One night after a tough 3-0 loss in Ottawa, the Columbus Blue Jackets returned to Nationwide for a weird 4-0 victory over the Nashville Predators! The visitors attacked early and often, but the home team finished enough chances and had the strongest weapon of all: a perfect Sergei Bobrovsky.
The weird came from the news at the end of the first period: both Fedor Tyutin and Cody Goloubef were out for the final forty minutes of Friday’s game. We learned part of the reason later (Aaron Portzline reported Goloubef suffered a broken jaw). What followed in the 2nd and 3rd was an even stronger effort from Nashville against a tired group of Jackets. Yet, the Predators were repeatedly turned aside by the game’s first star.
The Great: Sergei Bobrovksy
Bobrovsky’s first 6 games of the year were all sub-.900 affairs. That kind of horrific play goes a long way toward explaining the CBJ troubles throughout October. Tonight? Vezina-level Bob, and a shutout as icing (his first of the year).
Everybody’s favorite Top Cop was a force, stopping routine shots, tough shots, long shots, and close. Bobrovsky even drew a penalty midway through the 3rd, a crucial moment to break up a long period of Predator excellence. The best save of the night came against James Neal. Bob’s wild lunge and the slightest toe tap denied the sniper and preserved the shutout.
Bobrovsky shared his thoughts and elation with the media post-game, all while sharing credit with the rest of the team. On his first shut out of the season, Bobrovsky said, “Finally. I’m so happy, thanks guys they did a hell of a job. so (many) blocked shots, I think in the first it was 14, it was more than I stopped. They did a hell of a job.”
The Also Very Good: Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner
Both Johansen and Jenner finished the night with two points (1-1-2), and each player had a highlight reel moment on their individual goals. Johansen picked up the team’s 2nd goal by emulating his shootout style: wait, wait, wait, wait, move when you think it’s too late and score anyway. By the time Johansen finally deked, Pekka Rinne was committed to the glove-side attack and flopped aside as the #19 popped the puck in gaping net.
Johansen thinking of the time value of puck. #nice #CBJ pic.twitter.com/vgSfc6isRq
— Buckeye State Hockey (@BuckeyeStHockey) November 21, 2015
Boone picked up his tally on a two-on-one rush. As the puck carrier, Jenner elected to shoot instead of pass. The play seemed over when Rinne stopped the first attempt, but Jenner followed his shot. Instead of a rebound to nobody, it was a juicy rebound to Boone. Jenner collected the puck, and stuffed the follow-up beyond the goalie (all while falling on his stomach).
Boone 🆚 Weber & Rinne 😏 https://t.co/sC96xcKEEJ
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 21, 2015
The Crazy: Shots Against and Time On Ice
The shots against component you can start to explain away for a number of reasons. The CBJ were on night two of a back-to-back, and picked up the lead early in this game. A combination of exhaustion and score effects does excuse quite a bit. Even so: the Predators had a ton of shots and shot attempts tonight.
This is a thing that happened. pic.twitter.com/iZFcREF1SC
— Alison (@AlisonL) November 21, 2015
No Jackets finished better than 42% CF% at even strength (via Natural Stat Trick), and it’s a something CBJ fans should hope flips (albeit with the win part intact). Winning is nice and a huge reward to Bob and the scorers. Full-team sustainable winning would be even better.
On the flip side: Jack Johnson and David Savard bore the brunt of the shifted defensive roles with both Tyutin and Goloubef gone. Johnson ended the contest with 29:25, and Savard with a silly 30:48. Tonight’s game was an astounding physical performance by both d-men.
Quote of the Game: Ryan Murray
Ryan Murray finished with a massive 23:32, his second biggest load of the year. After the game, he spoke to the reality and the opportunity of the situation:
“[It’s a] good challenge for us. It’s good to get out there, down to four D and on back to back nights. It’s a great challenge for us and that’s what you wanna be in. That’s what you live for, that’s what you play hockey for is those types of challenges…we got it done and that’s all that matters.”
Tweet of the Game
https://twitter.com/RockmanHalo/status/667876599606308865
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