Sergei Borovsky made 38 saves, and Rene Bourque scored twice against his former team to help the Blue Jackets take down the Flames 3-2 in overtime on Saturday afternoon. The Jackets were thoroughly outplayed for most of the game, getting outshot 40-26, and outshot-attempted 73-52. The Jackets welcomed Boone Jenner and Jeremy Morin back to the lineup from injury, although both were a little rusty and fairly quiet. Bobrovsky kept the game close until Artem Anisimov put together a fantastic effort to force a turnover by ex-Jacket Kris Russell, pick up the puck, and score a spinning, backhand goal to send the game to overtime. Bourque put the game away with his second goal of the game as the Jackets extended their winning streak to three games.
3rd Star: Sergei Bobrovsky
Really, what more can you say about Bobrovsky on the game-by-game level. His only negative in the macro is injuries. When healthy, he gives the Jackets a chance to win every game, whether they deserve it or not. Bob was the only reason they were still in this game after the second period. He was outstanding, is pretty much always outstanding, and is totally worth his contract extension. Look, you can find goalies, and Bob is the example of it. But the reason you can find goalies is the difficulty in evaluating them. That also makes it difficult to find a goalie who gives you a legitimate chance to win. Bob isn’t Steve Mason, who basically had a hot fifteen games his rookie year, followed by league average player (and worse after his rookie year). When you find a guy who will keep you in the game (basically) every time he players, and that guy is young enough to do this for the next half-decade, you lock him down. Think the Rangers have any regrets about keeping Henrik Lunqvist at a big cap figure? He was a 6th round pick, and the same kind of find that Bob was for the Jackets. The Rangers have been in contention for at least the playoffs every year he’s been healthy. Bob provides the same thing for the Jackets.
2nd Star: Jiri Hudler
1st Star: Sean Monahan
Bonus star: Johnny Gaudreau. Just to talk about this whole line at once. They are really good. That’s an obvious statement, but beyond their talent they are a joy to watch. They combined for two goals, five points, and 14 shots on goal tonight, and have 75 goals, and 100 assists for 175 points on the season. Pretty impressive. They bring a lot of creativity, a complementary set of skills, and are on the same page in a way that few lines are. When you find a line like that, you keep them together whenever you can. You don’t split them up and then bury one of them out of position as the third line center.
Strange: The Fedor Tyutin-Johnny Gaudreau Tripping/Embellishment Call
Instead of going with a dud (I’m trying to be positive), I’m going to talk about the strangeness that was the Tyutin-Gaudreau tripping/embellishment penalties in the third period. Live, I didn’t think it should have been a penalty on either of them. It didn’t look like Tyutin got him nearly enough for a call, and it looked like Gaudreau stretched out to try and get his stick on the puck Derek MacKenzie-style. The call even seemed to come a little late. The replay confirmed all of the above. Tyutin did not get enough to trip Gaudreau, and it looked pretty obvious that Gaudreau was laying out for the puck. However, Gaudreau immediately chewed out the refs trying to get a call, so he got a call. This is pretty much the only time I can remember seeing something like that happen. Every now and then a player will manage to get a call to go his way. I’ve never seen a guy get himself called for diving. When you think about it, it makes sense. The ref saw the same thing I saw, which is why he didn’t call it right away. When Gaudreau whined to the ref, it let him know that maybe Gaudreau wasn’t trying to play the puck, in which case he clearly dove, and the tripping/embellishment call was the right one. Strange play.
Stud: Rene Bourque
Bourque has been surprisingly solid the last few games. Playing on Ryan Johansen‘s line sure helps, especially on the first goal. But with four goals in eight games as a Jackets, Bourque is looking like a player who could potentially contribute next season, albeit in the 3rd or 4th line role. Again though, the pass by Johansen on the Jackets opening goal deserves another look.
The Jackets are getting hot at just the wrong time. They’ve now won three straight games, six of their last seven, and seven of their last nine. They have definitively played themselves out of a top five pick (now sitting nine points up on Carolina for 5th last), and are nipping at the heels of the Flyers and Devils. As fun as the last few games have been to watch, the Jackets are not actually playing very good hockey (getting outshot handily basically every game), and it will be a lot more fun to watch a legit impact player for the next decade over a mid-lineup guy. This draft has a handful of top-level skill guys, and the Jackets look like they are playing their way out of having a shot at one of them (barring a lottery win of course). I know the players aren’t going to throw in the towel, but maybe keep the injured guys out of the lineup, or rest Bob a little more, or maybe roll the lines a little more instead of relying on the top guys. I dunno, do something to try and lose some of these games. Maybe send a powerplay lineup featuring Jared Boll, Corey Tropp, Jeremy Morin, Dalton Prout, and Cody Goloubef out there. Maybe let Boll kill some penalties. Maybe just play Boll on the wing with Johansen. Or better yet, play Boll and Tropp like 20 minutes a game, and let Johansen get some rest. The red-hot Jackets will take the ice again Tuesday in Columbus to take on James Wisniewski and the Anaheim Ducks. Hopefully a game against the NHL’s top team will help put a little buffer between the Jackets and the Flyers and Devils.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
