Three Stars and Game in One Picture: CBJ @ TPA

The Blue Jackets entered Tampa to face a team that has only surrendered four regulation losses at home this season and whose 66 points are only one shy of the lead for the Eastern Conference. The CBJ played very well to begin the game by controlling puck possession and generating some good scoring chances early. They ran into some penalty problems in the 2nd period but the PK unit and Curtis McElhinney played admirably to keep the game competitive. Unfortunately the Lightning struck in quick succession in the third (only 1:41 apart) and you could see that that the 3rd goal was as deflating as a New England equipment assistant. Head Coach Todd Richards pulled McElhinney with 4 minutes to go and Ryan Johansen was able to net his 19th of the year but that would be the only goal scored by the good guys. Tonight’s three stars according to NHL.com:

3rd Star: Ryan Callahan

Callahan was responsible for a team-leading 6 of the shots that McElhinney saw tonight. I imagine that’s why the local media gave him the third star. He played well, for sure, logged a few hits and saw time on the power play (that didn’t convert). I’d have given the nod here to Cedric Paquette who contributed to a great transition from defense to offense with a gorgeous pass to move through the neutral zone and then tracked the puck to bang in a rebound for the 2nd goal of the night seen here.

2nd Star: Jason Garrison

Solid pick here. Garrison made a great play at the blue line to keep a bouncing puck from leaving the zone and immediately threw it on net for a deflection by Brett Connelly to break open the scoring in the 1st period. Up until this point in the period the Jackets had been clearly outplaying the Lightning and this kind of individual effort certainly signified the beginning of a change in momentum. Garrison also munched some serious minutes with 22:00 even to show on the evening, including good time on the PP and PK.

1st Star: Ben Bishop

This is a no-brainer. Before the Lightning could get their legs going and truly start generating scoring chances, Bishop kept them in the game with some impressive saves. The big man tracked the puck well all evening and frankly I was surprised his shutout was spoiled. He had one of those nights where it just seemed he could do no wrong.

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Stud: Ryan Murray

Anyone that’s read my recaps knows I’m an unapologetic Ryan Murray fan. I don’t know if it’s just my skewed perception but holy hell did he look like a game changer tonight. His speed didn’t look like it had suffered from his time off and his decision making was sharp as ever. In what I think was his first shift he had a gorgeous cross-ice backhand pass to get the puck to the forward waiting at the blue line to enter the offensive zone. Later in the 1st he made a move from the short wall towards the net that had 4 Lightning skaters honing in on him like he was a magnet and he still managed to get a good shot off. It would seem he’s ready to log important minutes as he put up over 19 minutes tonight and 2:33 on the penalty kill. Coach Richards certainly isn’t easing him into the game slowly.

Honorable mention to Jordan Leopold for unexpectedly drawing in as a forward. He didn’t see a ton of ice time but the time that he did log didn’t have me pulling my hair out, so I’d consider that a win.

Dud: Illness

Calvert’s illness is weird and seems to have been nagging him for a while. I hope it gets sorted out soon for his sake. Skating and travel has got to be miserable for the guy.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I can’t wait to see everyone on Tuesday night when the CBJ host the also-ailing Phoenix Arizona Coyotes. There’s certainly been no shortage of chatter about former CBJ and current Coyote Antoinne Vermette. Perhaps there will be a Coyotes trade prior to face-off? We’ll see!

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