It was a game that meant everything and a game that meant nothing depending on which side of the ice you stood. Team “nothing” is lead by John Tortorella who is an advocate of one game being just two points in an 82-game season for a team fighting for credibility in the National Hockey League. For Team “everything,” which includes the fans, and maybe some who remain anonymous in the organization’s ranks, was on the side of total anticipation of a game that, if won, could lead to a hold on first place in the Metro, first place in the league, the extension of a franchise-leading win streak, and most importantly, a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Well guess what happened.
After a timid first period from the Jackets, the home team returned to the ice to own the final 40 minutes of play and put up a total of seven goals against the Penguins, including three in 51 seconds in the third. Bobrovsky had a relatively quiet night, turning away 25 of the 26 shots he faced. It probably isn’t “everything” but man is it something.
Let’s take a look at the superlatives.
The Good. The Corsis.
Yes I am going there. There is a lively debate (and as our own Matt Souva would suggest, rightly so) about the sustainability of the Jackets’ success. To be clear, it’s not about this team perse, but there is not a lot of consistency – not a lot of “identity” as Torts would call it, in the way this franchise has come up. But one thing that has been consistent for this team has been their ability to own the majority share of the shot attempts on most game nights, and tonight was no exception.
We can see in the chart from Hockeyviz.com that the Jackets did a solid job of owning the possession battle when it came to matchups. Ten Jackets players were above 50% CF on ice, and even with score and venue adjustments, according to natural stat trick, Columbus had 53.63% of all 5v5 shot attempts on the game.
This isn’t how this team used to win – going back to Todd Richards days, this team was perilously close to losing the possession battle. While debates over shooting percentage and save percentage may linger, there is starting to be some proof that how this team is playing is working.
The Better. Scott Hartnell.
Scott Hartnell is 34 years old. But tonight, in his 31st game of the season, he netted a hat trick that started off with some moves that looked like they came from one of his younger linemates than the grizzled veteran.
https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/812107997702852609
Scott would go on to get two more tallies, and earn first star honors on the night – all for getting three goals on four shots. But no one loves beating the Penguins more than Scott Hartnell, and tonight he got his wish again. It’s exciting to see this player accept a reduced role as far as time on ice and still push this team forward with his play which remains amazingly consistent year over year – his points/60 for the past four years has been 1.81, 2.16, 2.03, 2.60…all in his 30’s.
The Best. Coaching.
Bear with me on this. I’ve got a point for you that is on the tangible side, and a point for you on the intangible side. First, tonight, after that tepid first, Tortorella said that the coaching staff went back and challenged the team to re-engage in who they know they are.
#CBJ Tortorella thought his team was "wetting our pants" in the first period, but talked them up between periods. "I just wanted them to …
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 23, 2016
"… know how good they've been playing. They really shouldn’t be nervous. They should feel good about how they’ve done it. They’ve done …
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 23, 2016
" … consistently for 30 games, why not right now? “I just wanted them to believe in themselves in these type of situations."
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 23, 2016
Second, on the tactical. Again, Matt’s piece above details some of the specific changes that Tortorella seems to finally be willing to make to how the game is played, but, if you’re paying attention, he left another little bread crumb of truth of when and how he can change in tonight’s pre-game availability when asked about his long-time coaching friend and colleague, Mike Sullivan who is paraded about as a progressive, and analytically thinking coach.
Obviously Sully and I coached together for eight years. We have talked about how we wanted to play. It depends on what you have for a team, it depends on your personnel. I think a coach’s first thought is look what we have here and how we can be most successful with the personnel we have. We wanted to get going offensively going here this year because I thought we had some young talent, Werenski (it’s disappointing Bjorkstrand isn’t here yet, but he will be) but the evolution of Wennberg a number of different players that add some skill, Josh Anderson – just his speed. So that dictates how you want to go.
Between the tactical changes Torts is making, and his somewhat Svengali ability to get inside this team’s head, something is clearly working…now to figure out what that is and how to make it last!
BONUS: There was a little coaching stare down between Sully and Torts tonight – if you listened to Jody Shelley on Fox Sports Ohio tonight, you know why. If you need a hint, comment away and we’ll help you find the bread crumbs.
The Weird. The Second (go ahead) Jackets goal.
I was there and I still don’t know what happened…but a few seconds after there was a goal…they called a goal. So yay.
delayed cannon >>> no cannon pic.twitter.com/K6SbbOv61b
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 23, 2016
Tweet of the Game.
The @penguins came into our house and punched us in teeth. #Cbj smiled with bloody mouth, beat the crap out of Pens & took their lunch money
— Ben Berry (@Ben_M_Berry) December 23, 2016
Up next, Montreal comes back to town. They lost to the Minnesota Wild 2-4 with Carey Price in net and have confirmed that Montoya (remember him?) will be back in net against the Jackets. The last time all this happened…well…things got interesting.
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