“Two roads diverged in a wood…and I took the one less traveled.”
It’s a Robert Frost quote, but tonight’s game, where the 2-8-0 Blue Jackets went on the road to face the 7-2-0 Washington Capitals, harkened back to the season opener against the New York Rangers.
The Jackets played a solid game, much like that first game against New York, where a few mistakes led to more goals against than goals scored and now I’m curious to see what comes next, as I believe the Columbus squad is on track to go a different direction than they did after game one.
Let’s take a look at how this one went down.
The Good. Most important, the Jackets as a unit came out strong. They were composed, controlled possession, (68.18% of even strength shot attempts in the first period according to Natural Stat Trick). The confidence that head coach John Tortorella has repeatedly mentioned as re-instilling in this club seemed to be evident as the Jackets had the ice tilted their way.
More good, William Karlsson, who has drawn the praise of Tortorella, played on the night just over 15 minutes include very brief stints on the both sides of penalties. The young center had a few outstanding moments including a significant back check in the first that resulted in a takeaway right in front of Bobrovsky to turn play back towards the offensive zone. He also had an “I got you, Bob” save where Karlsson prevented the game from going 3-1 covering in the crease for his goaltender.
(If you are not following Steph, provider of the following gif, I don’t know what to tell you because you should be.)
earlier request: William Karlsson of the Blue Jackets makes a goal-line save in the last minutes of regulation pic.twitter.com/AjL7pTX6a5
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 31, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Johansen was third in all forwards in TOI which is significant given his recent absence due to illness and Torts’ valid attention to managing his energy level. He showed his energy levels early including a physical hit on Ovechkin in the first.
The Jackets also kept their effort up in the third while trailing. Fighting for the evening goal which belied a little more tenacity in this club that we had seen in the season-starting losing streak.
An important shout out as well to goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky who earned a SV % of .929 on the night stopping 26 of the 28 shots he saved.
The Bad. After a strong first, the Jackets came out in the second seemingly ready to battle but fell to a total of only 26.67% of all shot attempts and had to face a barrage of Capitals offensive play in the final two minutes that forced Tortorella to use his timeout to get a break (and shift change). It’s the kind of slow steeping wave against that this team cannot afford to allow.
This is where the similarities to the first Rangers game come back to me. You can play alright, but when you couple that with a bad bounce against Prout that sets off a 3-on-1 for the game winner, and the screened goal against early in the second, mistakes just can’t be allowed when you’re clawing to get back in the race.
The Ugly. Tonight there is no true “ugly” for me – what’s more important now is what happens tomorrow. Can the Jackets take “the path less traveled” and not cycle into a period of dispair and confidence-questioning? Tht’s what happened the last time this club played a fairly solid game and lost a close one to a good team.
The Quote.
“We’re not looking for moral victories here.” ~John Tortorella
The Jackets fly home tonight and will face the Winnipeg Jets Saturday at Nationwide Arena before heading out to the West for a ten day jaunt. Points are at a premium for the club still sitting last in the Metro (though not last in the league – thank you Anaheim).
This group of players looked far more ready to play than the group that took to the ice in New Jersey and managed to eke out a win. If the team can stay tuned to the same level of play tomorrow night, they may just be on to something.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
