During the 2013-14 NHL season, two teams had horrendous starts, the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. Both teams made the playoffs that season. New York recovered from starting 3-6-0, and Philadelphia recovered from 1-7-0. One team didn’t fire their coach, one team did.
Columbus' team save percentage is .831 after six games right now. It was .915 and .910 the last two years. Todd Richards didn't do that.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) October 18, 2015
Look, there really isn’t much to write about after the Blue Jackets dropped their sixth in a row to open the season. The first period was the best period for the Jackets. They held the Hawks to six shots while generating 9 of their own. After that, the Hawks stopped taking penalties and the Jackets took several. Second period shots were 15-3 in favor of the Hawks, most coming on the powerplay, and the score reflected that going into the third.
Notes
After Todd Richards’ line changes for game 5, it seemed that everyone suspected that Ryan Murray was being demoted in the lineup. That is not correct. He led the team in ice time against Toronto, and finished with the third most ice time in game 6, yesterday. He is the go-to point man on the powerplay and he is generating plenty of ice time that way. He has not been used in shorthanded situations in the previous two games. In games where the Jackets draw more penalties than they take, expect Murray to see more ice time. Expect his ice time to climb as the season progresses as well.
Ryan Johansen was barely noticeable on the ice. He has the second most shots on goal for the team this season (21) but appears to be trying to make the pretty pass, or stick-handle his way out of a corner, when the smart play is to just get the puck down low or near the goalie.
Curtis McElhinney made some amazing saves last night. The final score was 4-1 (one of those a result of an empty net) but he played well enough to keep the Jackets close.
GIF: Big save, big 🍔 pic.twitter.com/hb5XDIuobY
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 18, 2015
Kerby Rychel played 9:18. He was quick to pucks and flashes of what type of player he can be were there to be seen, but he’ll need to play with better linemates if he hopes to make an impact at the NHL level. He’s too good for the 4th line, but not good enough for the top-9.
Overall the team’s play in their own end seems improved from the start of the season, but you can just see the lack of confidence in their games. Something big will have to happen — a shutout from Bobrovsky, the 1st win of the season, a line brawl — before the team starts playing at a level that keeps them competitive.
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