The Columbus Blue Jackets had a golden opportunity Saturday night to jump into a playoff spot. All they needed was a win on home ice against the Winnipeg Jets.
Earlier in the day, the Blue Jackets got the exact help they were looking for. Both the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings lost in regulation. The Blue Jackets could have finished Saturday night third in the Metro.
Just like in most of their recent past games, the Blue Jackets not only didn’t win. They lost in an ugly fashion. But this time, after their 2-1 loss to the Jets, the Blue Jackets’ locker room didn’t open for 24 minutes.
A closed-door meeting took place. Although no one wanted to get into specifics about what exactly was said, it’s pretty easy to imagine what could have taken place.
With the whole team in the room, it was their chance to air out their frustrations and communicate with each other. Specifically in their last two games, the Blue Jackets looked awful. From being disconnected all over the ice to poor puck decisions, it felt only a matter of time before the Jets took the lead. Thanks to their best players, they did just that.
Quick Recap
Kyle Connor scored both goals. Mark Scheifele assisted on both goals. Connor Hellebuyck didn’t see a lot of rubber, just 16 shots. But he made the saves he had to make. Scoring two was enough against a Blue Jackets’ team that’s in an identity crisis for offense.
Ivan Provorov opened the scoring in the first two minutes. Given the stakes, perhaps this was the game the Blue Jackets would finally take charge.
While the first period ended 1-0, the Jets took the game over and never looked back. It was 1-1 after 40 minutes. The Jets scored the only goal of the third period. Once it was 2-1, the Blue Jackets showed a hint of desperation. But it was far too little, far too late.
Closed-Door Meeting
With just 26 shots on goal in the last two games combined, the Blue Jackets had enough. It was worthy of a closed-door meeting. After 24 minutes, the doors were opened. Upon entry, most of the guys were still around the locker room dispersing.
Ultimately, it was Zach Werenski, Mason Marchment and Zach Aston-Reese who spoke to the media along with head coach Rick Bowness. Werenski and Bowness wanted to keep exactly what was said internal. But if you listen to what both had to say postgame, you can tell pretty quickly what they felt their issues were. What was missing?
“I think probably just simplifying our game,” Werenski said. “I think when we’re on the same page, playing simple, playing fast, we’re predictable and I feel like we were unpredictable tonight. Offense gets hard when you’re spread out.”
The challenge now becomes focusing on the fact that the Blue Jackets are not eliminated and remain very much a part of the playoff race. But now losers of three in a row and with a record of 3-6-1 in their last 10 games, they have to find a way to bring everything back together to the way they know how to play.
“We’re still in it and I believe in this group,” Werenski said. “I believe we can get it done. It’s just doing it. I mean, we did it for two months. The last two weeks obviously haven’t gone our way, but it’s in the room and it’s on us to just pull it out and get it done. But it starts with one game at a time. We can’t worry about what other teams do or whoever we have after Detroit. Our focus just has to be on Detroit and after that, we’ll figure it out.”
For Bowness, the Blue Jackets’ issues can be traced to one overarching theme.
“The second period was bad,” Bowness said. “All our issues right now are related to just terrible puck management. Terrible. Just making very poor percentage plays. We create the second-most forecheck chances in the entire league, yet we want to get inside the blue line and make cute little plays againsy good teams that aren’t working. So I have to get after them.”
“They got to change their mindset. We’re a north, hard-skating pressure team. You turn the puck over as much as we did, you’re on your heels all the time. Both goals, we had control of the puck and we just turned it over and gave it to them. That’s what’s frustrating for me. So we’re not going to sit here and talk about effort. It’s the execution with the puck. We had a 3-on-1 and we didn’t score. We had a 2-on-1, we didn’t score. The opportunities to put the puck on the net is there. They don’t even show up in shots on net, but you got to bury those when you get the opportunity. But for me, it started in the second period when we kept turning the puck over.”
With just two goals in their last two games all from defensemen, the Blue Jackets are going to take a hard look at their forward lines in advance of Tuesday’s game in Detroit. Bowness said he’d look at himself first.
“I’m certainly going to have to look at me and how we’ve got these lines constructed,” Bowness said. “So we’re going to start with that. We’re going to figure out ways to get more offense. Look who the difference was tonight for them, Scheifele and Connor. And Hellebuyck made the big saves when he had to. Our top offensive guys, they’re going to have to step up and time will tell are they handling it well. It’s on them. They’ve got to step up and produce. So again, it’s on me to take a strong look at how we’re got these lines constructed now going on the road.”
You May Also Like
The Blue Jackets remain even in points for the last wildcard spot but have played more games and do not have the tiebreaker. They trail the New York Islanders by one for third in the Metro. A Flyers win Sunday against Boston would put them third in the Metro.
Moneypuck has the Blue Jackets’ playoff odds now down to 25.5% after their regulation loss to the Jets. All they can do now is get ready for Tuesday in Detroit. Five games to go in the season including their next three on the road. It’s now or never for the Blue Jackets if they want to see their season extend beyond next Tuesday.
