Four games into the season, the Blue Jackets have their first statement game. After a 1-2-0 start that last saw them lose 4-0 to the Red Wings on Monday, they host the Flames on Friday night.
Juxtaposed to the Blue Jackets, who haven't played since Monday, the Flames played on Thursday in Buffalo, beating the Sabres 4-3.
Even after a tough week of practice, the Blue Jackets should be more rested and ready to play than Calgary.
#CBJ ending practice with some arduous skating drills, not often seen during a regular-season practice. Good thing they dont play until Friday.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) October 18, 2023
The Flames have gotten off to a 2-1-1 start, scoring and allowing 13 goals through four games. Not great by any means, but better than what the Blue Jackets have done through their first three games.
In a league where a bad start can knock you out of the playoff race by American Thanksgiving, Columbus must get back on track. They currently rank 24th in goals for/game (2.33) and goals against/game (3.67) with the 24th-ranked power play (11.1%) and 21st-best penalty kill (72.7%). Those stats, albeit in a small sample size, obviously aren't even close to good enough.
If they come out flat and get outplayed by the Flames, that's a big problem. However, if both teams play their best games and lose, you can tip your cap to Calgary on a job well done. After two days of practice following an off-day on Tuesday, there's no excuse for the Blue Jackets not to play their best game.
On Friday, we will learn about what type of team the Jackets are, as their performance will make a statement. In the first period against Detroit on Monday, the Blue Jackets outshot the Red Wings at five-on-five 7-4 and beat them in the expected goals category 0.88-0.30, per naturalstattrick.com. In the second and third periods of that game, the Red Wings outshot the Blue Jackets at five-on-five 15-10 and won the expected goals battle 1.15-0.29.
This game was a tale of two segments. The Blue Jackets dominated the first period and then were dominated for the final two periods. #CBJ
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 17, 2023
If their first-period performance against Detroit is replicated throughout the entire game, there's a good chance the Blue Jackets win. If they play like they did in the last 40 minutes of Monday's game, they'll almost assuredly lose in ugly fashion.
