Jackets counting on top-four defensemen
It's no secret the Blue Jackets are at their best when their top two pairs of defensemen — Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, and David Savard and Vladislav Gavrikov — are playing like the best top-four defensemen on any team in the NHL.
Before Gavrikov moved back to the second pair with Savard in Columbus' last game, on Sunday against Dallas, the Jackets' defense didn't look like what fans have come to expect from a team that prides itself on taking care of its own zone.
But there were positive signs that coach John Tortorella is holding on to heading into Thursday's game at Carolina.
“It's been a lot more consistent,” Tortorella said after Sunday's shootout loss to the Stars. “We've decided over the
past couple games to put them back together and just try to figure it out.”
Part of the Jackets' poor play on defense has been their penalty kill. They rank 28th of 31 NHL teams in penaltykill percentage (72.9%) and have allowed three power-play goals in three games against Carolina this season.
Tortorella liked what he saw in a critical penalty kill in Sunday's loss to the Stars that helped push the game to a shootout and earn a point for Columbus, but assistant coach Brad Shaw informed him that penalty kill actually wasn't that good.
The important thing was — and all that matters right now as the Jackets chase points to keep them afloat in the playoff chase — that the puck stayed out of the net. Their success with on the penalty kill hinges on the top four defensemen.
“That's a big part of our defensemen's role,” Tortorella said Wednesday of the penalty kill. “For a team that isn't scoring a bunch from game to game, penalty killing is a very important part of trying to stay competitive.”
Jones, Werenski and Savard have had their struggles for most of the year but have begun to play better recently. Tortorella said he has seen similar improvement from Gavrikov, who topped 20 minutes of ice time for the first time in seven games last Saturday against Dallas.
The last time the Jackets played Carolina, their inability to get out of their own zone was exposed. Since that 7-3 loss on Feb. 15, the Jackets have made progress in that area, and it has led to more scoring chances, though not as many goals as they would like.
“I think as a D core we're getting better and better each game,” Jones said. “I can only speak for me and Z, I think we've done a lot better job in recent games of coming out clean, looking for each other, and we both want to play in the offensive zone so we're able to get there more, get more shots on net and create more plays.”
Getting any kind of consistent production from Patrik Laine, Max Domi and others would lift some of the pressure from the top-four defensemen, but that's the Jackets' bread and butter.
Progress is there, but it's even more vital now in the second half of the season.
“Those four guys are so important to this club,” Tortorella said. “It's still not consistently at the standard that it needs to be, but they've been improving. I think our coverages — overall, we've cut down chances in our end zone of late here. We got to continue to work at it.”
This and that
The Blue Jackets announced center Alexandre Texier was held out of Wednesday's practice due to an illness and he will miss the next two games at Carolina, per the NHL'S COVID-19 protocols. Tortorella said the illness was not COVID-19 . ...
The Jackets also sent forward Mikhail Grigorenko to the taxi squad. Forwards Stefan Matteau and Rayn Macinnis practiced Wednesday on the fourth line with Eric Robinson. jmyers@dispatch.com @_jcmyers