Worst. Game. Ever. I will get to this in the Stud/Dud section a little more, but I really hated this game. A 4-3 shootout win, after blowing a 3-0 lead. Ugly to watch in every way, the Jackets were outshot by about a million, outshot attempted by about a billion, and just generally outplayed by about a trillion. Actually, just 55 to 20 in shots, and 99 to 35 in shot attempts (I stand by my outplayed by a trillion statement). Yet they somehow came out of the game with two points. Two points that probably do more harm than good, with the Jackets needing to play at “Best team in Hockey” pace to even sniff the playoffs.
Third Star: Sergei Bobrovsky
Bob was the sole reason the Jackets were in this game. He deserved a better effort from the team in front of him. On the bright side, he managed to notch a spot in the Jackets record books with a franchise record 52 save performance. He was the first star of this game, I don’t care what anyone else says.
Second Star: Ryan Johansen?
Uhhhhh what? Johansen was damn near invisible, and barely look to be trying all game. It wasn’t unnoticed, as Todd Richards played Johansan only 16:45 (one of his lowest totals of the season), didn’t put him on the ice in overtime, and didn’t let him shoot until the fourth round. His stat line was pretty much all zero’s, save for two shots on goal, and 33% on faceoffs. This may have been his worst performance of the year. BUT HE SCORED THE SHOOTOUT WINNER SO HE GETS A STAR. I hate that.
First Star: Nick Bjugstad
Bob should clearly have been the first star, but if anyone in this game was going to knock him out of that spot, it was Bjugstad. Can’t blame the hometown media from rewarding a dominating performance from the young, massive center considering the level at which the Panthers dominated the Jackets. Two goals, an assist, four shots on goal; only thing he could have done more was score on his shootout attempt.
Game in One Picture
This week’s game in one picture comes courtesy of Mark aka @RedditCBJ
Stud and Dud: Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is the “psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously“. This describes watching the Blue Jackets right now perfectly. I want them to do well. I like a lot of the players on this team. I think there are a lot of players who could play the roles they are currently playing on a team that does damage in the playoffs. But they are in too big of a hole right now. They need to probably get to the mid-90’s in points to make the playoffs, and to get there, they need to play at a pace in the mid-hundred and teens. That would be a President’s Trophy caliber pace. This team is not quite that good when healthy, and they aren’t even that yet. Adding to the cognitive dissonance: Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. They are unbelievable. This isn’t like the last season the Jackets were bad, when it was “fail for Nail”. These two guys are franchise changing players. This is the Ovechkin-Malkin 1-2 draft punch. Adding one of those guys to the core the Jackets have assembled, and the bright futures for Alexander Wennberg, Kerby Rychel, and Marko Dano, and you have a team competing for multiple Stanley Cup championships. So right now, I want this team to lose, and lose a lot. Even though I also want them to succeed. It makes watching games terrible, as I have two different split-second reactions to every single play. A good thing happens, I start to cheer and then stop myself. Or a bad thing happens, and I do the same thing. Or the reverse. Or I do the reverse on a good play. Basically, it’s a mess. So tonight’s game was the worst. It was a terribly played game by the Blue Jackets, and yet they still won.
So that is it for tonight. The Jackets take the ice Saturday in Tampa to take on the Lightning.
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