CULTURE SHOCK
| MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 | 1C
Blue Jackets trying to preserve crumbling ‘hard-to-playagainst’ style
Their numbers are dwindling and a shrinking group of Blue Jackets veterans now faces a tough task in the remaining 13 games.
The job is to keep the season from sliding completely off the rails despite a lineup that has been depleted of five regulars the past week through injuries and trades. More losses could be on the way, too, as the trade deadline looms at 3 p.m. Monday.
The first crack at preserving the Jackets’ hard-work culture didn’t go exactly as planned Saturday night at Nationwide Arena, where a 2-0 lead for Columbus 3:13 into the game disappeared in a span of about 30 minutes in a 4-3 loss to the
Chicago Blackhawks.
More turnovers, more untimely penalties and too much time spent in the their own end led to another tough loss, especially after one of the team’s pillars, defenseman David Savard, was dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning less than two hours before the puck dropped.
“It starts with us every game,” defenseman Seth Jones said of the Jackets’ remaining veterans. “We’re not going to quit here, through any of these games remaining, and we have to try to recreate our identity. When it comes to work ethic, it’s something we can control and is something that’s been the backbone of our team, really, the last few years we’ve grown this thing. Work ethic isn’t a choice here.”
The Blue Jackets’ inconsistent play through the entire season suggests otherwise, or at least that a few cracks are forming in the foundation. Repairing those by re-establishing a consistent “hard-to-play against” mentality is the main goal now for this team, which will play a number of young players the rest of the way.
“Whether we win or lose hockey games for the remainder of the season,” Jones stressed, “we’ve got to continue to hammer that home.”
Good start squandered
The Blackhawks weren’t ready at the start and the Blue Jackets made them pay on quick goals by Michael Del Zotto and Cam Atkinson. After calming the game down with a timeout after Atkinson’s goal at 3:13, the Blackhawks took over for 30-plus minutes of game action.
Sparking the surge were back-toback tripping penalties by Blue Jackets defenseman Mikko Lehtonen and center Alexandre Texier. The second one, called on Texier for taking down a Chicago player with a slide to block a pass without his stick, was the most detrimental.
The Blackhawks got 38 seconds of a 5-on-3 out of it and scored during the 5-on-4 that followed. Just five seconds remained on Texier’s penalty.
Columbus had a 4-1 edge in shots and a 2-0 lead when Lehtonen was called for tripping at 6:56 and was then outshot 24-8 from that point through the end of the second period.
Strange goal
Wyatt Kalynuk was the latest opposing player to score a weird goal against the Blue Jackets that withstood the scrutiny of two video reviews.
The goal was scored early in the second period after he launched a long shot from the right point. Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins was stationed just outside the crease when Blackhawks forward Brandon Hagel knocked his head back
and stick out of position.
The puck landed close to the goal line, where Blue Jackets forward Kevin Stenlund got to it. Trying to corral it, Stenlund knocked the puck over the goal line for a fraction of a second before scooping it out.
The NHL first ruled about the puck, which did cross the goal line completely. The second review was a coach’s challenge for goaltender interference, which was denied.
Dreams come true
The Blue Jackets activated forward Kole Sherwood from the taxi squad on Saturday and put him into the lineup.
That created a memorable night for Sherwood, center Jack Roslovic and Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy, who all played for the Ohio AAA
Blue Jackets as teens. During warmups, the trio got together for a photo that meant a lot to all three.
Sherwood played with Roslovic with the Tier 1 program and was friends with Murphy, who played in an older age group. The Ohio AAA Blue Jackets program has produced five NHL players plus numerous other collegiate and professional players, but having three of the five Nhlers play in the same game — two as teammates— was quite a statement on how far youth hockey has come in central Ohio.
“Jack’s been my best friend since I was (little),” Sherwood said before the game. “It’s something I’ll probably never forget for the rest of my life, but I’m just focused on the game and helping the team win.”
More on Savard
David Savard was in his car when he got “the call” from Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen on Saturday informing him that he had been traded.
Savard’s three kids were in the back seat, trying to stay quiet while their dad learned who his next employer would be.
“As soon as I saw Jarmo was calling me, I kind of knew what was going on, so I tried to keep the kids quiet a little bit – but it was obviously kind of a weird moment,” said Savard, a fourth-round pick in 2009 who made his NHL debut with Columbus on Oct. 7, 2011. bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger
Chicago Columbus
Blackhawks 4, Blue Jackets 3 22 20 0 1
— — 4 3
FIRST PERIOD: Scoring—1. CBJ, Del Zotto, 4 (Texier, Dalpe), 1:03; 2. CBJ, Atkinson, 14 (Roslovic), 3:13; 3. CHI, Debrincat, 21 (de Haan, Kane), 10:13 (pp); 4. CHI, Soderberg, 7 (Kampf, Carpenter), 17:02.
Penalties—lehtonen, CBJ (tripping), 6:56; Texier, CBJ (tripping), 8:18; Strome, CHI (hooking), 18:55.
SECOND: Scoring: 5. CHI, Kalynuk, 1 (Suter, de Haan), 3:07; 6. CHI, Strome, 8 (Dach, Debrincat), 16:40. Penalty—cbj, delay of game (served by Domi), 3:07.
THIRD: Scoring—7. CBJ, Laine, 10 (Domi), 19:11. Penalties—cbj, too many men on ice (served by Domi), 7:58; Lehtonen, CBJ (boarding), 16:25.
Shots on goal—chicago, 9-16-3—28; Columbus, 5-7-14—26.
Goaltenders—chicago, Lankinen, 15-11-4 (26 shots-23 saves); Columbus, Merzlikins, 6-9-2 (28-24). Power plays—chicago, 1 of 5; Columbus, 0 of 1. A—4,502.