Hockey is back, and the Columbus Blue Jackets are celebrating a win.
What a time to be alive.
The youthful version of the Jackets began this year's NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., with a comprehensive 7-2 victory over the baby Dallas Stars.
There wasn't much to complain about from the Jackets' point of view, as the team's big guns shined, its goaltender played well and its style of play was crisp and aggressive. Columbus had a solid game in all phases and played with poise instead of panic, using both size and skill to its advantage in a game the team never trailed.
2016 first-round pick Pierre-Luc Dubois, 2015 second-round pick Paul Bittner and 2016 third-round pick Vitaly Abramov each scored twice for Columbus, while AHL signee Bobby MacIntyre added a tally. In net, summer signee Matiss Kivlenieks was solid and had a strong defense in front of him anchored by top line Gabriel Carlsson and Ryan Collins.
Here's what it looked like from the Centre Ice Arena by the bay in northwest Michigan.
QUOTABLE
Blue Jackets/Cleveland Monsters coach John Madden: "I was really pleased. We just had a quick talk in the dressing room, the coaching staff, and there wasn't a guy that didn't play hard. They all played their roles. The skill guys were skill guys, the other guys were working. It was a complete game by everybody. The first game is always a little jittery for everybody, the coaches and management, but I thought everybody played extremely well and jelled pretty well so quickly."
Forward Vitaly Abramov: "It was a fun game. We played a good game. I tried to show my best game and the team tried to show its best game."
THREE STARS
1. Dubois: Of all the players in Traverse City, there might not be more pressure on a single one than Dubois. It's not just that he's a first-round pick, it's that with the team facing a hole down the middle after William Karlsson was selected in the expansion draft and Sam Gagner signed elsewhere while Brandon Dubinsky rehabs from injury, Dubois might have to be a key part of the Columbus team. Reviews from last season in juniors were mixed, but he seemed to finish strong and by all accounts he's progressed quite a bit from a year ago when he arrived in Traverse City at age 18. Not only did he score twice, the latter on a picture-perfect chip, but he appeared to take it upon himself to lead the squad when necessary.
2. Abramov: OK, sure, it's easy to pick stars when you had a trio of guys with two goals. But Abramov really is a joy to watch, as he plays the game with the kind of heart and fire you tend to see out of guys who aren't the biggest ones out there. Listed at 5-9 (perhaps generously), Abramov plays bigger than his size with a tenacious style of play, and it's not all flash. Sure, he can do great things with the puck on his stick – each of his goals took the finishing knack of a scorer, and his drop pass to Dubois for the team's fourth goal was nifty – but he also battles for the puck and battles to get to the hard areas on the ice. Impressive.
3. Bittner: I'm taking the easy way out on this one by picking another two-goal scorer, but you could practically reach out and touch how nice this game was for the 38th overall pick in 2015. He's battled injuries and even walked away from the game for a time last year while he figured out his future, but Bittner looked the part of someone with the ability to be one of the top picks in the draft. It wasn't just the two goals, as well, as Bittner was impressive on all 200 feet of the ice with a heady game. In a good place both mentally and physically, Bittner looks in a spot where he can improve from a disappointing 2015-16.
WELCOME MATISS
Kivlenieks made his debut in union blue, even if he didn't have the pads for the occasion.
Matiss Kivlenieks rocking his Sioux City pads. Not exactly color coordinated. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/enLrpJigzS
— Jeff Svoboda (@JeffSvoboda) September 8, 2017
The 6-2, 185-pound goaltender wore those pillows well a season ago while being named the USHL's top netminder before signing this offseason with the Blue Jackets. In his first game, at least, he looked the part, playing a calm game in net that belies his youth at just 20 years old.
He gave up a laser while the team was down two men and also mishandled a puck behind the net to lead directly to a goal, but Kivlenieks made up for that one mistake with a solid third period as Dallas threw what it had at the Blue Jackets defense. Perhaps his biggest stop was seven minutes into the third when he moved across the top of his crease right to left to deny a redirection from in close.
"I'm extremely happy," Madden said. "He played extremely well. I liked his composure the most. I love goalies that are composed. He got scored on on the 5-on-3, but you have to give it to that guy (stars defenseman Niklas Hansson). It was a good shot. It would go in on any goalie. Just the way (Kivlenieks) rebounded back and stayed composed, it was fun to watch."
SLAPPERS
MacIntyre (former of Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL) had a solid game on the third line, batting a puck out of the air for his goal and nearly adding another later. ... Blue Jackets' defensemen weren't afraid to lead the rush when Dallas gave them the chance, something you don't exactly expect when the one leading the rush is Carlsson or Collins. And they looked about as surprised as we did. ... Early on, newly signed blueliner Doyle Somerby of Boston University also traversed (pun intended) through the Dallas defense and got a shot from in close. He impressed throughout with his composure. ... As Columbus started to pull away early in the second, tensions rose, and Kole Sherwood finally was the Jacket to drop the gloves.
NEXT UP
Columbus faces Minnesota at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night.
