Two winless teams met tonight at Nationwide Arena, one remains so – unfortunately it’s the Blue Jackets who lost their fifth straight 6-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. There was a brief glimpse of a pulse from the final two minutes of the second period into the first minute of the third when both Nick Foligno and Scott Hartnell netted tying goals after the Leafs took a 3-1 lead, but back came Toronto with three unanswered and the Jackets fall to 0-5-0, the worst start in franchise history.
The Good.
Jackets fans seem to not entirely appreciate what they have in Scott Hartnell – but the 33-year-old propelled himself to second in team scoring last season (28-32-60) and in five games this season he is 2-1-3, including tonight’s slapper which was fired into the Leafs’ net with such attitude that it seemed to be the rifle shot that just might call the team to attention. That goal not only tied up the game, but it marked Hartnell’s 600th NHL career point. That’s good. This is the same guy who marked his 1,000th NHL game last season. This guy plays hard nosed, old school hockey and he’s still finding a way to get some points on the board 15 years into an NHL career. A bright spot in the night’s events.
The Bad.
Turnovers. The Jackets talked about puck support and wanting to have a successful transition into the offensive zone, but tonight was another night of errant passes, mistakes and turnovers. The game scoresheet officially lists the Jackets as having 11 giveaways to Toronto’s three. Three. Head coach Todd Richards said after the game that turnovers were the common thread of the defensive problems and cited the Leafs’ first goal that came off a turnover 29 seconds into the second period, ending the Jackets’ lead-holding for the night.
The Ugly.
0-5-0. There’s no two ways about it, that’s not inspiring. It’s not good for the guys in the room, it’s not good for the fans, it’s not good for the league perception of the organization.
The Quote.
Brandon Dubinsky: “We’ve got to focus right now, we’ve got to bear down. We’ve got to play for each other – we’re getting booed off the ice, we know everyone’s given up on us and we can’t give up on each other. All we have is each other in here. We’ve gotta make sure we play hard for each other tomorrow night.”
Speaking of tomorrow night, the Jackets take off for the windy city where recently recalled Kerby Rychel (who had two goals and an assist in the Monsters’ home opener tonight) will join the team as they prepare to face a Chicago Blackhawks team that is coming of two road losses in which they scored only one goal. Who is going to be more pissed off? Who is going to turn that into motivation and execution? We will see.
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