A healthy crowd of just over 14,300 showed up Sunday night to watch the Blue Jackets battle the Edmonton S. You know Edmonton, they who repeatedly get the #1 overall pick and were coming in surly off a loss to Detroit.
The first period started off with fairly even play. Our first burst of life came from Matt Calvert who exploded up the boards with an errant pass to Letestu that couldn’t be converted. Shortly thereafter, the boys in Union Blue were poised to (hopefully) take advantage of a 5-3 but I have to admit, the lineup of Dorsett-Brassard-Umberger backed by Tyutin and Nikitin was less than encouraging. Lest I be disappointed, the team failed to convert. And shortly, while we saw a split second of hustle from Derick Brassard hustling the puck into the offensive zone, the Oilers took the puck away and drove into their offensive attack. It didn’t take much. James Wisniewski bit on an off-puck defender which allowed Hemsky to go unabated to the goal and give the Oilers the 1-0 lead.
Some say Bob shares equal blame for that goal, but the chance Hemsky was given shouldn’t have existed in the first place. The first period looked shaky for Wiz overall – with missed attempts to control the puck and some questionable choices. This coupled with the continuous decisions of our forwards to decide to pass the puck off versus taking chances at goal (Brass – I’m looking at you) resulted in an energetic, but disappointing first. The one flash of offense I did appreciate was Artem Anisimov choosing to take things into his own hands and drive the puck around the near side of the goal for the wrap around attempt. Of course that didn’t go in – which would become the theme for the night.
At the end of the first period, the Blue Jackets were tied with the Oilers for takeaways, had 9 faceoff wins and were leading in shots on goal and yet were losing 1-0.
The second period kept the energy level high, but once again it seemed the team could not make smart shot choices. On the power play, Jack Johnson shied away from the wrister to take time to wind up for a slap shot. Which didn’t go in. The Oilers seemed to be building momentum and it culminated in an Eberle shot which appeared to get past Bobrovsky despite Wiz immediately signaling a high stick. The refs first instinct was to call no-goal and, lest we think the hockey gods totally hate Columbus, we were proven wrong when the call came down that review was inconclusive and the play on ice would stand: no goal.
The game of back and forth would continue through the second and it would seem that the hours Bob has been putting in with Ian Clark this week were paying off. It also appeared that players were continuing to build that ever elusive “chemistry”. When Eberle laid a hit on Wiz, teammates were there with a legal, but retaliatory knock into the boards immediately after.
If there’s one thing I’ve wanted to see it was a Dubinsky goal – and I almost thought we had it. Late in the second, number 17 took the puck on the breakaway but failed to convert. This was the turning point for me – when shots on goal became more than just a stat. It became a constant reminder of our inability to convert chances over and over and over again.
We reached the third, still down 1-0. Wiz continued to play the full game but between the missed passes earlier in the game and some stutter steps towards the puck had me worrying that he may have come back one game too soon. Our fourth line continued to impress when Jared Boll took the puck on a breakaway with tremendous energy and then inexplicably pulled up and looked for an outlet pass. Jared, I get that you are not a top line sniper but please, take that shot. It would seem that there is something going on in the off-ice coaching that guys are being told to dish off the pass in the offensive zone. I would argue until those passes become more crisp, or until guys figure out when to ignore that rule and take advantage of opportunities at the net that we move away from this strategy. It’s only taking seconds away from the chance to line up a quality shot.
The teams got a bit more chippy as play continued, with scrums in front of the net and later near the bench. But, the impossible happened: RJ Umberger on a beautiful pass from Tyutin had a bit of a toe drag and then scored his first of the season. Nationwide Arena appropriately responded in an uproar and it was game on. The crowd was in it, and it was a treat to watch the Jackets in the environment of buzz and excitement that was happening… Until Wiz couldn’t keep the puck in the zone, allowing Gagner to dish to Magnus Paajarvi for his first of the season (of course). It didn’t help help that Jack Johnson was puck watching instead of covering Paajarvi, pretty much assuring the goal.
At that point the game sadly seemed decided. The Jackets would make a somewhat valiant attempt to come back but an empty net goal by Edmonton sealed the deal.
Overall, there were great positives and horrible disappointments. On a positive note, Nail Yakupov was surprisingly quiet, and this game was a lot of fun to watch. I continue to compare these games to matches of last year and this is a far better effort than the 11-12 campaign. That being said, I want hours and hours of practice of shooting in store for this team. First and foremost, our defensemen need to get the puck on net. Further, Nikita Nikitin had three out-and-out whiffs on important passes or slapshots that are just not acceptable in game situations. At game’s end, the Blue Jackets led Edmonton in shots on goal 40-14. FORTY to FOURTEEN. That’s just unacceptable. There were multiple series where our boys hammered that puck into the net and seemed to make Dubnyk look like a Vezina candidate. Unacceptable.
Don’t think I’m beating this team up too hard. We are who we are. We’re falling on the wrong side of games a bit too much but we are continuing to build chemistry and, as I said, this is at least fun to watch. It’s very disappointing to not at least take half the points from a home stretch but we fight on. And as of right now, we’re not the last team in the league.
Go Jackets!
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