Like most coaches, John Tortorella uses ice time as his equalizer.
For some players it's a motivator and for other players, it's the opposite. But the Blue Jackets are in a no-man's-land with their top players (who are struggling to score) because of injuries and a respectable record – they need their remaining and uninjured stars to play, while at the same time hoping they emerge from length offensive funks.
There's only one word that comes to mind: patience.
Tortorella could've gotten frustrated and sent a message to Cam Atkinson tonight. He didn't. He kept giving him opportunities and, despite "fighting the puck" in Tortorella's words, Atkinson managed to make one hell of a play in overtime to set up Zach Werenski's game-winning goal. Atkinson is one of a few players who haven't scored goals as often as they'd like, and that has become even more magnified with the Blue Jackets scoring only four goals in their last three games (2-1-0).
Artemi Panarin is on-again-off-again but looks perilously close to breaking through. Nick Foligno is right there. Boone Jenner is in and around the net. These players, whom the Blue Jackets need to get offense from, are doing the right things. The goals haven't arrived yet, and it sucks because they need them, but the last thing Tortorella needs to do is further shake things up. At this point it (based on sheer numbers) it doesn't look like he can.
Stay the course. Keep doing your thing 5-on-5 and try to involve the fourth line. There's a recipe for the Blue Jackets to stay afloat while they wait for the likes of Calvert, Wennberg and Sedlak to return from injury, and right now they're on the right track.
Josh Anderson leads the Blue Jackets in goals with seven. That's a good thing. There's legitimate depth behind the big guns and it's quality depth, too; when the Jackets are finding goals hard to come by, they've got additional options who can chip in and score. When they get the secondary scoring in addition to the likes of Panarin, Atkinson and Foligno heating up, that's when you can start to feel really good about their chances.
STAR WARS
I'm a little concerned about Star Wars fatigue.
This is coming from a lifer, a diehard, who can't get enough of it.
When The Last Jedi comes out in a few weeks, it's going to be the talk of the entertainment world. It may be the biggest movie of all time. But then, in a few months, we're supposed to shift gears and welcome Solo: A Star Wars Story, in May 2018? Yikes. That's a tight turnaround especially riding off The Last Jedi and any potential news surrounding Rian Johnson's new trilogy – which we should know more about early in 2018, one would think – and Lucasfilm is hoping Solo finds a way to stand out.
Listen...I'm going to see the movie. Probably multiple times in its first weekend. But I'm also leery about the five months between movies, especially when The Last Jedi is riding along with so much hype.
YOU SHOULD BE READING
- While not at their best, the Blue Jackets got a big play from two of their stars to win in Montreal.
- Sergei Bobrovsky was doing his thing last night, keeping the Jackets in games they probably shouldn't win.
- Make way for Artemi Panarin, who appears to be headed in the right direction offensively.
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