As each season starts, hope seeps into the thoughts of all Blue Jacket fans. It is always with good reason, as the town wants the first professional franchise from one of the “Big 4” sports to succeed. The fervor surrounding opening night felt very similar to some of the playoff nights when the Jackets hosted the Penguins. The team has no expectations coming into the year, what is the worst that can happen?
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good: Seth Jones and Zach Werenski
This pairing will surely be criticized the next couple of days until Game #2 but they were very encouraging given how young they are. Werenski led the Jackets with 5 shots on goal, had one assist and was also second in total ice time. Jones led all defensemen in ice time and had two points on the evening including a goal.
Possession wise at even strength they dominated play, leading both teams in CF% at even strength at 64% and 63% respectively. Sloppy play not withstanding, this pairing has the potential to be fantastic. Hopefully one mistake doesn’t dissuade the Jackets coaching staff from not using them together next game.
The Bad: Oliver Bjorkstrand
The young Dane is going to have a long and prosperous career in the NHL, tonight should be a game he forgets about. Bjorkstrand was not impressive anywhere on the stat sheet or on the ice. His CF% was terrible, his lack of SOG was surprising and his disappearing act on the ice was sad. Bjorkstrand is a difference maker with the puck on his stick and unfortunately for him and his teammates, he was nowhere to be found.
The season is young, Bjorkstrand is going to grab his opportunity and run with it, it just didn’t happen in Game #1.
The Ugly: Passing
The Jackets were victims of sloppy play and poor passing, giving the Bruins multiple opportunities to score on Sergei Bobrovsky. A few goals were fluky but some others were the kind of shots that should be stopped. Either way, Bobrovsky shouldn’t have been in some of the scenarios in the first place. Werenski’s weak pass to Seth Jones led to the first goal of the game. Boone Jenner’s no-look pass was blocked by David Backes and led to an odd man rush the other way contributing to a Brad Marchand goal.
The first game of the season will produce some poor play, it is just the nature of the game. The team is going to have some room for improvement, and one of the first areas that needs some touching up is the passing.
Tweet of the Game:
https://twitter.com/OverlordOf_Evil/status/786764220440403968
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