Game Recap: #9 Blue Jackets @ Avalanche

Jackets win!

This week has been a very weird week for the Columbus Blue Jackets. After John Tortorella took over as head coach, he benched Ryan Johansen in the third period of his first game. News would later come out that Johansen is sick and cannot play in the game against the Colorado Avalanche. He was taken back to Columbus to be treated. The Jackets don’t play again until next Tuesday in New Jersey and we hope to expect his return.

However, the Jackets didn’t seem to need Johansen tonight as they finally managed to put one in the win column, taking advantage of the also-struggling Colorado Avalanche.

1st Period

The 1st period was a very good period for Jackets players, past and present. Jack Skille of the Avalanche opened the scoring early, just 2:12 into the game. However, Boone Jenner would answer the call for the Jackets making something out of nothing on the first goal.

Jenner would add another one just 15 seconds into their first and only power play of the first two periods (the Jackets had a 3 second power play in the 2nd period). Jenner posted up in front of the goal crease as David Savard skated down the right side with the puck from the point. Savard’s shot was deflected off of Jenner’s leg and found it’s way into the net behind opposing goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

2nd Period

This was definitely the Jackets worst period of the game. They took three penalties and only drew one, which led to them being outshot 9-13. Jarome Iginla scored one early for the Avs and near the end of the period Nathan MacKinnon would put the Avs up 3-2 as he scored a power play goal on a 4-on-3 advantage.

The Jackets flailed around during the majority of this period registering only one (blocked) shot attempt in nearly ten minutes.

3rd Period

John Tortorella must have said something during the intermission to get the Jackets motivated for the third. They started the period with 28 shot attempts total and ended the period with 60. They doubled their shot attempts in one period.

Ryan Murray scored his first goal of the season, moving up on the play and finding a loose puck in the low slot. The player who made that goal happen was Cam Atkinson who won hard-fought puck battles in the corner and in front of the net to generate a scoring chance.

Just under three minutes later Brandon Dubinsky would find a rebound as he waited in front of the crease resulting in an easy goal. The Jackets wouldn’t take their foot off the gas for the final minutes as they threw everything they had at the Avalanche goal. The extra effort proved to be enough, assuring that Dubinsky’s goal would be the game-winner.

The Good

There is a lot that can be said about the things the Jackets did in this game. They never got frustrated. They never gave up on a play. They were making great passes all night. Even when they had the lead late in the game they didn’t collapse and play back off the puck.

If I had to pick one thing to gloat about, I’d talk about the play of Scott Hartnell. His passes are incredible and he is nearly impossible to take off the puck. He led all players with a Corsi For of 77%, or 20 shot attempts for and only 6 against.

And hugs!

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/658128301509111808/photo/1

The Bad

David Clarkson.

There was only one shot attempt for the Blue Jackets while he was on the ice. His fight to open the game earned him no favors as he only played 7:51.

The Ugly

I suppose some of the calls that the referees made tonight could be considered ugly. Especially the slashing penalty against Murray in the final minutes of the game. Bad calls did go both ways, however.

Final Thoughts

Ryan Murray and Cody Goloubef were the best defensive pairing of the night, statistically speaking. Both players were above 61% Corsi-For percentage and Murray scored a goal and an assist. Tortorella seems to have abandoned the 1-3-1 power play and has two defenders out there most of the time. Goloubef and Murray saw some time together on one of the units. Murray had three shots on goal and Goloubef registered one. This pair seems to have the potential to dethrone Jack Johnson and David Savard as the top unit, something I’ll be interested to monitor throughout the rest of the season.

Sergei Bobrovsky finally played an average game saving 33 of 36 shots. His save percentage on the night was .912. He looked steady and kept the play in front of him. Hopefully this win is a nice boost to his confidence and he returns to his true form. Without him playing at his best, the Jackets have no chance.

The Jackets don’t play again until next Tuesday. John Tortorella will finally have a chance to begin installing his systems and working with the team in depth over the next few days. Will his coaching style be enough to turn this team around and into the playoffs? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.