The Columbus Blue Jackets lost 3-1 on Sunday night against the host Boston Bruins. It was a pretty sleepy game for the first 39 minutes, so here’s a rundown of the good and bad from this game:
The Good
The first two periods were pretty evenly played at 5v5, with neither team getting too much extended zone time or action around the net. In the final minute of the second, the Blue Jackets drew first blood with yet another net-front goal from Boone Jenner. Mathieu Olivier had a really nice pass across the crease to set it up.
Boston almost tied it up in the remaining 30 seconds, but Erik Gudbranson made a great play to belly flop into the crease behind Spencer Martin, and from that position was able to blindly kick the puck away.
Martin had another solid game in net, with a few great saves like this:
Finally, the Russian line was dominant again. They were the starting line, and I like going with them first to set the tone. My friend Sean just coined the nickname “the Troika” and I think I’m going to stick with this going forward. They had a 5v5 shot attempt share of 80%.
The Bad
The Blue Jackets took SIX penalties tonight. That’s way too many. As great as the penalty kill is, that asks too much. The Bruins tied the game on a 5v5 goal, but the next two came on the power play. You knew you’d get a push from the Bruins in the final frame as they faced a 1-0 deficit, so why make it easier on them by giving them three power plays?
All three Boston goals came from Brad Marchand, which makes it hurt even more. Man, I hate that guy.
In the Jackets defense (a small defense), the penalty that led to the go-ahead goal was a major screw-up by the refs. Dmitri Voronkov was called for tripping Pavel Zacha, but it was hard to see that on replay. Vronk delivered a clean hit to the upper body and Zacha fell, and at real time it looked like a trip. I worry that Vronk is going to keep getting dinged for stuff like this because of his size. He’s not going to get the benefit of the doubt.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets power play didn’t carry over any momentum from their two goals against Ottawa on Friday. In the three 5v4 power plays they had tonight, they generated just three shot attempts, one shot on goal, and two shot attempts against. It’s unacceptable to let those opportunities go to waste.
The other impact of there being so many penalties in the game is it didn’t allow the regular lines to get into any rhythm. The aforementioned Troika played less than 10 minutes together at even strength, and they were the most-used CBJ line at 5v5. Vronk is the best player at the moment and he only played 13:15 in all situations.
Similarly, the Gaudreau/Jenner/Johnson line only played 7:37 together. They were the line that produced offense at the highest rate, but also played high event hockey that allowed more shots against as well. I’m willing to make that trade if it eventually gets Gaudreau and Johnson on the scoreboard more often.
Patrik Laine is still fighting it. It wasn’t his worst game in terms of on-ice shot share, but on an individual level he’s still struggling mightily when handling the puck. He had six shot attempts, but only one on net. His passing isn’t crisp and he coughs up the puck too much. I was willing to give him a pass as he shook of the rust from his concussion, but he’s been back for enough games that he can’t get a pass anymore.
Up Next
The Jackets return to Columbus and host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night at 7:00.