The Blue Jackets have been looking for a complete, well-rounded performance. They got it tonight.
In most (if not all) facets of the game, they were dominant and pressed the Winnipeg Jets into mistake after mistake.
Offensively, Columbus played its most effective forechecking and skating game to date, at times overwhelming the Jets by getting puck after puck in below their goal line.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| JETS | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
End result: a convincing win for the Blue Jackets, who moved to 5-1-0 after a 5-2 victory tonight at Bell MTS Place. The 5-1-0 start ties a franchise record set in 2009-10, when Columbus also opened the season with five wins in six games.
Where they were a bit slow out of the gate on Saturday night, the Blue Jackets brought a much quicker tempo to tonight’s game.
They were direct and decisive — two things that John Tortorella has harped on — and showed a willingness to fire the puck from all angles and create chaos around Steve Mason’s net. Mason was the only reason the game was tied after 20 minutes as the Blue Jackets had the Jets pinned in their own end for long stretches.
The Blue Jackets broke the game open in the second period, seeing the fruits of their labor that began at the outset of the game.
Cam Atkinson pounced on a loose puck (a play started by Alexander Wennberg’s heads-up poke check in the neutral zone) and put a series of dekes on Mason to make it a 1-0 game. Then, captain Nick Foligno atoned for a point-blank miss only minutes later, walking around the Jets defense and tucking a beautiful goal inside the post for a 2-0 Columbus lead.
And while the power play failed to convert, the Blue Jackets managed to do their damage at even strength.
They added two more goals in the second period — Jack Johnson cashed in an open-net chance after a nice play by Brandon Dubinsky — and Lukas Sedlak beat Mason short-side off the goal line on a play that looked to be intended for Zac Dalpe. Nonetheless, the Blue Jackets went into the second intermission with a 4-1 lead that was indicative of how they’d played.
Zach Werenski ripped a glove-side rocket past Mason with 7:45 remaining, increasing the Blue Jackets' lead to 5-1.
At even strength, they owned the puck; Columbus had between 55-62 percent of 5-on-5 shot attempts at varying points in the game. They defended well, too, supporting Korpisalo and keeping a clean house in front of him. Korpisalo finished with 23 saves and picked up his first win of the season.
Injury Update
Boone Jenner skated with the team during the road trip but did not play; he's working his way back from a back injury that caused him to miss all of training camp, preseason, and now the regular season. The Blue Jackets list him as day-to-day.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets return home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena, kicking off a string of four straight games on home ice. They're also home on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. Both games are 7 p.m. puck drops.
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