Jackets’ 2nd line finds groove with Vanek
Coach John Tortorella said he wasn’t sure where Thomas Vanek would fit after the Blue Jackets acquired him at the trade deadline.
The first couple of games after he put Vanek on a line with Boone Jenner and center Alexander Wennberg, he wondered whether he’d gotten it wrong.
But the trio “worked it out amongst themselves,” Tortorella noted, and have become “a line that’s kind of solidified our lineup because you can use them in a lot of different situations.”
“Right now, we’re feeding off each other,” Wennberg said. “We’re creating chances and scoring goals, and it builds some confidence. It didn’t work right away, but now that we’ve been playing a couple more games together, we’ve built some chemistry.”
In the 12 games prior to Saturday’s home game against the Blues, Jenner had five goals, St. Louis’ Colton Parayko, left, and the Blue Jackets’ Thomas Vanek fight for the puck in the first period Saturday night in Nationwide Arena. four assists and a plus-10 rating. Vanek, who started the night on a five-game point streak, had four goals, five assists and a plus-9 rating in that span. Wennberg had two goals, seven assists and a plus-9 rating.
Should Wennberg maintain his team-best plus-19 rating, it would be the fifth-highest for a player in franchise
history.
Vanek described Wennberg as “a creative center,” and he said he and Jenner “match well” because at least one of them is getting to the net, so there’s “always someone in there for traffic.”
Said Jenner: “Playing with those two guys, I think we can all use our strengths. They’re both really good passers and
offensive players, so we bounce off each other pretty well.”
Tortorella said Jenner, Wennberg and Vanek need to continue working on checking, but their ability to create offense is why he has often used them instead of the top line on face-offs in the offensive zone. For now, at least, Vanek “has found a home” with Wennberg and Jenner, Tortorella added.
Jones plays
Defenseman Seth Jones was in the lineup for the second consecutive game despite being held out of practice Friday. Jones has been dealing with a rib injury that caused him to miss three games. The Jackets used the same defensive pairings they did Thursday, with Jack Johnson again scratched.
Coaching milestone
Tortorella entered Saturday’s game with a 126-85-21 record as Jackets coach, needing one win to tie Todd Richards for the most coaching wins (127) in franchise history.
“It’s pretty impressive,” right wing Matt Calvert said of Tortorella reaching the mark in fewer than three full seasons. “He pushes us in the right direction, and we’ve responded in the right way. He’ll be the first to give us a lot of the credit, but … he’s been a great leader for us.”
Young and successful
Having three young players on the same line — Pierre-Luc Dubois, 19, Sonny Milano, 21, and Oliver Bjorkstrand, 22 — is “scary,” Tortorella said, but he’s “beginning to feel more and more comfortable” with them as the second line.
It’s a fast-skating line that Tortorella said he can trust, largely because of Dubois’ presence in the middle.
“They’re really concentrating on the stuff away from the puck, too,” the coach said. “I think Bjorky’s total resurgence here as a player has been [because of] his checking … it has really helped his overall game. Sonny, each game that goes by, he gets better and better at it. And Luc is just a good, solid, two-way player.”