The Columbus Blue Jackets lost 4-1 to the Montreal Canadiens and it became clear early in the evening that they were going to have trouble beating goaltender Carey Price.
The offense which had been flowing like never before completely stopped and naturally a snake-bitten goal scorer Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the Blue Jackets lone goal.
Was the box score telling the truth or were their morsels that the Blue Jackets can build off of moving into January and February.
Now for your Three Things:
A Rough Night For Ryan Murray
The Blue Jackets had a rough night overall with bounces seemingly not going their way. The one player where it seemed to happen more so than anyone else was Ryan Murray.
His shot metrics which have turned around for the better overall, were down in the tubes tonight. His plus/minus wasn't very hot on the night either.
So how do you judge that?
You can take it out on Murray and say that he isn't very good but you can also realize that he had an outlier of a night as well. It will be interesting to see how he rebounds though after one of his worst games of the season. Something tells me he will be just fine.
Wennberg? Not Now-berg
He doesn't shoot the puck. We know that. It is also what you come to expect. A moment when he was all alone on goal, he didn't put a shot up, in fact, he passed it. Just a disappointing moment in a long line of them for him now.
But that shouldn't discount who he is as a player either. He is more of a nuanced player than anyone gives him credit for. He puts up assists when put in the right position.
The fact of the matter is that he needs to shoot or he is going to find himself on the chopping block. He has a good shot. He needs to unleash it more often.
The potential is still tantalizing and you can see it in moments. It just isn't working as of this moment.
Hot Goalie
Just like the Wennberg conundrum and the Murray situation. You're going to run into a hot goalie. Carey Price can be one of the best in the world when given the chance.
That is what the most frustrating parts of watching hockey. A goalie can be your savior or your Achilles heel. Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo didn't play a bad game. He just wasn't on the same level as Price.
There are going to be those nights. Just moving past them is the easiest thing you can do. It is a road bump and the Blue Jackets will have a couple more nights like it.
