Another spirited affair this evening as we saw the Blue Jackets defeat the Capitals 3-2 in OT. Let’s take a look and see what happened in tonight’s affair.
Highlights:
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good: Nick Foligno
Foligno continued his success this evening scoring two goals in impressive fashion. He was third among forwards with 19:21 in ice time. While his even strength this game was 48% this game wasn’t won at even strength it was a battle of wills as the Jackets remained steadfast throughout the game although they fell behind twice in the game. Foligno, like many times this season, has been the catalyst for the Jackets good play. His p/60 leads the team for players who have played 15+ games at 2.4. He seems to be well aware that it is a contract season as many teams including the Blue Jackets will have their checkbooks ready this offseason.
The Bad: Shot Supression
In all situations this evening the Jackets were soundly beaten this evening by the Capitals 73 to 49. They have been playing with fire during this entire streak and luckily Bobrovsky has been up to the task. Night after night Bobrovsky has had to put up gaudy sv% just to keep the team in the game, tonight was no different, he posted a stellar 951 sv%. The penalties are of no help to the already depleted team, Todd Richards before the game even stated that if they were going to take penalties this evening that they would more than likely lose. The team will once again be tested as they play the Penguins on Saturday, a team that has been known as of late to take advantage of every tiny mistake the Jackets make.
The Ugly: The Fourth Line
Most nights I could write under the “Ugly” section and put the fourth line. Simply, they have been very, very bad. Tonight though, they especially showed their stripes. They weren’t on the ice for many events overall, whether it be even strength or otherwise but they made damn sure when they were on to be the worst part of the team. In less than nine minutes of ice time for each of them, they brought the game to a halt and were hemmed into the defensive zone at almost all times. The fourth line misses Mark Letestu, a stalwart for years on the Jackets fourth line but at some point something has got to give. Rolling four lines, a luxury Todd Richards would love to have, has not been handled correctly since the beginning of the year, when will this team turn the corner? When the Jackets use their fourth line correctly.
Tweet of the Game
Bob, you just won your fifth-straight game. What are you going to do now? "I'm going to ride the bike." #CBJ #work pic.twitter.com/pyw37lWhcM
— Todd Sharrock (@ToddSharrock) December 12, 2014
Hard work and determination. That is Bob.
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