Yeah, we all saw that coming.
Someone I know – they might write for this website, and potentially wrote this story – was trying to find a way to put words to another offensive no-show and regulation loss. How, one could reason, can the Blue Jackets continue to stay in the playoff race if they can't even score a goal against Fred–
Ah, yes. Shut up, Rob.
Their spirited rally and overtime win over the Maple Leafs was huge for a number of reasons; finding a way to convince yourself you can win those types of games is important for a young team. Also, seeing the puck go in the net at key moments is a positive. And thirdly, it keeps the Blue Jackets driving toward the bye week with momentum when many thought they'd be limping.
Give John Tortorella some credit here: his job is to keep things as simple as possible for the players. When you're going through a tough stretch and missing so many bodies, it's easy to throw your hands up sometimes and say "what the hell do we have to do?", particularly down 2-0 in the third period to a Leafs team that didn't play well in the game.
In this recent chunk of games, it's become clear that the Blue Jackets are really honing in on this stretch leading to the bye week. Florida, Toronto, Buffalo and Vancouver...four games to bank as many as eight points before you can get some rest and, perhaps, get one or two of your injured players back in the mix before the end of the month. Keep in mind, the All-Star break is coming up, as well.
Tortorella is good at these things: putting a bubble around his team and moving them along toward an attainable goal. The Blue Jackets have put a lot of juice into two wins over Florida and Toronto, to the tune of 80-plus shots on goal, some power play contributions, back-to-back stellar efforts from Sergei Bobrovsky and 60-plus minutes of work in consecutive games. It hasn't been easy, but the reward – banking points – is worth the squeeze.
The challenge now is to finish it off. Florida and Toronto are better teams than Buffalo and Vancouver, but no one's feeling too intimated by the banged-up Blue Jackets these days. Teams are lining up to hand Columbus points because they have sympathy.
Good on the Blue Jackets for hanging tough so far; they've got a back-to-back to wrap up the week but a couple days in between to recharge and empty the tank before they head to tropical climates. They're off to a damn good start.
YOU SHOULD BE READING
- Here's a GIF-by-GIF breakdown of the Blue Jackets' improbable rally, courtesy of Sam Blazer.
- While you're at it, why not video of Artemi Panarin's overtime winner? It's worth a view or six.
- Some great quotes from the Blue Jackets' dressing room after their 3-2 win last night.
- More video? You got it. The Blue Jackets debuted a new intro video for the month of January.
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