Now that they’re basically at full health, the Blue Jackets are out of excuses.
It’s time — now eight games in — to settle down and get some consistency in their game.
They’ve been erratic and entertaining to this point. Their five wins have been of varying styles: hard-working, come-from-behind, dominating, and just plain good. Their losses have been more on the “erratic” side, and the latest example was their 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.
When you score four goals, you should win.
When you score four goals with the reigning Vezina Trophy winner in net, you should absolutely win.
All parties had a hand in their underwhelming effort on Saturday, a game that looked at one point (for a brief moment) as though the Blue Jackets would be set to take off. They tied the game, 4-4, on a Sonny Milano goal in the second period and were dead-locked going to the third period, a period in which John Tortorella wants his team to make its name.
Sure, over the course of a long season you’ll have stinkers like that. But the way they lost — a blown defensive-zone coverage late in regulation with some of your most reliable players on the ice — is particularly frustrating when the Blue Jackets don’t play again until Wednesday night.
Let’s circle back to that health and balance point.
Boone Jenner’s return gives the Blue Jackets their deepest lineup yet. They will, at some point soon, have Jordan Schroeder available following his conditioning stint in Cleveland. They’ve used eight different defensemen and are missing the injured Gabriel Carlsson, but their best group of six might feature Carlsson with Ryan Murray, and not Markus Nutivaara. They’ve been fortunate to not encounter any serious injury trouble yet, but just wait — it’ll come around. It always does.
My friend Kevin Zukerman posted a thoughtful tweet thread yesterday breaking down what the Blue Jackets have/haven’t done so far. They’ve lost to three teams (Chicago, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles) who have three of the four best goal differentials in the NHL, teams with a combined 18-3-4 record.
They’ve beaten teams they should, on paper, beat — teams with a combined 15-15-6 record.
#CBJ's five wins are against NYI, CAR, NYR, MIN, and WPG. Those teams are a combined 15-15-6. None is higher than 5th in their division.
— Kevin Zukerman (@KevinZukerman) October 22, 2017
What does it mean? For better or worse, the Blue Jackets’ 5-3-0 record is an accurate representation of what they currently are: good enough to win games they should win, but not consistent enough to beat the top teams. Will they get there? They did last season, but there’s clearly work to be done.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
When it’s an up-and-down start, the Blue Jackets need their special teams to be the equalizer. Their penalty killing has been fine. Their power play, until Saturday’s goal from Nick Foligno, had been a mess.
Not enough shots, not nearly enough chances. The Blue Jackets were having a hard time breaking down penalty kills and it stemmed from a reluctance to shoot; they were more direct on Saturday and Foligno’s goal was an example, but they need more. Their second unit has been seldom used and seldom effective, leaving most of the responsibility to their loaded No. 1 unit (and that’s how it should be).
Tortorella wants Artemi Panarin shooting the puck more. John — I agree!
Alexander Wennberg’s natural inclination is to make a play, and that’s fine because he’s really good at it. But when he’s electing to shoot, sometimes he’s so hesitant that the lane closes and there’s nothing left. It happened twice against the Kings.
Foligno is in his usual goal-line spot for loose pucks and Cam Atkinson is fighting it. Sooner or later, it may break their way but their habits need to change before it’ll happen. A few days of practice, which surely will include work on their power play, might be the best medicine for the Blue Jackets right now.
FULFULL YOUR DESTINY, OF ANALYZING TAIWANESE SUBTITLES
The internet is a wonderful place.
Redditors may have uncovered a significant piece of Star Wars dialogue — featured within the latest trailer — albeit in the subtitles of the Taiwanese version. The subtitles revealed gender-specific written forms of the word “you,” which is common in several languages including Taiwanese. Here’s what the breakdown revealed:
- Supreme Leader Snoke is talking to a female (Rey?) in the opening line
- Snoke is speaking to a male character (Kylo Ren?) when he says “fulfill your destiny”
- Luke is talking to a male character when he says “this is not going to go the way you think”
My mind is racing with possibilities and also feeling validated because I suspected Snoke was talking to Rey. There’s a story linking those two that predates this trilogy and I’m optimistic that we’ll get the curtain peeled back there with The Last Jedi.
We’re less than two months away. I can’t believe it.
YOU SHOULD BE READING
- John Tortorella has been the Jackets' coach for two years. People on the internet were wrong about him, which may surprise you.
- Getting Oliver Bjorkstrand on the board is important for the Blue Jackets.
- The Blue Jackets are going to be patient with Sonny Milano and will be doing a lot of teaching.
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