Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and the Blue Jackets showed a hell of a lot of willpower last night.
No Alexander Wennberg, no Matt Calvert, and with plenty of slumping stars in the lineup – none of that mattered as the Jackets took down the Canadiens in overtime. Still, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The Jackets have won two in a row but didn’t look particularly good in either game, leaning on Sergei Bobrovsky to keep them in it.
“We found a way to win,” head coach John Tortorella said. "We have a lot of guys struggling offensively… It’s not one guy, it’s four or five guys."
Nick Foligno hasn’t sniffed the scoresheet in 10 games. Artemi Panarin has just three points over that same span, Cam Atkinson picked up an assist last night to snap a five-game scoreless streak, and Zach Werenski’s goal snapped a four-game scoreless streak of his own.
Add in an injury to Wennberg, and it’s clear that the offense is not doing what it needs to do. For the first few weeks of the season, the Jackets looked like a team that could score with anyone, but their struggles have forced them to lean on Bobrovsky even harder.
Yup. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/NGeUhKk8X2
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 15, 2017
"Your goaltender has to do it,” said Tortorella. “A couple saves Bob made in the third period, and put that with the save he made in Detroit, it's a big reason why we're getting points."
That’s an understatement. The Jackets have failed to register multiple goals in regulation for four games in a row now – and the margin for error cannot get smaller when you’re only scoring once in a 60-minute game. Bobrovsky’s probably the best goalie in the world, but expecting a shutout every night is a bad position to put him in. If they want to make things easier on their world-beating netminder, they’ll have to do the most with their chances.
Werenski didn’t do that last week against Nashville, failing to bury a chance right on the doorstep that would’ve tied it up. He made up for that last night, beating Charlie Lindgren to win it for the Jackets.
Cam finds Werenski in space.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 15, 2017
Werenski does the rest. Two points for the Jackets tonight. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/10meVhmn2D
"I don't get mad if I don't score or get points,” Werenski said after the game. "I get mad if I get chances and don't score."
Tortorella is aware of Werenski’s struggles, but doesn’t seem too worried about the 20-year-old’s ability to overcome them.
"He's fought the puck,” said Tortorella. "There's not much conversation I have to have with a young man like him who understands it. He's just gonna play himself out of it."
He’s not the only Jacket that needs to play out of a slump. The overtime winner last night was encouraging – and Bobrovsky’s play certainly is, too – but the team's underlying stats haven’t been great the last few games, either; the Blue Jackets only generated 43.6% of 5-on-5 shot attempts last night – a season low – and a meager 44.2% a few nights ago against Carolina.
Two thrilling wins in a row can bring a team together and energize it, and hopefully that’s the case for Columbus. After all, without two ridiculous efforts from Bobrovsky, their four-game losing streak could well be two games longer.
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