Well that was a riotous affair. In a game that will be much like every other game through the end of the season, Jackets fans held their breath while watching the Jackets bring home a 3-2 all important regulation win (increase that ROW!) An important victory – as they all will be – but a good story on the season as the Jackets got better (as far as winning) each time they played the Canadiens. Let’s also not discount going into that barn and stealing two points from the home town team. On to the three stars…(because really at this point we’re all looking to the match up against the Rangers, right?)
3rd Star: Brandon Dubinsky Nice to see Dubs get back on the scoring train after notching one against Detroit last week. Dubi logged the most minutes of any forward, and played his game which kept the match up at an appropriate energy level. Always a good game when 17 earns a star.
2nd Star: Ryan Johansen It’s rare that we legitimately debate star rankings, but this might be the most serious one I offer up yet. In a year that is “Joey’s coming out party” tonight marked a new set of highlights. First off, we had Ryan’s first NHL fight. While it may have been ill-conceived, props for taking on the challenge and looking to drive his team in other ways. Second, the young center was 92% in the face-off circle. Huge. Third – well he scored. The game winning goal for that matter. I had to watch it a few times to figure out how exactly it went in. Special players make things happen and I think that’s what we saw tonight. We were one post away from two goals for Joey, and one assist away from a Gordie Howe hattrick. If this game were at Nationwide Arena, I’d argue that Johansen would get the FIRST star tonight.
1st Star: Carey Price things are different when you play hockey in Canada – let alone when you play in Montreal. Price faced 40 Shots on Goal vs the 27 Bob saw. Given the state of this team, the market, and the never-ending goaltending and add in the huge saves Price had, and his first star status would seem to be solid – tonight anyway.
Game In One Picture
Stud: Bear with me – it’s Nick Foligno. Sure, Foligno had some gaffes – his turnover arguably created the penalty shot opportunity for Lars Eller which made Jackets fan nation hold their breath. But look behind the obvious mistakes you see…and look at the stats. While he may have struggled on the powerplay, at even strength Foligno was great, with the best Corsi for at 86.4% . Also at even strength, with Foligno on the ice, the Jackets had 18 shots on goal while Montreal had only three. It’s also valuable to note, that of the linemates that Ryan Johansen has had most frequently this year, Foligno is doing 19 the most favors. When Ryan is on ice (ES) with Foligno, his Corsi is at 53.7 versus 47.2 when Johansen is alone. By any measure, both Foligno and Johansen have been better together than apart this season. Foligno isn’t going to be your big point scorer, but he’s a huge part of the engine in making our goal scorers put up points. Tonight was a sleight of hand exercise – what you “saw” wasn’t necessarily what you “got”.
Dud. Power Play. 0-8. Zero for Eight. Not much more to say there, eh?
So that’s a big win, but with every game comes the next “big win”. The Jackets fly home tonight and they will face the NY Rangers who will be coming off two days rest. Friday promises to be electric as it will not only be a HUGE 4 point game, but it will invoke emotions we perhaps thought we’d already have out of the way with Nash returning to Nationwide Arena for the first time in another jersey. Quite frankly, the Jackets are in charge of their own destiny -don’t worry about other teams – even Metro opponents, worry about the Jackets taking care of business and the rest will take care of itself.
Carry the Flag.
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