Once again, head coach John Tortorella had little fault to give for his team's performance, but once again, Columbus fell short while falling 4-1 in Game 2.
As a wise man once said, playoff series don't begin until the home team has lost a game, but the pressure is now on Columbus as the Jackets head home.
Goals, Goals, Goals
Columbus has good hockey players. The Jackets scored plenty of goals this year, but the reality is the Jackets have just 22 tallies in the last 12 games, less than two per game.
Without a major turnaround on the goal scoring front, Columbus will find the best season in franchise history over quickly. In Game 2, it was clear the onus was to put pucks on net and search for rebounds, but that too often led to shots from the points into the teeth of a Pittsburgh defense doing everything it can to keep pucks from getting to goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Columbus had just 39.1 percent of the high-danger chances in Game 2 despite having edges in Corsi, Fenwick, shots and scoring chances. While it's clear the Jackets have shown the ability to play a strong possession game against the Penguins, getting high-quality chances has been a struggle.
Throughout the team's recent skid, the Jackets have looked like they've been fighting the puck, and that hasn't changed during the series against the Pens. At times, passes have been sloppy, and it has almost looked like the team is panicking in the offensive zone and trying to move too quickly rather than letting natural talent take over.
If this were the middle of the season, you could wait patiently for things to turn, but down 2-0 in a playoff series, Columbus must find its scoring touch and do it fast.
What About Bob?
Yet again, Sergei Bobrovsky made playoff start, and yet again, the Jackets' netminder gave up three goals or more.
Columbus has now yielded three goals in every postseason game in franchise history, and there was some talk about Bob's performance in the Game 2 loss. The chief complaint was Pittsburgh's opening goal, when the goaltender got caught out of the net and Sidney Crosby ended up with a tap-in to give his team a 1-0 lead.
"I don’t like to talk about goals. It was my mistake, and that’s it," Bobrovsky said afterward.
It was an uncharacteristic bobble with the puck for Bobrovsky and it came at a bad time, with Columbus carrying play early in the game. There is little defending the mistake, which simply can't happen, but Bobrovsky went on to make a number of high-quality saves as the game went on and appeared more comfortable than in Game 1.
The third goal drew the ire of some fans as the puck ricocheted off Bobrovsky's body and into the net, but that was a harder save – moving quickly from the top of his crease to the side of the cage while Pittsburgh was just finishing a man advantage – than most realize. He was also an inch or two away from making the stop on Pittsburgh's second goal.
Bobrovsky wasn't the reason Columbus lost Game 2, but there is some truth to the statement that the likely Vezina winner has to be great for the Jackets to win the series and has merely been good so far. Pittsburgh does have one of the most talented offensive attacks in the league, and Bob will continue to be tested as the series moves on. It will be interesting to see his game back in the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena.
WTF Matt Calvert?
A lot can happen in a playoff series, and there's always going to be a point for a losing team when the frustration boils over.
That happened in Game 2 for Matt Calvert, who after the Pens' empty-net goal seemed to be on a one-man quest for revenge. That included breaking his stick in a cross-check of Tom Kuhnhackl and then throwing a shoulder into the Penguin for good measure.
It was the kind of play that immediately got branded as dirty by Penguins fans, and it's hard to argue with that conclusion. Calvert has long been a pest for opposing teams but has rarely crossed the line like that, and he faces a potential suspension from the NHL for Game 3.
There's no room in the game for plays like that, and the best revenge for Columbus has to be putting goals on the board, not in hits like that.
The Saadfather
For the second time in a week, a Columbus player reacted to a benching with a goal.
Last week, in the final two regular-season games, it was Cam Atkinson. In Game 2, it was Brandon Saad, the Pittsburgh native who scored the lone goal after playing just two shifts in the third period of Game 1.
His tally that tied the game at 1 in the second period was a beauty, too.
Saad showed why he was such a big acquisition for Columbus with the goal, in which he showcased his lightning quick release and ability to put the puck where Fleury couldn't make a stop. If you're looking for a positive sign from the Jackets, here's one.
Time for Results
Tortorella said "I don’t have one bitch about the team" following the Game 2 loss, and it's hard to argue the Jackets didn't play a good hockey game in Pittsburgh on Friday night.
Yet at some point, these good hockey games have to be turned into results. Columbus is two losses away from seeing the best season in franchise history end, and while it's clear the Jackets are facing one of the NHL's elite teams, being down 0-2 threatens to end the playoff run before it even gets started.
We've said it before and will say it again – it's better that the underlying numbers have been solid during the Columbus losing skid over the past few weeks. It shows the Jackets are playing good hockey and having solid possession of the puck, which are usually signs of teams who are going to win games.
But the reality is the puck just isn't going in the net right now, and if Columbus can't figure that out, the season will be over shortly. At some point, there has to be results on the table, and hopefully a return home will provide those to the Jackets.
