Is Artemi Panarin incredible, or what?
We've covered the details at great length, but to see with your own eyes the true difference a game-breaking forward makes...it's blatant.
The Blue Jackets were seeking a player who could make them dangerous, who could contribute a lightning strike when things were stagnant or weren't going their way. They've found that player in Panarin, who has blown away even the highest of expectations so far in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A player who caught heat in Chicago for his playoff performance (two goals in 11 games) has left that noise in the past. Through three games of the Blue Jackets' first-round series with the Washington Capitals, Panarin has seven points (two goals and five assists) and has seemingly had a hand in every huge goal of the series.
Game 1...need a refresher?
That work of art was his third point of Game 1, and it gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 series lead.
He had two assists in a dramatic Game 2 overtime win, setting the table for a huge rally in the second period that gave Columbus a 4–3 lead going into the third period.
And in Game 3, he figured in both of the Blue Jackets' goals.
The first was a deft cross-zone pass to Pierre-Luc Dubois, who gathered the puck and ripped it over Braden Holtby's catching glove to tie the game, 1–1. In the third period, he and Cam Atkinson went to work on a beautiful give-and-go to draw then even once again.
For all the talk about how Panarin would handle being "the guy" in Columbus, boy, has he ever answered the bell. The Blue Jackets wanted a weapon and they got one.
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