Many times this season, John Tortorella has talked about this Blue Jackets team needing to play "on the line" without crossing it.
In Torts-speak, that means finding a balance between the in-your-face, on-your-toes style of hockey of the "safe is death" mold while being disciplined at the same time. Their opponent in this first-round series has already displayed a knack for cashing in on its chances even if the chances haven't been plentiful, so the commitment to playing "on the line" is paramount.
For most of the 2016-17 season, the Blue Jackets mastered it. They played hard, fast, and made many nights a living hell for the opposition. They won 50 games, remember?
But that line has been crossed a few times in this series, and the attention falling on something other than their struggling offense hasn't helped. The Blue Jackets need to find more ways to get to the interior of the ice, as most of their shots and attempts have been from outside the hashmarks. Who cares how many hits they have?
After Matt Calvert cross-checked Tom Kuhnhackl in Game 2 and a few other "after the whistle" moments were spotlighted, Tortorella offered his take on his team's composure and whether the extracurricular stuff has been a distraction.
"It's important as we keep moving forward here is to play in between the whistles," Tortorella said following Saturday's practice. "The other stuff doesn't help us. It's just not the way the game is played any more."
In discussing Calvert's play, Tortorella said he wasn't sure if his lineup would change for Game 3 and offered an anecdote on the emotional level of playoff hockey:
"He's a very important guy and he's been concentrating on how to play the game the right way," Tortorella said of Calvert. "These guys are competitive guys and it's a very emotional game, and sometimes, you just kind of lose yourself a little bit.
"Do I want that to happen? No, and I don't want to see that. We've got to keep our discipline in all facets of how we are mentally, how we are within our structure, and how we are with our emotions too because they gets ramped up each and every game. It's something we have to concentrate on."
