Teamwork is reason why Jackets are on roll
The Blue Jackets are riding the fourthlongest point streak in their history, and they are doing this with children, Monsters and, of late, Elvis. Thank you very much.
The Jackets are 7-0-4 in their past 11 games and they have 11 players out with injuries, nine of whom are officially on injured reserve.
Among the missing is
All-star goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, who had arthroscopic knee surgery Monday. He missed the ballyhooed New Year’s Eve matchup against Sergei Bobrovsky in Nationwide Arena. No matter.
Elvis Merzlikins — who had as many appearances, and as many victories, as a Yeti — stepped in and stoned a high-powered Florida Panthers team. Zach Werenski registered the first hat trick by a Blue Jackets defenseman since Bryan Berard in 2006. A well-juiced sellout crowd hit decibel levels that haven’t been heard in Nationwide since the playoffs last spring. Bob who? Final score: Jackets 4, Panthers 1. Happy New Year.
The Jackets’ organizational depth has been stretched to the limit. Yet, the team is getting results. How is that? Inside and outside of its locker room the phrase most often ascribed is, “We’re playing as a team.” Eureka!
Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins earned his first NHL win Tuesday, 4-1 over the Florida Panthers.
Devoid of an elite, game-breaking offensive threat, these Jackets must hang together or hang separately (h/t Benjamin Franklin). The Panthers game was a case in point. The minutes were well-spread and the puck-hounding snarl kept growling. Plus, Merzlikins was stellar. Thank you very much. (I can’t help it.)
Coach John Tortorella: “I think the most important definition of playing as a team is making big plays at key times. And a big play to me is getting a puck out at a certain time, getting a puck in at a certain time; those are situational plays. I think that’s huge if you want to talk about that umbrella
as playing as a team.”
As general manager Jarmo Kekalainen is wont to say, with a twinkle in his eye: This is how Finland beats on Russia — with disciplined team play from 18 skaters, and solid goaltending. Kiitos paljon.
Kekalainen: “We’ve talked about it all year, since training camp, how we have to play as a team to have success. The proof is in the pudding. We’re playing as team right now.”
The Jackets’ penultimate game of 2019 — a 3-2 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday — had elements of the antithesis:
The Jackets squandered a two-goal lead. Tortorella shortened the bench (sometimes, he trims his trust tree with a pole saw). The team’s margin for error, slim on most nights, turned razor-thin. A tiring core of stalwarts flagged as it tried to hold off a concerted counterattack. (And the All-star goaltender tore a piece of cartilage in his knee.)
These Jackets can’t lay off the gas pedal. They must remain relentless. They need all four lines, all three defensive pairs, Merzlikins, the Zamboni driver, the video coach, the front-office interns — everybody must stay above the puck and finish their checks. It’s taxing. It’s difficult to maintain over the span of a long season. And they’re only halfway done.
The Jackets have gained six points in the playoff race, a significant chunk, over the past month. But they have to keep trucking. They are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference wild-card standings, sixth place in the Metropolitan Division, 10th place in the East and 19th in the league. They still have a negative goal differential (minus-7).
“Anything is possible,” Kekalainen said. “We’re still in the race. We have a chance to make the playoffs if we play relentless Blue Jackets hockey and never quit.”
Roll out the children and the Monsters. Elvis has entered the building. Let this roster ride and see where it goes. If it winds up in the draft lottery, well, that wouldn’t be the worst thing that has ever happened to this team.