It was a busy weekend of hockey as the Columbus Blue Jackets took the ice for the first competitive action of the preseason.
First, on Saturday two of the three practice groups faced off in an intrasquad scrimmage at Nationwide Arena, which was open to the public, free of charge. Patrik Laine, Adam Fantilli, Luca Del Bel Belluz, and Roman Ahcan scored as the Blue team shut out the White.
Today, there were two games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, both of which went beyond regulation. The visiting Blue Jackets lost in a shootout in the afternoon in Pittsburgh, 3-2, while the home team this evening in Columbus won 4-3 in overtime.
I was fortunate to be able to attend both games at Nationwide, and here is what stood out to me.
General Thoughts
The open practice on Saturday was a great event for the fans. There were several thousand fans in attendance, and I noticed a good chunk of that were families with young children. This was the perfect opportunity to expose them to NHL players on the main rink, but in a shorter timeframe (with a running clock and just one intermission, it lasted about 1:15), at an earlier time of day, and free of charge.
The first game on Sunday was a bit of a snoozer, and the video stream was of poor quality so it was tough to follow. The Pittsburgh home announcers were annoying and the feed kept skipping. It’s also disappointing that none of the star Penguins players appeared in either game, so it wasn’t a great test for the Jackets.
In the scrimmage and in the games, I saw that there was an improvement in the defensive breakouts. No longer were the Jackets getting hemmed into their own zone, nor were they chipping the puck out in desperation. A concerted effort was made to carry or pass the puck out of the zone with control. Unfortunately they were still sloppy in the neutral zone and could run into trouble there.
In the nightcap, I picked up on another schematic emphasis: every unit in the offensive zone, whether at even strength or on the power play, tried to pass the puck into the slot. Shots from this area that get through to the net are more likely to go in, or create quality rebounds. This isn’t reflected in the heat map, but that’s because those shot attempts are also more likely to be blocked. Still, I think that trade-off is worth it. Either the player in the middle gets a clean shot straight-on, or he’s able to work the puck back to the sides, and that lateral puck movement increases the expected goal value of the resulting shot.
That should help the power play, too, which had much better puck movement. Adam Fantilli is playing the bumper spot in the middle, and he has potential to feast there.
Forwards
Adam Fantilli/Patrik Laine/Alexandre Texier: Fantilli and Laine have quickly formed a friendship off-ice, with Laine letting the rookie crash at his place. They have also quickly developed chemistry on the ice. They combined for two goals on Saturday and Fantilli collected another pair of points on Sunday night. I hope this pair stays together throughout preseason, which then will lead to Fantilli being either the 1C or 2C (depending on whether this line or the Jenner/Gaudreau/Johnson line gets deployed more). Fantilli is as good as advertised, and Laine seems re-energized, and is making an impact all over the ice, with or without the puck.
Texier seems to have picked up where he left off 20 months ago. He does everything well, and can fit in on any line. Presumably he is a placeholder here while Kirill Marchenko recovers from a minor injury, but Tex is going to make it hard to demote him to the bottom 6.
Sillinger, but not the one you think: Owen Sillinger, Cole’s older brother, earned an assist on Saturday and the tying goal late in regulation on Sunday afternoon. I wish Cole had put up some points, but it’s not as though he has struggled. His line (with Liam Foudy and Justin Danforth, i.e. the “show me something” line) had a 66.67 CF% at 5v5 on Sunday afternoon, and 78.35 xGF%. That’s something to build on.
Carson Meyer: Last preseason, Meyer was one of my favorites, and I thought he had done enough to play his way onto the roster. That didn’t happen, but it looks like he’s trying to make a hard decision for the coaches again. He was the first star on Sunday night as he was in the right place at the right time for two goals.
(I also love that Fantilli and Kent Johnson were getting penalty kill time. Could we have a POWER KILL like we did with speedy scorers like Cam Atkinson and Josh Anderson?)
Jack Roslovic: Roslovic played like I hoped Cole Sillinger would. He is playing with a sense of urgency. There has never been doubt about his abilities as a skater or with the puck, but he has always been a highly streaky player, with the level of effort varying from time to time. I’m looking for him to maintain this energy all the way through opening day.
Jordan Dumais: I thought he was invisible for much of Sunday night’s game, but in our writer chat Dale pointed out how he was leading the team in all of the advanced on-ice stats. I felt like Brendan Gaunce was doing more of the driving for that line, but Dumais finally got my attention in overtime. He made a very difficult shot to win it, and it took everyone in the arena a beat to realize that it had actually gone in. He’s ready for pro hockey this season, and hopefully he can get a waiver to play in the AHL.
Tyler Peddle: He was sent back to his junior team after the scrimmage, but he was an unexpected player that stood out to me. He’s a big boy, who can play physical and has a booming shot. He needs a lot of seasoning still but I can see why the Jackets made a deal for the final pick of the draft to take him. He could be a steal in a few years.
Defensemen
Erik Gudbranson: Still bad! I wasn’t going to bring him up unless I had to, but he was responsible for two of Pittsburgh’s goals tonight. On the first one, he demonstrated the attention span of a gnat as he lost track of the puck behind him in the crease. On the Penguins’ tying goal in the second period, Austin Wagner was able to hold Gudbranson off with one arm and score with the other. Should you be able to do that to a physical defender? Yikes.
Damon Severson: He’s going to be a calming, steady presence on the blue line. He had one bone-headed risky play in front of his own net, but that’s the scouting report for him: he’ll do lots of things well, but when he makes a mistake it tends to be a really big one. He made up for it with a huge steal behind the net in overtime.
Denton Mateychuk: I knew he was good, but I didn’t expect him to be this far along in his development. Aaron Portzline reported that not only could the Jackets apply for a waiver for Dumais to play in Cleveland, but Mateychuk as well. After tonight I can see why. He’s definitely on the smaller side but it doesn’t appear to hold him back. He skates well and is smart with his positioning. He’s not afraid to shoot the puck, and it usually was on target. On the second power play unit, he was in the left circle while Severson played the point.
Goalies
Elvis Merzlikins: 18 saves on 21 shots in 40 minutes isn’t outstanding, but I thought he was fine. The goals he allowed came from defensive breakdowns.
Pavel Cajan: I was very underwhelmed with Cajan last year in Traverse City and the preseason, but he looks a lot better this year. He allowed two goals on Saturday, but he was under constant pressure and made several nice saves. He was perfect in his half game on Sunday afternoon.
Aaron Dell: The NHL journeyman and Frozen realm is here on a tryout contract. He could be a worthwhile veteran presence to join Cajan and Jet Greaves in Cleveland. With the injury history of Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov (who is currently injured now), we could use that extra depth.
That’s enough from me; what did you like or dislike from this weekend’s action? What else are you wanting to see from the team this week? They’re back in action on Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres