After a disappointing loss that saw the Blue Jackets outplayed in every facet of the game, head coach John Tortorella is preaching patience.
"Going through camp...(we're) not fatigued. We just gotta go through camp, get some work done, that's all," he said after a sluggish 5-1 loss at Nationwide Arena.
"No concern. Just go to work."
It's tricky to put much, if any, stock in preseason games.
But this was a game where the Blue Jackets played many of their regulars, including their entire top line of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Artemi Panarin, and Cam Atkinson, Seth Jones, and Sergei Bobrovsky. On the other hand, the Blues iced a prospect-heavy lineup, resting captain Alex Pietrangelo, sniper Vladimir Tarasenko, and newcomer Ryan O'Reilly. And while NHL regulars are much more concerned with getting their legs under them (and avoiding injury), it's still surprising to see a seemingly over-matched team dominate in every way imaginable.
Tortorella is a veteran coach with a good pulse of his team. He runs a notoriously rigorous training camp, and perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that his teams respond rather lethargically in preseason games. At this point, of course, everything is focused on gearing up for next Thursday night, Oct. 4, in Detroit.
The club has three remaining preseason games, beginning Tuesday in Clinton, N.Y. and then the likely "dress rehearsal" game on Friday night vs. Pittsburgh at Nationwide Arena.
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