It took a little while, but the Bread Man has arrived.
The dynamic, game-breaking and game-changing player the Blue Jackets hoped they were getting in a blockbuster deal…yeah, he’s here. And he’s really good.
This was before a five-assist night in New Jersey on Friday, and before he set up the game’s only goal on Saturday night, a 1-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Panarin’s game has been on the rise (will not apologize for this pun) since John Tortorella paired him with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Josh Anderson – an alliance that was unlikely as it was an odd fit on paper.
Well, that’s why “on paper” is just that.
Without this line and without Panarin finding another level (or two) to his game, we’ll never know if the Blue Jackets are sitting in first place atop the NHL’s toughest division at the 30-game mark. They’ve won 19 of 30 games and haven’t had their best players on-point for much of the season, but lately, the top line has been pulling the weight of all four lines.
Cam Atkinson – yes, a 35-goal scorer and NHL All-Star a season ago – was a healthy scratch on Saturday. Brandon Dubinsky has not played well and Boone Jenner has spent much of the last week skating on the fourth line.
Nick Foligno has fluctuated from center to win and only recently has started to show signs of coming around offensively. Alexander Wennberg is back and healthy and played well Friday night, but again, we keep coming back to Panarin.
He’s got 27 points in 30 games and 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his last five games. In that span, the Blue Jackets are 3-2-0, and he has only one point in the two losses.
As he goes, the Blue Jackets go. And right now it’s going really well.
THE LAST JEDI WEEK!
That's all we need to say, isn't it?
Over the weekend, The Last Jedi made its world premiere in Los Angeles and the rest of us will see it beginning Thursday. Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly has shared only small snippets of reaction over the last 24 hours, including "moving" and "powerful."
Whew.
Speaking of Jedi, it sounds like we're moving closer to hearing about an Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone movie in the near future...
YOU SHOULD BE READING
- Sergei Bobrovsky is the man, leading the NHL with four shutouts already this season.
- What We Learned: Panarin's heating up, and what Cam Atkinson's healthy scratch means.
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