Well, now that the season is over, it's time to take a step back and discuss all of the happenings. The 1st Ohio Battery staff has assembled once again to talk about the Blue Jackets' playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, what went wrong in the five games, and what lies ahead.
Now that it’s over, your initial thoughts on the series: was it what you expected, different, and why?
SAM: Not a lot of my thoughts on the series have changed since it has ended. The Penguins were the better team during the year and they rarely were healthy. They got Evgeni Malkin back and they went into another gear. The only part that needs to be amended to those that watched the series is the way the team is going to be remembered. An early playoff exit isn’t going to do wonders for their reputation, but the Blue Jackets had a great year and they were a great team. A playoff format didn’t do them any favors. They have nothing to be ashamed of and the season only spells out good things for the years ahead.
ROB: The outcome was different than I expected if only because it ended so quickly. I had a feeling the Penguins - the better team by far - would win the series, but I figured the Blue Jackets would put a scare into the defending champions before all was said and done. Instead, it was the exact opposite; I was surprised by how the Blue Jackets looked overwhelmed early in the series and how the stage seemed to unnerve some of their veterans, including Sergei Bobrovsky. Hopefully, when they’re back in the postseason a year from now, they’ll be better equipped to handle the situation and worry about playing their uptempo style and not trying to tattoo the Penguins into the boards.
JEFF: Well, considering I said Jackets in six, yes it was different than I expected. The biggest thing that surprised me was the play of Sergei Bobrovsky. I didn’t think he was as bad as people were making him out to be the first couple of games and expected him to get better as the series went along; instead, he pretty much got worse and never came close to stealing the Jackets a game. He just never looked comfortable in net and seemed to press as the series went along. I’m not quite willing to buy that there’s such a thing as “Playoff Bob” yet; 11 postseason games in Union Blue are too small a sample size. Hopefully, as Torts said, experience will help in this regard, and Bobrovsky has put up decent numbers in major international competition. Another surprise was how the Jackets’ big guns weren’t able to get much going offensively. The team’s depth showed up on the scoreboard with some scoring thrust provided by the 11-25-34 line; they just needed more on the score sheet from the Saads, Folignos and Atkinsons of the world.
In your opinion, what one factor will determine whether the Blue Jackets can get back in this position a year from now?
JEFF: I’d say how the team’s young players develop. I say this because, as they say in baseball, veterans tend to play to the level on the back of their baseball cards. That is to say, you mostly know what you’re going to get some guys with a consistent level of play over the years. But the Blue Jackets have some guys like Zach Werenski, Seth Jones, Josh Anderson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Lukas Sedlak, Markus Nutivaara and even Sonny Milano and Gabriel Carlsson who showed varying levels of ability to be darn good NHL players. How do those players come along and keep improving to become the best versions of themselves? That will be especially important if injuries hit, as well, as depth was tested -- and failed -- in 2014-15, the last time the Jackets retook the ice after a playoff appearance.
SAM: They need young talent to step up and they need aging talent to remain stagnant. Zach Werenski, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Lukas Sedlak and many others are only going to get better with more reps in the NHL. What could offset it is older players potentially falling off of a cliff production-wise. To make matters worse, a lot of the Blue Jackets money is tied into these aging players. Scott Hartnell has seen a reduced role but that does not mean a reduced salary. Brandon Dubinsky may not have the same shot differential numbers or point production...can these type of players continue to play at a high level? They have enough skill to make it back into the playoffs, but the front office is going to need to be willing to make the tough decisions when they arise. The depth chart going into the offseason already looks awfully stacked.
ROB: They obviously need a bit more skill up front. The rate at which they generated offense was probably acceptable to hang around in the series, but there’s a glaring difference between them and their opponent. The Penguins are one of the league’s most talented teams and can make you pay in a split-second, whereas the Blue Jackets have to manufacture their offense (and to their credit, they did a great job of that in the regular season). But they’re going to need some more “finish” at the top end of their forward group, and there’s a chance it could come from within, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they added a piece in the offseason to address that.
Which aspect of the Blue Jackets’ playoff performance gets your highest grade, and why?
ROB: I thought their young players were outstanding. John Tortorella went on at length about how the Blue Jackets’ kids played “without fear” in the playoffs and I’m going to emphatically agree with that. Zach Werenski, before he was injured in Game 3, was one of the best players on the ice. Seth Jones was terrific, Oliver Bjorkstrand too. Markus Nutivaara was ridiculously good in Game 4, as was Lukas Sedlak. They got a huge lift from their rookies and that’s an encouraging sign as they look to continually put themselves in this position year after year. It's now the expectation.
SAM: I’ll have to agree with Rob on this one. The Blue Jackets were really kept afloat by their young talent. They didn’t let the big moments get too big for them. Being able to handle the adversity will help an awful lot in the years ahead. Especially if they keep the core together. Considering how makeshift the defense was in the series and how young it was, it showed signs of being a great unit moving forward. The depth in that position may not be as bad as I feared. As the league switches to a “youth movement” Columbus finds themselves in a similar situation and they have the pieces to compete in the seasons ahead.
JEFF: I have to go with the young players as well. There’s not much more you can say about Werenski that hasn’t been said, but not only did he show an incredible ability to drive offense, his warrior-like performance in coming back from a puck to the face was the kind of thing that endears a player to a fanbase forever. Bjorkstrand did everything but score and showed a great ability to drive possession, and Nutivaara’s Game 4 performance was nearly legendary. There’s a lot to like going forward.
What was your “turning point” in the series?
JEFF: Well, in Game 1, you saw the difference in the teams’ ability to create offense, and it was clear that even when the Jackets played a solid defensive game, Pittsburgh still had the skill to make goals out of very little. That meant either Bobrovsky was going to have to stand on his head, or the Jackets were going to have to put three or four in the net every night. When those are the stakes, it can be pretty difficult to win a series. Other than that, obviously the ending of Game 3 was where the series ended, in practice. If Columbus could have escaped with that game, it would have been a series again. Instead, down 3-0, the Jackets were up against it.
ROB: The second period Game 3 was a dagger. After that start with the building rocking and momentum in their favor, the Blue Jackets in essence lost the game (and series) in that middle period. The Penguins found themselves and seemed to put fear and doubt back into the Blue Jackets, who may have had a fighting chance going forward if they pull to 2-1 in Game 3. Sure, they tied it late in Game 3 and had their chances to go ahead, but the Penguins were energized by that second period on the heels of being punched in the mouth in the first period.
SAM: Game 2 set the table for what was to come. If they couldn’t score in Game 1 where Matt Murray went down, they at least needed to come back and show some resolve. They needed to steal one at PPG Paints Arena. Much like the first game, they out-shot them and out-maneuvered them at times, it just didn’t matter. Marc-Andre Fleury stood on his head. Matt Calvert’s hit on Tom Kuhnhackl also displayed the frustration that every Blue Jacket felt within the series. They knew they were better than what they showed but they couldn’t do anything about it. After this game, the writing on the wall should’ve been more clear.
How far do you think the Penguins can advance? What’s ahead for them?
SAM: Whoever wins in the series between the Capitals and the Penguins will likely be your Stanley Cup champion. They are much better than any other team in the playoffs. They have depth other teams can’t match, they are just that much better than anyone else. It’s a shame that they have to play one another so soon. It’s one of the problems of these kind of tournaments. Losing is always considered to be a failure but in the end, only one team can win. Everyone else is glorified loser in some way. If the Capitals' skill shows up and they don’t see a brick wall in front of them with Fleury, they should advance. Hockey is a silly game though and never tends to cooperate with common sentiment. It really feels like a coin flip of a series.
ROB: I really think they’re the best team in the tournament. I felt that way from the start and their five-game win over the Blue Jackets pushed me further in that direction. They don’t have many weaknesses -- yeah, their defense is banged up right now, but they play such a simple style from the back end out that it really doesn’t expose them in any way. Justin Schultz has been really good, Brian Dumoulin stood out in the series against Columbus, and the return of Olli Maatta helps too. The only team that can challenge their firepower is Washington, but the Capitals had a hard time putting away the pesky Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round. If they stick with Marc-Andre Fleury and get the performance they got in the first round, look out for the Penguins.
JEFF: I do hope/am glad we get a Caps-Pens series; that rivalry has been so fun to watch over the past few years. Is this the year the Caps finally exact some revenge on the Penguins and Alex Ovechkin makes his first conference finals? I sure wouldn’t bet on it, as I know enough people in DC who have been tormented by the Penguins that Pittsburgh has to be the favorite. Really, it feels as though this postseason is opening up for the Pens to make a run. Getting rid of the physical Jackets in just five will help, and seeing the Canadiens, Blackhawks, Sharks and Wild already out eliminates some teams with the postseason experience to match up with the Pens.
