After getting a couple of days off, the Blue Jackets faced the Bruins at home. After a disappointing loss where they didn’t play well against the Sabres, they managed to play well in this one. Unfortunately, the veteran Bruins were able to take advantage of a few mistakes to easily put away the Jackets.
1st Period
The Jackets didn’t record their first shot until five minutes after the initial puck drop. But after they got warmed up the game looked more even.
Jiricek accidentally shanked a clearing attempt for a delay of game penalty. Great individual efforts by Sillinger and Texier contributed to a grade-A penalty kill.
Shortly after the kill, Texier got called for an embellishment after he got blatantly held by a Boston defenseman. Offsetting minors made it 4-on-4. Again, it makes zero sense to call both penalties. It’s either a penalty or it’s not. Has there ever been a lone embellishment penalty called?
Then Severson got a roughing penalty for a pretty careless shot to the face of a Bruin in an after-the-whistle scrum. Another very good kill kept the game scoreless.
Sillinger nearly scored when he got a stick on a Severson shot. The puck had a clear path under the arm of Ullmark, but got enough jersey to stay out of the net.
The Fantilli line had a great shift late in the period. They were able to cycle the puck and get three shots on net. Ullmark came up with a big shoulder save on a booming Fantilli shot.
After a slow start, the Jackets controlled the game at 5v5. They won the unblocked shot attempt battle 13-4 and led in expected goals 0.87-0.12. The Sillinger line, in particular, was very good. They managed an xGF% of 100, with an xGF of 0.59.
2nd Period
As if on schedule after a bad period, the Bruins went up 1-0 early in the period. Shattenkirk blindly launched a puck towards the net off the boards, and it went off the post and in.
BOS Goal 1-0: Shattenkirk (Grzelcyk, Coyle) 2:12
Kent Johnson answered the call a few shifts later. He passed up a golden opportunity, but the puck bounced off the wall, off of Provorov’s stick, and right back to him in the slot. He wristed it past Ullmark.
CBJ Goal 1-1: Johnson (Provorov, Voronkov) 4:06
Grzelcyk went to the box for holding to give the Jackets their first power play of the night. The second unit had several great chances, but unfortunately, they couldn’t find the net.
Immediately after the power play, Severson went to the box for the second time for tripping. This time the Bruins capitalized. A double deflection found the back of the net.
BOS PP Goal 2-1: van Riemsdyk (DeBrusk, Lindholm) 13:06
The Jackets had a good first period but followed it up with a bad second period. They recorded only 1 5v5 shot on goal in just over 18 minutes.
3rd Period
The energy level was much better at the start of the third period. Much of the time was spent in the Boston end, and the Bruins iced the puck several times. By the first TV timeout, the Jackets had a 13-4 shot attempt advantage.
While Jeff Rimer was talking up Jiricek, the young Czech coughed up the puck behind the net. The ensuing scramble in front of the net put the Bruins up by two.
BOS Goal 3-1: Heinen (van Riemsdyk) 7:29
With four minutes left, the Bruins added a fourth goal. Fantilli jumped to try and grab a puck in the neutral zone. He missed and allowed a two-on-one the other way.
BOS Goal 4-1: Frederic (van Riemsdyk) 15:55
Team Leaders
Shots: Fantilli, Roslovic (3)
Shot attempts: Fantilli (8)
CF%: Bemstrom (71.43)
xGF%: Johnson (91.01)
Final Thoughts
Despite a rough second period, the Jackets played well in this game. They won the shot attempt and expected goals battle at both 5v5 and in all situations. Unfortunately, special teams, a few bad penalties, and a couple of rookie mistakes played a large role in the scoreboard tilting heavily one way. It doesn’t help that Martin can’t be relied on to steal one or two goals away, while Ullmark can.
Sillinger continues to play well and looked like a grizzled veteran in this game. He was very good on the penalty kill and centered the Blue Jackets’ best line. He won 67% of his faceoffs too.
The Russian line struggled, as did Jiricek. You can’t win them all, I guess.
Credit to the coaching staff for rolling lines according to their performance. The Fantilli and Sillinger lines were the most used, and the Russian line was the least used.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets are heading to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Thursday at 7:00 PM ET.