Keep on rolling.
You just watched the game. Odds are you thought a certain player had a great night, and you're wondering if the numbers back up what your eyes told you. Even if that's completely false, "Battery Mates" is here to help.
We'll pick our own three stars based on Game Score, a comprehensive individual performance metric developed in the hockey analytics community. For more on how Game Score works, read this.
These are 1st Ohio Battery's three stars from Tuesday’s 2-0 win at Nationwide Arena:
SERGEI BOBROVSKY [GAME SCORE: 3.30]
Alright. This is just getting ridiculous.
Bobrovsky hasn’t allowed a goal in the month of March. He has recorded three consecutive shutouts for the first time in his career, and his personal shutout streak is at 180 minutes after tonight’s win. He is simply on another level right now and the Blue Jackets are reaping the benefits – but to their credit, they are playing a sound team game in front of him. Bobrovsky made 33 saves tonight, securing back-to-back shutouts over the Devils in this two-game series and sending Columbus to its 42nd win of the season.
The only other goaltender in Blue Jackets history to post three straight shutouts was Steve Mason, who accomplished the feat in December 2008 (the first playoff season).
OLIVER BJORKSTRAND [GAME SCORE: 1.10]
John Tortorella saying he hopes Bjorkstrand is the team's "deadline deal" may prove to be prophetic.
This is the Bjorkstrand the Blue Jackets were hoping to get in training camp: an electric offensive player who finds open space, isn't afraid to shoot the puck, and can make a difference when needed. They saw it from him in the Calder Cup playoffs and, here in the closing weeks of the regular season, it looks like he's starting to find another level. Since his recall on Feb. 14, Bjorkstrand has four goals and seven points in 10 games, and his goal was the game-winner in the third period tonight.
In what's become a trend, Bjorkstrand made things happen at 5-on-5 tonight with a Corsi of 52.38%. If it feels like he's at or above 50% every night, that's because you're right.
SETH JONES [ GAME SCORE: 1.02]
Time and again, we watch the Blue Jackets and think it's impossible to grow an even bigger appreciation for Jones. Spoiler: the appreciation is growing.
In what was another strong defensive performance, Jones played a key role on the back end. He logged 23:02 paired with rookie Zach Werenski and those two spent little time defending, which was key to getting two points in a sluggish game and improve to 5-1-1 since the bye. Jones' 5-on-5 Corsi on the game was just shy of 59%.
