Boqvist shows off shooting in physical game
The Blue Jackets have been one of the least physical teams in the league so far this year, averaging under 15 hits per game. In Sunday’s 6-4 win, the Jackets out-hit the San Jose Sharks 25-10, including a hit from goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.
Hits are a subjective stat, tracked by individuals in each arena, so the specific number of hits doesn’t always tell the story of which team had the physical edge in a given game.
But the Jackets visibly displayed more physicality against San Jose than they have in other games this year.
Coach Brad Larsen believes that seeing multiple teams that play a physical, heavy style on the team’s recent road trip may have been eye-opening for his players to understand what that style is truly like.
“I want us to be physical when it presents itself,” Larsen said. “I want us to be that relentless, tenacious team. We just haven’t been able to do that. We’ve played some big teams. We’ve played some teams that are heavy and veteran teams.
“You look at that road trip. When you’re rolling through St. Louis on a back-to-back, that’s a team that won (the Stanley Cup) not too long ago with some big, heavy guys. Nashville is a pretty good-sized team. Dallas (and) obviously Washington (are also). These are really good learning games for our group to see what it takes.”
Boqvist shows off shooting ability
Adam Boqvist’s slapshot in the first period Sunday was recorded on the scoreboard as 88.4 mph, and he doesn’t think it was his hardest shot. A righthanded shot, Boqvist was shooting from the right circle — the opposite of the side he’d normally want to be on for a onetimer.
“It was kind of off, because it was on my wrong side,” Boqvist said. “It wasn’t my hardest shot, but it went in.”
Boqvist’s ability to shoot the puck from his strong side is part of the reason he’s been filling the hole left by Patrik Laine on the left half-wall on the power play as Laine continues to work his way back from an oblique strain.
And with his second two-goal game of the season, Boqvist has already reached a career-high in goals with a total of six on the year. In 2019-20, his rookie season with the Chicago Blackhawks,
he scored four goals in 41 games, and he scored just two last year in 35 games before being traded to the Jackets in July.
Among defensemen, only Cale Makar (10), Aaron Ekblad (8) and Roman Josi (7) have more goals than Boqvist.
“Bo’s showed he’s got a knack to put it in,” Larsen said. “He can finish. He’s got a great shot. That first goal — actually, both goals are nice goals. He’s slowly coming here. If he can just keep building on his game, he can be a real special player.”
Turnovers remain an issue
Turnovers were a frequent problem for the Jackets throughout the recent four-game losing streak, and it didn’t get much better Sunday. Columbus cleaned things up as the game went on, particularly in the third period, but early in the game multiple turnovers could have turned into goals if not for Merzlikins’ performance in net.
“We still had some issues with the puck, the turnover stuff,” Larsen said.