A familiar feeling crept over me last night, watching the Blue Jackets pre game with that winged wheel prevalent on the other side of the ice. I was reminded of a rivalry (if you want to call it that) which has been a struggle for Columbus in their thirteen year history, separated now by a division in the Eastern Conference. The feeling, however, remains the same. When Columbus plays Detroit, I want fire. I want to see the players sacrifice their bodies, skate until their lungs burn, and battle like it is their last game of hockey ever.
Some call it playoff hockey. The expectation of seeing players showing every ounce of effort, giving little ground in their defensive zone and their offensive zone. For me, I call it sixty minutes. Like the sign said last year, no excuses, no regrets. I believe that teams who play like this will win every game they ‘should’ win if you look at the possession and other telling stats after the game. I believe Columbus had more to give last night.
They fired 37 shots on Jonas Gustavsson throughout the game. Despite having that many shots, few registered in the ‘get excited’ category, and even fewer landed on the stick of a Blue Jacket for a quality rebound chance, despite the big Swede offering them on a platter here and there. For reference sake, Gustavsson is a career .900 goaltender, allowing just under three goals per game over his career. Last night, his thirty six saves were good for a .973 save percentage, probably topping most goalies in uniform statistically on the evening.
The only problem is, he’s not that good, and Columbus has played this style of hockey before. Shots from the perimeter go into the padding or belly of the goalie, leaving little chance for trailing players. Detroit forced forwards outside constantly, seeing them fire the puck aimlessly at the net rather than maintaining possession and wrapping around the net. We can credit Detroit for having one of the greatest defensive cores or one of the best goalies in the league, OR we can look at the source of the problem and hunt for resolution.
Columbus has built a pretty solid breakout this year, and getting to center ice doesn’t seem to be a problem. Once there, however, passes start falling off sticks or missing them altogether. Guys start poking the puck forward and lose all momentum. The dump and chase is somewhat effective, however, once the puck is returned to the point it is often thrown into a pad or wasted on a stretch play. Just a shade under the salary cap, the talent this team SHOULD possess removes any justifications that players don’t have enough skill to make the passes that can spread out a defense. Whatever is holding them back needs to be addressed, because it is costing them both possession and viable opportunities in the harder to earn areas of the offensive zone.
The best play of the game was an individual effort by Cam Atkinson, likely to get GIFed and YouTubed numerous times today. On the powerplay, Cam controlled the puck in his own zone, took it end to end through a handful of Wings, and got his own rebound (yes, lots of rebounds where even 5’7″ players can get them) before beating Gustavsson. It was a ridiculous goal, and hopefully one that propels his confidence moving forward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82x9ATYulnA
Defensively I thought the team played quite well. Defending a team like Detroit is not an easy task, and limiting them to the shots and opportunities they had, along with some beautiful goaltending from Bobrovsky is as much as I could expect. Despite allowing what looked like a soft goal on a weak side shot from Alfredsson, Bobrovsky continued his strong play, finishing the game at .938 and giving Columbus every opportunity to get back into the game.
Coach Richards believes they played a solid game, and if they continue to play in that fashion, they will win a lot of hockey games. From the offensive blueline back to Bobrovsky, I am very comfortable with his sentiment. A single goal in each of the last two games proves to me that some serious adjustments need to be made to the offensive system, or the players simply need to find that softer hand in order to receive and deliver better passes. Not only that, they absolutely must get to the net for rebounds and screens. It is how teams win games in this league, and there are players on this team who will factor if they do so (Umberger, I’m looking at you).
Carry the Flag.
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