Is it plagiarism if you’re copying your own words? I’ll repeat it: can you imagine if this team could start? That first 20 minutes was rough to watch. Hartnell took the most Hartnell-ist of all penalties to give the Ducks their first of what would be many power play opportunities against the Jackets and Kesler and crew were able to capitalize. Like the rest of the team, Bob looked shaky to start and it wasn’t until after Cogliano’s 2nd goal that Bob really “locked it in” to steal a phrase from Bob McElligot’s post-game analysis. From the 2nd period forward, Bob was like a cat watching a laser pointer, never losing sight of the puck and had a an intensity that Blue Jackets fans have become accustomed to seeing when he’s truly at the top of his game. As much as it pains to me to acknowledge that there’s a role for fighting still in the NHL, it’s undeniable that Boll’s scrap with Clayton Stoner was a huge momentum swing and changed the entire complexion of the game. Instead of giving credit where it’s due, I’ll simply say that a better team wouldn’t have needed a fight to display the same tempo and tenacity we saw after that bout. Regardless, from there on, those in attendance and at home were treated to a physical, high scoring hockey game with some of everything. Let’s dig in to the stars:
3rd Star: Sergei Bobrovsky
Great googly-moogly was Bob on for the final 40 minutes tonight. You hear people refer to him as being in his Vezina form and that’s exactly what we saw. The number 1 cop on the force saw plenty of rubber tonight as he has in most of his recent wins and had an impressive 0.925 on the evening and staggering 0.964 in the final 40 minutes. The Jackets didn’t control puck possession. They didn’t generate a ton of shots. Bob was the equalizer. I’d have put him at #2 above…
2nd Star: Ryan Johansen
Joey factored into the two goals the Jackets needed to dig themselves out of the hole they dug in the 1st period with a power play assist on Hartnell’s first and with a grimy, messy, contested CBJ goal in the 2nd that took forever for the officials to award in arena. I love that even without the puck being in the crease yet, Joey made a bee-line for open half of the crease when he saw how far committed to the left Gibson was. Great instincts from #19 that paid off huge tonight.
1st Star: Scott Hartnell
Even if Hartnell never offers any other worth to the CBJ than to teach the young guys the work ethic to bring every shift and the attitude to bring to the ice, his tenure with the Jackets will have been invaluable for the future of this franchise. It’s no coincidence that Dano is lighting it up. It’s no coincidence that William Karlsson registered his first point in the union blue this evening and it’s certainly no coincidence that we got to see hats fly from the stands to the ice tonight in Nationwide Arena. Yes he started the evening with a bonehead penalty but it was one of pure emotion and comes from a will to dominate the opposing squad. You take the good with the bad and Hartnell’s good outweighs his bad by magnitudes. Oh yeah, don’t look now but he’s also 25 goals, 28 assists on the season. Not bad for an old dude.
Stud: William Karlsson
What I loved about Karlsson’s game tonight was that he came in and jumped into the role that he was assigned and was able to keep his game simple so as not to put his fellow skaters in a bad situation. I was glad to see him on the ice during the final 2 minutes, clearly a sign that he seems to have at least for one game earned Todd Richards’ trust.
Dud: The 2nd goal call/no call
After the game we were informed that the call on the ice was a goal and its review was inconclusive but there was nothing in-arena to tell us that, such as the ubiquitous pointing at center ice to indicate a good goal. As a CBJ fan I’ve become all too familiar with the burden of review to have conclusive evidence to overturn a call on the ice and without this signal we were all left to think the call on ice was no goal and we were at the mercy of Toronto to award us one. Frustrating. At the end of the evening, they got the call right which is important above all else but some better communication with those in attendance would be great.
The Jackets will head to Chicago to continue to hopefully be the fly in another playoff team’s ointment but more importantly to continue to embed that winning culture in all the young talent with the team right now. I’ve oft lamented how these late season wins do little aside from hurt our chances in the draft lottery but I’m willing to admit that I’ve been wrong. The lessons that the future faces of this team are learning right now are invaluable and can’t be learned in any off-season training regimen or practices run by the coaching staff. Here’s to hoping they keep it up.
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