line looking the same, working, putting some passion into it,” Bowness said. “When we play like that, obviously, anybody could beat us tonight.”

It’s fair to note that the Blue Jackets played without three of their more imposing forwards — Mathieu Olivier, Dmitri Voronkov and Mason Marchment all have upper-body injuries — but it’s hard to remember a game this season when they looked smaller.

The Blue Jackets have now lost eight consecutive games in Raleigh, N.C., all in regulation. The aggregate score: 34-10

It seems a little odd to even consider the out-of-town scoreboard when the Blue Jackets are playing this poorly. They dropped to 1-5-1 and have lost five straight (0-4-1) after Thursday’s loss.

But after hanging in a playoff spot since March 19, the Blue Jackets finally fell below the bar with this loss. Ottawa, which beat Buffalo, moved into the second wild-card spot, while Detroit, which beat Philadelphia, jumped the Blue Jackets for ninth place.

The Blue Jackets haven’t been 10th or lower in the standings since March. 2.

“We had some guys out there who poured their whole heart and soul into that game, we really did,” Bowness said. “And then we had some guys give us absolutely nothing. So, if we want to get in, it’s going to take a whole lot more than some of those guys gave us tonight.

“They can say all they want, ‘Oh, we want to get in (to the playoffs), we want to get in.’ I’d shut up and let my play do my talking for me.”

If there was a glimmer of hope, it occurred midway through the second period, when defenseman Denton Mateychuk followed the puck to the net, pounced on a rebound and fired it past Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen to make it 3-1.

The Blue Jackets had started to play with the puck a bit more in Carolina’s end, and you wondered if they had a rally in them similar to Tuesday’s game, when they came back from 2-0 down to tie it before losing 5-2.

But, nah.

Only 13 seconds later, Carolina scored to make it 4-1. That goal completely demoralized the Blue Jackets, and they played like ghosts for the rest of the second period.

Now the Blue Jackets are forced to regroup with only one day before they host the Winnipeg Jets, who are also battling for a playoff spot in the West.

The Blue Jackets played much better when they were chasing the pack in the Eastern Conference, so maybe they can regain the momentum they built after Bowness was hired on Jan. 12. As the “hunted,” they looked fragile and nervous, like stage fright had paralyzed them.

They have six games remaining in the regular season. If they can figure out a way to rediscover their mojo, there is still plenty of time to play their way back into a playoff spot.

But they didn’t give much reason for hope with Thursday’s game in Raleigh.