We know wins and losses don’t mean anything during the preseason slate, but a win of any variety is still nice.
As these games are more about players finding their legs and, more specifically, the young-guns getting ice time and roles being established, John Tortorella referenced as much before the game.
“You have to be really careful. Especially with amount of skating these guys have done, not to get too negative, and quite honestly, not to jump up and down when something really good is going on.”
After a 5-2 loss in the preseason opener last Tuesday at Nationwide, Saturday’s matchup featured an opportunity at redemption for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks.
Coach John Tortorella was behind the bench for his first preseason game, and Alexander Wennberg played his first game after initially being delayed to camp due to Visa issues.
He expressed excitement about playing but cautioned it probably would not be his best performance. Wennberg logged of 19:37 ice time and was a +1.
Similar to Tuesday, the opening minutes of the game featured one team flexing their offensive muscle early, this time it was the Hawks getting a handful of shots.
The first goal of the night belonged to Columbus as Ryan Murray netted his first of the preseason. Five minutes later, the familiar face of Artem Anisimov tied the score at one, which was the end of the first-period score.
Columbus beat Hawks goaltender Jean-Francois Berube twice more in the second. Lukas Sedlak and Oliver Bjorkstrand each scored their first. Vitaly Abramov, Jack Johnson, Zach Werenski, and Bobby MacIntyre all had assists.
In the third period, Jonathan Toews lit the lamp for Chicago on the power play.
Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo impressed in his second game, as he faced a barrage of shots early and often, including 18 a piece the first two periods.
While he struggled in the opener, allowing five goals on 21 shots, he made 35 saves through the first 40 minutes Saturday and picked up the win 3-2 making 52 saves on the evening.
Though the box score will indicate the Hawks pushed the play and dominated the offensive chances, you have to be happy with a hard-fought win in a tough building to play. Preseason or not.
Columbus finished the night just 43% from the faceoff dot, and only the Hawks could convert with the man-advantage. The Hawks went 1-for-4, while Columbus went 0-for-3. True to form for a Tortorella-coached squad, the grit shined through to the tune of 22 blocked shots, compared to just eight for the home team.
They also had 19 hits, and a first-period fight in the opening minutes of the game after Columbus, and Nick Moutrey took exception to John Hayden running into Korp.
As the Jackets leave the Windy City with their first preseason victory, they will be back at it Sunday afternoon. Columbus will hit the ice tomorrow against the Nashville Predators at Nationwide Arena at 3 pm.