Goal Breakdowns vs. San Jose 4/9

Another shutout win for Sergei Bobrovsky last night, but one much different than one would have expected based on the season so far. Instead of Bob stealing the show and helping the Blue Jackets grab two points they had no business taking, he made 30 relatively easy saves. The Jackets looked like the much more dangerous team last night, and while Bob still had to make a couple of gem saves (and get bailed out by a shaky no-goal call), the majority of the play was controlled by Bob’s teammates. All four lines were firing, as eleven different Jackets picked up points, including at least one forward on each line. After a such a lackluster effort against Minnesota, it was fantastic to see the fire we all know is there come out in force.

1-0 Columbus, 8:39 1st Period – Matt Calvert from Cam Atkinson and Mark Letestu

This is a perfect example of how to create dirty goals off the cycle. Usually when I talk about goals off the cycle, it involves a give and go, or a walk off the half-wall to get a shot from the extra space created. However, the work by Calvert and Letestu in the corner, followed by Atkinson behind the net, creates confusion among the Sharks players. The puck quickly switches sides of the ice, and Cam tries the wrap-around immediately, so the Sharks have no time to figure out who has the puck before it’s is loose in front of Niemi. Panic mode sets in briefly, no Sharks even take a man, and Calvert wins the race/battle for the puck.

2-0 Columbus, 3:09 2nd Period – James Wisniewski from Adrian Aucoin and Derek Mackenzie

A great shot by Wiz obviously, but rewatch this goal focusing on Niemi. Look how much Niemi moves from the start of that clip and the trouble he has getting a clear look at the puck as it moves from Blake Comeau to Mackenzie, to Wisniewski, to Aucoin, and back to Wiz for the shot. That is some great puck movement by the fourth line, and it forces Niemi to move around enough to just barely lose the net behind him, overplay towards Aucoin, and create enough space for Wiz to drop a bomb.

3-0 Columbus, 5:05 2nd Period – Ryan Johansen from Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal

I could watch this goal for days. It makes me wish they could give out three assists, as the feed from Nikita Nikitin behind the net to Prospal was magnificent. As was Vinny’s cross-ice saucer to Gaborik. It says a lot about Gaborik that I don’t even really want to focus on those two beauty feeds here. Even with those two passes, this should not have been a goal. It was a 2 on 3 with a late trailer coming in, Justin Braun had Vinny taken care of, Marc-Edouard Vlasic had perfect gap control on Gaborik, and Joe Thornton had the drop pass to the trailer, as well as the cutback lane covered. But Gaby throws on the brakes, Vlasic panics slightly and loses his balance trying to stick with him, Thornton also panics and over-commits to Gaborik before he immediately realizes his mistakes and tries to recover. But by then it is too late, Johansen has space, Gaborik pulls a nice little phonebooth-style stickhandle to keep the puck, hits the Johan, who buries. The Jackets have never really had a guy who put the fear of God into defenders when coming on the rush like that. Nash was a scorer, but he wasn’t someone who was dangerous with a foot of space at the top of the circle. There are less than a dozen of those guys in the NHL, and it is very nice to see one in the union blue.

4-0 Columbus, 7:16 3rd Period – Marian Gaborik from Artem Anisimov and Jack Johnson

This goal is all about angles and patience. First, the bank pass from Johnson to Anisimov is a thing of beauty. It is perfectly placed and is soft enough that Arty can skate into it. Great work after that by Anisimov to cut to his forehand, which then gives him the ability to shoot. This does a couple of things: it changes the way Niemi plays the rush, and it forces Braun to face up on Arty. This creates a passing lane to Gaborik. Also notice Gaborik’s slight change of direction just prior to the pass. He waits until Braun turns his back on him, then moves just enough to that Braun’s stick is no longer in the lane. Now the patience part. A lot of players would have ripped a one-timer off the pass, but Gaborik waited, pulled backhand. Even then, many players would have tried to shoot it immediately when they went backhand and tried to roof it, but he waited some more, eventually he got far enough past Niemi that he could just tuck it in. Beautifukm beautiful goal.

The Jackets decided to show up last night and kept their slim playoff hopes alive (although a little help from the Kings would have been nice). They probably still need to go 6-0-2 at worst to have a shot, but they do still have a glimmer of playoff hope alive. If they can continue to pour it on like last night, they could climb into the playoffs. This would bring on a match-up with Chicago, but we’ve already seen this iteration of the Blue Jackets hang with the Hawks. In any case, it doesn’t look like this team is going to go easy into the night.