There are 82 games in a regular NHL season. Surely no team can win 62 straight. Can they?
Realistically of course not. But the Blue Jackets are currently making a valiant effort to see how close they can get. Riding a 12-game win streak, and a 14-game point streak, Columbus returned from Christmas break to face one of two teams they haven’t yet been able to solve this season, the Boston Bruins (the other is San Jose if you’re wondering). Boston handed the Jackets an opening night loss, and then soundly defeated them 5-2 just 20 days later. Surely this is a recipe for a fired up Jackets squad, no?
Well yes and no. Through a fiery opening ten minutes, the home team came out flying and put up three unanswered goals on Tukka Rask and his Bruins. It seemed another signature rout was in the making…until, Boston answered with two scores of their own within a minute of each other. Through the remainder of the first, and the balance of the second you could feel the tying goal coming – even as Sergei Bobrovsky stood on his head, facing a total of 74 shot attempts. Krejci knotted it up, and it would stay that way – with Boston pressing until, after a momentum swinging Jackets kill, captain Nick Foligno would net the game winner halfway through the third.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. And, really, stock piling those points is all that matters right now.
Let’s take a look at the superlatives.
The Not So Great. The Shot Battle.
As the Jackets have been on a quest for legitimacy, one of their hallmarks has been consistently winning the possession battle. Four of the last five match-ups have seen Columbus teeter dangerously close to, or fall below, the 50% even strength shot mark.
The shot tide from tonight’s game, presented by the ever brilliant Micah Blake McCurdy over at hockeyviz.com walks you through a Blue Jacket fan’s emotional experience.
“Wheee we shall win!”
“Whoa…what happened…”
“Uh…guys?”
“SHOOOOOT”
“Win!”
This is a team that now believes they will win, but they have to play like that too, consistently. Of course it’s not just about shots, it’s about cleaning up the transition game to get the puck into the zone to take those shots, keeping opponents’ shots to the outside etc. But let’s not make it too hard on…
The Very Very Good. Sergei Bobrovsky.
It is rare that you see a goaltender who gives up three goals against receive not just a star in the game but the first! But tonight, Bobrovsky did exactly that. He came up huge all while seeing the aforementioned 74 shot attempts and made key saves when Boston forwards got behind the defense – which happened more than a few times tonight. Bob is good, but Bob can’t play at the pace he is playing, starting 29 of the Jackets’ 33 games thus far, and be counted on to bail out his team night in and night out.
This is a lot of shots.
But hey! Bob got his first win against Boston. Ever! So now he has beaten every NHL team…except his own.
The Unheralded. Lukas Sedlak.
Sedlak doesn’t get a lot of press, but he’s quietly second in the team when it comes to score-adjusted corsi for, and tonight, even though it was Scott Hartnell who buried, it was Sedlak who made the first goal of the night happen.
Sedlak somehow manages to keep the puck in the zone. Fires it on net and Hartnell hammers it home. 1-0 #CBJ pic.twitter.com/7FEQwARr1V
— Buckeye State Hockey (@BuckeyeStHockey) December 28, 2016
The Getting Their Due. Columbus Fans.
Tonight marked the third consecutive sellout for Columbus, and it was the biggest crowd yet, 19,005 – with fans standing around the mezzanine because there just weren’t enough seats for everyone. As the Jackets tried to muster some offense in the third, you found yourself willing a goal (and hopefully a win) just to reward the faithful, and newly converted, who had come out on a Tuesday to cheer on their team.
Thankfully, Nick Foligno obliged.
Nick Foligno from below the goal line hammers it home past Rask. 4-3. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/sEKpShAaNJ
— Buckeye State Hockey (@BuckeyeStHockey) December 28, 2016
Matt Calvert, the longest tenured Jacket said he hasn’t seen crowds like this at Nationwide since the playoff run, and he loves it. “It’s awesome,” Calvert said. “It’s loud in there, you’re excited, and you want to win hockey games for the fans. They help us win hockey games.”
Tweet of the Game.
On a night when the first period stoppages were punctuated by songs from artists we lost like Prince, Wham!, and David Bowie…well…
The Blue Jackets' win streak might be the only thing that doesn't die in 2016 #CBJ
— Santos L. Halper (@telepathetic) December 28, 2016
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