Mere hours before sparking the Blue Jackets with a pair of goals, John Tortorella was honest in his assessment of the newly-acquired Thomas Vanek:
"I'm hoping (Wennberg and Vanek) can get a little work together," Tortorella said this morning. "You see it in spurts. It's Wennberg's line that I'm hoping works, because then I don't have to rob from Peter to pay Paul and try to get a little balance with my other three.
Tortorella was right to say something. His top line of Panarin, Dubois, and Atkinson has been solid, and he's been pleased with the offense generated by the Milano, Foligno, Bjorkstrand line. And no disrespect to Brandon Dubinsky, but Wennberg wasn't going to be bounced to the fourth line to play with Mark Letestu and Matt Calvert.
That meant the coach was happy with the recent play of three of his four lines, and for good reason. Each of the prior two games had yielded wins, and the team scored four goals in both games.
But he was obviously not pleased with the play of that third line (if you'd like to call it that), and as our Rob Mixer said so succinctly yesterday, "Jenner, Wennberg and Vanek have been hit-and-miss, notably Vanek who's play hasn't been all that good since joining the Blue Jackets."
It's a tricky spot for a guy like Vanek. Ian Cole was brought in to play simple, no-frills hockey. He's done that. Mark Letestu was brought in to play on the fourth line and help on special teams, which is definitely a big ask, but it's nowhere near the pressure of a guy like Vanek. Vanek was brought in for one thing and one thing only - to score goals for a team that's been bad at scoring goals for much of the year.
And through four games, he'd been kept off the scoresheet and looked bad doing it. Heck, it wouldn't be a stretch to say he contributed more to the opposition's offense than his own team's.
That all changed in a big way on Thursday night, as Vanek potted a pair of goals, Jenner scored one of his own and added an assists, and Wennberg contributed with an assist, as well. The line was responsible for all three of the Blue Jackets' 5-on-5 goals in the game, and didn't allow any the other way.
Thomas The Point Engine ties the game up. He accepts a Jenner feed and has an easy goal in front.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/N481JxJoCw
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) March 9, 2018
Not only did the line accomplish the ultimate goal of lighting the lamp, they were dominant nearly every time they took the ice. At 5-on-5, the line led all players in CF%, with Wennberg leading the way (94.74% - 18/19), followed by Vanek (81.48% - 22/27), and Jenner (76.00% - 19/25).
The Jenner-Wennberg-Vanek line certainly had a good night. 3 goals, and led the team expected goals % and in 5v5 shot attempt percentage. ONE shot attempt against when Wenny was on the ice. pic.twitter.com/Nkj5UPlGee
— Alison (@AlisonL) March 9, 2018
Think about that. The line gave up, at worst, six shot attempts in about 11 minutes of 5-on-5, while shooting somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 shots.
It looks like Austrians will be dominating Columbus, Ohio for two weeks in a row.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/X3RZpIQZL5
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) March 9, 2018
Vanek was responsible for a game-high six high-danger scoring opportunities at 5-on-5, far outpacing Nathan MacKinnon's three and Artemi Panarin's two. He nearly completed the hat trick, but was robbed on a beautiful redirect.
Tortorella thought so too in his post-game comments: "You can see they're in sync there. Thomas is one of the better players in the league getting to the net. I'm happy it worked for them. It solidifies things a little bit. So hopefully they can keep it going."
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