The Jackets welcomed Tampa Bay to town for a matinee and allowed the Lightning to come off their losing streak thanks to Columbus mistakes and turnovers.
It was a chippy affair early, and the game was building an interesting personality with a brewing villianization of Ben Bishop by Jackets fans. Bobrovsky stood confident and looked to have shaken off that remaining rust from his injury recovery. But while the team seemed to be upping their game with a strong second period after a slow start, they fell apart in the third period – giving up three goals – including two to Steven Stamkos – and going 0-5 on the power play.
Let’s look at some superlatives, or maybe just some things that happened.
The Promising: Young Centers
There’s been a focus on both Alexander Wennberg and Bill Karlsson ever since the Johansen trade. What kind of centers can they develop to be and what does that do for Columbus down the middle?
Today, both showed some good signs.
This is a true statement:
Wennberg is so damn solid. Rarely makes a mistake and is always in the right place at the right time. #CBJ
— Buckeye State Hockey (@BuckeyeStHockey) March 13, 2016
Wennberg ended the night with the lead in Corsi +/- at +16.
As for Karlsson, he and Wennberg had switched lines for Sunday’s game, and “Wild Bill” took on a new-ish role for himself, zone entry expert. Karlsson ended the night (unofficially) second in zone entries to Brandon Saad and it was good to see him taking control of the game in that manner.
Both young men can still up their shooting game. Wennberg had just three shots, with one on target, and Karlsson had only one missed shot. Karlsson also seemed to get pulled off faceoff duty after he lost all five that he took in the first period – he took only two more in the remainder of the game.
The Interesting: Jackets not liking Tampa Bay
The Jackets don’t like the Red Wings. They really don’t like the Penguins. But Tampa Bay? Columbus is 7-11-1-2 against them all time and there’s never been anything specifically remarkable about those match-ups. So, it of course made sense when Nick Foligno ended up sparing with three Lightning players simultaneously in the first, including a contributing Ben Bishop who reached back over his net for a face wash.
Hometown fans really bought in when this happened:
rumor: ice is slippery https://t.co/JC1xaBmonz
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 13, 2016
Later, Foligno knocked down Bishop behind the net, inciting another scuffle and seemingly cementing bad feelings between the teams.
So I asked earlier this season who would replace Brandon Prust and main nemesis of Bishop . . . I think Foligno is now that guy
— Lightning Insider (@Erik_Erlendsson) March 13, 2016
The Bad: Turnovers
What you don’t see in this video is a poorly placed pass from Dalton Prout. Don’t do this.
Confirmed: Stamkos Standard Time is not affected by Daylight Saving Time 🔨🕘 #TBLvsCBJ https://t.co/oGjYoXzkeA
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 13, 2016
Or this (Murray turned the puck over at the blue line and couldn’t recover).
https://twitter.com/DoleWhipz/status/709127539730608128
Tampa is a good team. If you make mistakes, they will capitalize. With things like short-handed goals. Twice.
The Other Bad: Power Play
There wasn’t a power play goal to be had (both teams went 0-8 on the night) and those short-handed chances… but we talked about those already.
It was a disappointing game overall. Columbus seemed to steady themselves after the chippy first, but then fell apart in the second half of the third and gave up three unaswered goals. There’s going to be some time for this to linger, the Jackets are off until Thursday when Detroit comes to town.
Quote of the Night: John Tortorella
“When you’re in the situation we’re at here, you’re not even in it, you need to eat it. You shut your mouth and eat it. I have thoughts about some of things that went on there tonight but I’m in no position to say anything because we’re not in it. They are.”
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