Film Session: The Columbus Blue Jackets Have Been Victimized By Opposition's Forecheck In Recent Games

By Dan Dukart on December 9, 2021 at 1:45 pm
Adam Boqvist goes back to retrieve a puck
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
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Heading into the season, it was evident that the Columbus Blue Jackets would have a new look on defense.

In April, the Blue Jackets traded David Savard, a long-time stalwart on the backend, for a draft pick. And in July, the club made a blockbuster trade, sending Seth Jones to Chicago in a move that returned Adam Boqvist and, through another trade, Jake Bean (oh, and the pick that became Cole Sillinger and another first-round pick!).

Both of those moves were the right call at the right time for this franchise. The club was going to move on from Savard, a pending UFA, and Jones for Sillinger may be a fair trade straight up, to say nothing for all of the extra goodness (that's an article for a different day). But it should be noted that the Blue Jackets blue line got physically weaker in that span. To some, that's not a big deal. The modern NHL is predicated around skill and speed. To others, the prototypical defensemen stands well over six feet tall and carries a large stick, so to speak.

The Blue Jackets are heavily leaning towards the puck-moving side of the pendulum. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does portend that they're more susceptible to getting carved in by more physically imposing players on forechecks. These three goals, all from the past two games, originate behind the net with 50-50 (or better) pucks. 

Bonino Capitalizes

A rather innocuous play begins with a simple dump-in. Zach Werenski, who probably should have gotten their first, takes away the inside ice but does little more than that, allowing the play to breathe. Jack Roslovic, the center and de-facto third defensemen on the ice, attacks Andrew Cogliano's power move to the front of the net with just one hand on his stick. To cap off the trifecta, Bean is simply out-muscled and out-maneuvered at the time the puck arrives at the goal-mouth. All three Blue Jackets players find themselves in relatively strong positioning, but none do anything to prevent the goal.

Hertl Takes Advantages

Another down-low play, Boqvist and Gabriel Carlsson both have a chance to neutralize this play. Again, the Sharks are happy to play keep-away long enough to find a weakness in the Blue Jackets' defense. Sean Kuraly, who is probably stronger on the wall than Carlsson (and certainly stronger on the wall than Boqvist), has seen enough and goes in to help. That's when Jonathan Dahlen centers the puck to Tomas Hertl, who scores. If Carlsson or Boqvist are able to gain inside body position and win possession of the puck, this goal never happens.

Nick Ritchie Snaps 26-Game Goal-less Streak

I honestly contemplated just copying and pasting the prior blurb to here, but somehow this goal-against was even more egregious. On this one, Carlsson actually has possession of the puck, but runs out of real estate because Boqvist was already behind the net for questionable reasons (though, in his defense, he could have expected an immediate reverse/bank pass to help Carlsson escape pressure). Being on his backhand, Carlsson panics and tries to reverse course. He's promptly bodied off the puck. By now, Nick Ritchie, who hasn't scored a goal since April, figures the Blue Jackets are likely to turn over this puck. Spoiler alert: he was right! 

The Blue Jackets are a flawed team, but perhaps no problem on the ice is more glaring than their inability to retrieve and subsequently break the puck out cleanly. At this point, teams realize they can simply dump the puck and force the Blue Jackets into a mistake. That's a huge advantage for the opposition because it doesn't even force them to create offense. Look for this to be a topic of conversation both internally and in opposing locker rooms until this gets cleaned up.

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