Game Recap #16 Canucks at Blue Jackets

Let’s start with the quote of the night from Jackets head coach John Tortorella because it encapsulated what everyone has been thinking…

“The way we reacted…I just can’t explain it.”

For just over 50 minutes the Blue Jackets controlled the game. And then Henrik Sedin scored. Under five minutes later, Brandon Sutter beat Ryan Murray around his weak side and went to the net uncontested for the go ahead goal and that was all she wrote. Vancouver goaltender Jacob Markstrom – in his first start of the season mind you – played out of his mind stopping 42 of 45 (FORTY FIVE) shots and the Jackets couldn’t come back.

“We’ve gotta stop these moral victories…we weren’t hard enough mentally and defensively away from the puck.”
~John Tortorella

Let’s take a look at the highs and lows of the game.

GOOD. The Fourth Line. Jared Boll, Gregory Campbell and Alexander Wennberg slotted in again together as a newish look fourth line. After morning skate, Campbell talked about how the line had been building chemistry and getting chances and was looking to make contributions on the ice both in terms of performance and energy. Tonight they did both. Jared Boll had two zone entries, and four shot attempts. And the line orchestrated the first sustained zone presence of the first period when both teams seemed to be hemmed into the neutral zone like there was a fence of something. That possession seemed to start the tilt of the ice in the Blue Jackets favor.

GOOD. Brandon Saad. Speed. Skill. It was on display tonight. Saad had two full-sheet length breakaways where the only thing he didn’t do was put the puck in the net. The first one was a specatular series of events, all from one man where Saad had two shots on Markstrom, collected his own rebound, attempted a wrap around goal and kept the puck in the zone as the rest of the team caught up. Saad was a +5 Corsi for (EV) second in forwards only to Scott Hartnell.

GOOD. Pretty Goals. It’s nice when everyone’s in the right place at the right time and good things happen.

Goals are good. We like goals.

Honorable Mention: Cam Atkinson. He’s fast and he likes to shoot and both served him well when he delivered what, at the time, people thought was the go ahead goal off a short-handed breakaway with 11:59 left to play in the game. Most nights, you’ll see Atkinson also leading the team in zone entries – he did it again tonight with eight.

Bad: The Finish. It felt like this is when the Jackets were going to get their first home win. They broke through the neutral zone hex in the second period, they controlled possession with 60+% in both of the final two periods, did I mention they had 45 shots on goal? They were controlling more zone exits and entries than they were just dumping in. They played with connectivity – passes were solid.

“We put ourselves in a position to win and we didn’t win.”

“We lost a couple battles and bang bang the pucks in the net and we find a way to lose a game. There’s no other way to put it.”
~Brandon Dubinsky

Bad: The record. 4-12-0. Cam Atkinson said the team talked after the loss and said they hope this isn’t one that comes back to bite them. This is the second back-to-back loss under Tortorella and it only deepens the hole the Jackets have to dig out of. And a back-to-back against Pittsburgh and Arizona await this weekend.

Bad: Being “snakebit.” That’s how Tortorella described Foligno tonight. He needs to start making the plays that get the team on the board.

Bad: Defensive breakdowns. And then came all the defensive breakdowns. All of them.

“We can’t have the breakdowns we did…they score goals all alone in front of the net on Bob. We can’t have those breakdowns.”
~Brandon Dubinsky

Summary: There were a lot of positive things that could have been said about this game, right up until the final ten minutes. It would have been fascinating to talk about what adjustments the team made to break through the neutral zone, and how they communicated more effectively on ice, and how they worked to crack the opposing goaltender. To celebrate a short-handed game winner. To discuss that David Savard and Jack Johnson were +24 in ES Corsi +/-. That’s crazy! That’s fun! That’s progress!

And then that was swept away in a haze of defensive breakdowns, and being pinned in their own zone for the final few minutes. As Tortorella said – moral victories don’t matter.

“You have to win that game…(what happened) is not a good sign.”
~John Tortorella