Numbers are fun.
They can also be very telling. Here are ten of the most telling stats - and what they tell - through the first ten Columbus Blue Jacket games.
#1: Joonas Korpisalo has a 2.17 goals against average, and a .936 save percentage. He ranks 7th in the league in save percentage, but it's important to note that of the six names above him, four of them have played in only three games - which is the minimum to qualify for the leaderboard. The other two names? Petr Mrazek of the Carolina Hurricanes, who has four starts and is it .954 on the season, and Chicago's Kevin Lankinen, who has a third of his starts against Columbus' struggle offense.
#2: Seth Jones and Zach Werenski have the two worst +/- on the team, at a combined -15. The Blue Jackets top defensive line does go up against the best offensive weapons that opposing teams have to offer, but they did that last season too - when they were a combined +19 and were both (along with Eric Robinson) among the top three skaters on the team in that stat.
#3: Speaking of the plus/minus rating: Michael Del Zotto, who was on a tryout contract until a month ago, is far and away the teams +/- leader. He's a +8; the closest to him is his blue line mate, Dean Kukan, who is a +3. And hey - Del Zotto is tied for the team lead in hits too, at 24.
#4: Speaking of Eric Robinson, he's quietly putting together a very solid season. He has two goals and two assists on the season - the same amount of points (4) as Nick Foligno and Cam Atkinson, and more than Max Domi (3). But the speedy Princeton graduate has done so averaging just 11:21 of ice time per game; only Nathan Gerbe averages less, and his "average" is from the only game he's skated in this season. For reference, Foligno is averaging 17:03, Atkinson 16:57, and Domi 15:26.
#5: Every game has come down to the final period. Here is a look at the goal differential after two periods for the first ten games of the season:
| GAME | GOAL DIFF. AFTER 2ND | END RESULT |
|---|---|---|
| @ NSH | 0 (Game tied, 1-1) | L, 3-1 |
| @ NSH | 0 (Game tied, 1-1) | L, 5-2 |
| @ DET | 0 (Game tied, 1-1) | W, 3-2 |
| @ DET | -1 (Detroit, 2-1) | L, 3-2 (OT) |
| TB | -1 (Tampa Bay, 2-1) | L, 3-2 (OT) |
| TB | +1 (Columbus, 3-2) | W, 5-2 |
| FLA | 0 (Game tied, 2-2) | L, 4-3 (OT) |
| FLA | 0 (Game tied, 1-1) | W, 3-2 |
| @ CHI | +1 (Columbus, 2-1) | W, 2-1 |
| @ CHI | 0 (Tied, 1-1) | L, 3-1 |
Six of the ten games have been tied entering the third period of play. The Blue Jackets have led by one goal in two other games, and trailed by one goal in the other two. For the season, that is 14 goals for and 14 goals against through two periods of play. So, they like to keep us on our toes.
#6: Columbus' 4-3-3 record through ten games puts them one point behind last years pace through the same number of games, when they were 5-3-2. They played in some pretty dramatic games to start the season last year, as well: after the first two games of the season, the Blue Jackets played eight consecutive games decided by one goal, going 5-1-2 in those games.
#7: Here's a random one, and it's not pleasant: The Blue Jackets players have a collective 63 points on the season. Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have combined for 43. Yep, two Oilers have 68% of the point production of every Blue Jacket.
#8: Another random one: There are 94 players in the NHL who have seven or more points so far this season. Only one of them (Oliver Bjorkstrand, 8 points) is a Blue Jacket.
#9: This is one is tough to swallow, but not a surprise. Here are some of the categories in which the Blue Jackets are in the bottom third of the league on: goals per game (28th), power play percentage (28th), shots per game (22nd), shots against per game (28th), and faceoff winning percentage (25th).
#10: But let's close it out on a positive! Those last few stats were not so fun, but despite that, Columbus is tied for first in the central division (games played be damned!), just four points behind the teams with the most points so far (Washington, Toronto, and Philadelphia, two of which have the same number of games played).
And hey, Patrik Laine is coming!
