Final Score: Penguins 3 – Blue Jackets 1
Game Summary
The Blue Jackets first playoff game in three years could not have got off to a better start. They came out physical with over 20 hits in the first period. They executed their plan of getting shots in on Pittsburgh’s stars but stayed out of the penalty box. The strategy worked for the first period as they had Pittsburgh thrown off their game and held a 16-3 shot advantage.
Despite the large shot advantage, the Jackets were unable to get one past surprise starter Marc-Andre Fleury. Matt Murray was supposed to start but he tweaked something in warm-up leading to Fleury getting the nod. It might not of mattered who was in goal for the Penguins as the Jackets were unable to turn their shots into scoring chances.
In the second period the script completely flipped. The Penguins made an intermission adjustment, as good teams do, and came out flying in the second. They scored very early in the second, off of what was a ridiculous set up by Phil Kessel, and from then played like the defending Stanley Cup Champion. They held the Jackets to just four shots while putting up 16 of their own. The Jackets had no answer for Kessel that period. He was put onto a line with Evgeni Malkin and they were unstoppable. Kessel scored on the power play to make it 2-0 and almost made it 3-0 on this breakaway.
The Penguins did make it 3-0 on a goal by Nick Bonino. Gabriel Carlsson was not strong enough on Bonino and let him get right into the crease. I am still unclear as to why Carlsson was even in this game. This was his third career NHL game. He was on the third pair alongside Scott Harrington, another very curious addition to the line-up. I have yet to hear a good reason as to why those two were in the line-up over Kyle Quincey and Markus Nutivaara. Nutivaara is a better player than both Carlsson and Harrington, and while Quicney may be on the same level he's much more experienced. The third pair was already going to be an issue, it’s much worse when the least optimal players are playing.
This game wasn’t all bad there are some good things to takeaway. The team can take solace in the fact they outshot the Penguins and at 5 on 5 had a 58.54% Corsi. They did well at making the Penguins play defence, but the Jackets need to do a significantly better job at turning offensive zone time into high quality scoring chances. Their lone goal scored by Matt Calvert was just their second high danger chance of the game.
They need to be way better in that regard going forward.
A really good thing to see was how well the young guys played. Zach Werenski and Oliver Bjorkstrand did what they always do. They looked to be completely unfazed by the situation and who they were up against. Werenski was doing his thing, skating with the puck and joining the rush. At one point he was attempting to clear the defensive zone, made a quick move and deked around Crosby. So much confidence for such a young player.
Bjorkstrand was doing similar things just at the other end of the ice. He was one of the lone players who was generating solid offensive chances. At 5 on 5 he was on the ice for 16 shot attempts for and just one against, an insane 94.12% Corsi. The possession is there, they now need to turn it into goals.
Stat of the Night
Stats courtesy of
Natural Stat Trick and
Hockey-Reference.
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