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 the Blue Jackets' 5-4 loss at Nationwide Arena:
BRANDON SAAD [GAME SCORE: 2.30]
On one hand, it's easy to look at a fifth straight Blue Jackets loss tonight and carry a significant amount of concern. On the other, you'd look at a recent disturbing trend (offense!) and say they showed signs of progress...at least for one night. The encouraging thing is that they've been waiting for Saad to warm up again, and while he's consistently one of their best 5-on-5 players, the puck hadn't been entering the net as regularly as he or the club would like. Until tonight. He scored two goals tonight to give him 24 on the season and was +6 in all-situations shot attempts, which was emblematic of a strong showing overall for his line with Alexander Wennberg and Sam Gagner.
OLIVER BJORKSTRAND [GAME SCORE: 1.82]
Getting Bjorkstrand integrated back in the lineup is a priority for the Blue Jackets in these final two games, and on top of that, finding exactly where he fits is of equal importance. John Tortorella is a huge fan of his, and he loves how the puck "follows him around" when he's on his game. Offense is a sacred resource in the playoffs, and having another player capable of scoring goals is yet another card the coaching staff can play. Bjorkstrand had a pair of points tonight in nearly 15 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time, and was +7 in 5-on-5 shot attempts as well.
BOONE JENNER [GAME SCORE: 1.52]
Speaking of players the Blue Jackets want to get into goal-scoring form as the playoffs begin, Jenner is at or near the top of the list. He scored his 17th goal of the season tonight (pretty impressive after a disappointing start to the year) to bring the Blue Jackets within a goal in the third period, and ended the game with a strong +6 (60% Corsi) in shot attempts at 5-on-5.
