Ahhhh the soothing feeling of watching an actual NHL hockey team play. I missed last nights win over Philly, so I can’t comment on it but this was the first game in a while that featured an actual NHL cast of characters wearing CBJ uniforms. This led to a strong effort, one of the more complete games the team has put together all season, against a pretty good San Jose Sharks team. Antti Niemi was solid in the loss for the Sharks, but the Jackets were able to beat him twice, and grind out a much needed back-to-back win. Those two points are huge, as they bring the Jackets only five points back of the Devils for third in the division (with a game in hand). That is probably their only road to the playoffs (the last wild card spot currently is seven points out of reach). I know it seems early to be looking that far ahead, but these wins really help in terms of digging out of the hole from the last month. On to the stars!
3rd Star: David Savard
With Fedor Tyutin on injured reserve, the Jackets leaned heavily on Savard on the penalty kill, as he led the Jackets defense with 3:10 shorthanded time on ice, as the CBJ blanked the Sharks potent powerplay. Of course, the reason he received a star was his goal in the opening frame, as he finished off some nice puck movement from Artem Anisimov‘s line, burying on the screened Niemi. The early goal gave the Jackets a lead they would never relinquish.
2nd Star: Cam Atkinson
Cam had a solid game, and scored the game-winning goal, but I would have looked elsewhere here. I’m surprised that Anisimov didn’t end up with any of the stars tonight. I was a bit surprised to hear he would be playing, and really thought he’d just get some limited minutes to get back into the flow of the game. Instead, Arty was a two-way force tonight. He didn’t manage any shots on goal, but he did help setup Savard’s game opening goal. On the defensive end, he won 64% of his faceoffs, played a team-high 3:13 on the penalty kill, and made a couple of key plays as the Sharks were pushing to tie it up. Without Arty out there, I’m not sure the Jackets close out the game.
1st Star: Sergei Bobrovsky
What can you say about Sergei Bobrovsky that hasn’t been screamed by Jay Onrait. He really is the number one cop on the force. He was tested pretty early in the game and came up huge. Every time the Sharks seemed to be taking over momentum, Bob shut the door and totally killed San Jose’s flow. Making 36 saves is huge, but they were just so timely. He was only beat once, and that was when Joe Pavelski was left all alone in a prime scoring spot. Not many are making that save. A brilliant comeback game for Bob.
Dud: Injury Scares
I can’t be the only person who held their breath when Ryan Johansen crashed into the net after his breakaway chance. He was solid tonight, if nothing spectacular (nothing like last night’s four point performance), but losing him would have been such a huge blow. A serious injury there would have been the kind of thing that would fit right into this Murphy’s Law of a season. Get Bob and Arty back, but lose Johansen. As he limped off, I was prepared for the worst. That’s what this season for this team has done to me. Fortunately he was back out there shortly looking no worse for wear.
Stud: Jordan Leopold
He did nothing outstanding tonight. But he doesn’t have to. Really, he isn’t that kind of player, which helps makes him the perfect replacement for the similar, albeit much better, Fedor Tyutin. He was dealt for this afternoon, flew in just before the game, and played a pretty solid 17:11. He isn’t going to light the world on fire, but he is a professional hockey player, something the Jackets depth has been lacking.
With back-to-back wins in back-to-back nights, and the lineup being iced starting to look like a real NHL team, they now have two nights off before taking on longtime rival(ish) Detroit Red Wings Tuesday in Columbus. The Jackets have four of the next five games at home, with a trip to Philadelphia being the only road game splitting up the homestand. More efforts like tonight could see the Jackets sneak back into the tail end of the playoff race. See you all on Tuesday!
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