Challenging games await Blue Jackets
DALLAS — Now comes the tricky part.
After halting a three-game skid with a 5-0 drubbing of the Canucks on Sunday night in Vancouver, the Blue Jackets have two more hurdles to clear this week.
The first is Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena in the finale of a four-game season series against the New York
Islanders, who’ve won the first three games. The second is a key matchup Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens — who currently hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference by just two points over Columbus.
“We still believe we’re in it,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said Sunday, prior to a win that pushed Columbus to 86 points with seven games left. “I think our team feels it’s a good team. I talked to our guys (Saturday). Other than that Edmonton game, where we just were a dog’s breakfast, quite honestly, right on through we have played some good hockey.”
That’s one way to
describe what happened to the Jackets on Thursday in Edmonton, when the Oilers swept that two-game season series with a 4-1 victory. Lackluster, nervous, lethargic and just plain bad are others.
It was such an unexpected flop, in fact, that neither Tortorella nor his players have spoken much about it since.
Columbus rebounded strong against the Canucks, though, led by Sergei Bobrovsky’s seventh shutout and Josh Anderson’s two goals and three points.
Pierre-luc Dubois, Ryan Dzingel and Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored goals in the rout, which put the Jackets right back on the edge of the East’s playoff bubble. If they want to stay there or move ahead of the Canadiens, the next step is a doozy.
It’s the Islanders. It’s goalie Thomas Griess.
It’s the fourth and final time Columbus has a chance to solve the Barry Trotz defensive riddle. Typical of most Trotz teams, the Islanders are compensating for a dip in high-end offensive talent by flooding the middle third of the ice in the defensive zone.
It’s one of the main reasons the Islanders won the first three games, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 on Dec. 1 at Nassau Coliseum, overwhelming the Blue Jackets 3-0 on Valentine’s Day and then leaning on Greiss for another shutout March 11, a 2-0 win.
“It’s a big part of the way they play,” Tortorella said. “They defend hard. They don’t give you many odd-man rushes. Their goaltending has been fantastic all year long. That’s their recipe right now. It’s been a big part of their winning.”
It has also been a big part of the Islanders winning without former star captain John Tavares, who signed with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs last summer as an unrestricted free agent. Instead of wilting, New York stiffened defensively under Trotz, who was signed after coaching the Washington Capitals to the 2018 Stanley Cup.
The Islanders are only ranked 21st in scoring, but make up for it by allowing the fewest goals in the NHL (179).
So, how do you beat them?
“First of all, you have to be patient,” Tortorella said. “You can’t get frustrated because they’re all there (by the net). You have to get shots through and you have to try to get some rebounds. You just have to stay with it.”