Final Score: Penguins 5 – Blue Jackets 2
Game Summary
Not the way the Blue Jackets wanted to end their season, but they put up a valiant effort and should be able to build upon this heading into next season. It didn’t show up on the scoreboard but the Blue Jackets played well this entire series. They consistently had Pittsburgh on their heels, forcing them to defend. They put up plenty of shots, 51 shots in Game 5, but the big story from the series was the fantastic play of Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury made at least 29 saves in every game, and finished the round with a .933. He was the reason Pittsburgh won this game, stopping 49 of 51, and it wasn’t like these were bad shots either. The Jackets managed to get 10 high danger shots at 5 on 5, and had plenty of opportunities right in the slot.
On the opposite end of the ice, for as every bit as good as Fleuy was, that was how bad Sergei Bobrovsky was. He didn’t look comfortable all series, very scrambled in the net, not the calm composed player the Jackets are used to seeing. Bobrovsky for the series had an .882 save percentage, a far cry from his .931 he had in the regular season. Even if he had just played to his career season average of .920, this would have been a different series. Bobrovsky made some big saves over the course of the series, he just wasn’t consistent enough and it ended up sinking the Jackets.
The Jackets showed great resiliency in this game, they went down 3-0 early in the second period, and that could have been the end of the series right there. They could have easily just given up right there, but they didn’t, they rallied for two goals, courtesy of William Karlsson and Boone Jenner to put them right back into the game.
The Jackets had some chances, and thought they tied up at three on this play:
Oliver Bjorkstrand puts the puck into the net, but as you can clearly see Alexander Wennberg bumps Fleury right before that. Not only did that negate the tying goal, it sent the Penguins to the power play. That play is what caused the Jackets to unravel. The play should not have resulted in a power play, the goal was correctly called off, but usually those goalie interference plays don’t end up as penalties, as losing out on a goal is a penalty enough.
Pittsburgh of course scored on the ensuing power play, going up 4-2. They made it 5-2 less than a minute later and that was it.
It was a disappointing end for a team coming off of their best season in franchise history. Nobody expected this team to even make the playoffs so on that this season was a rounding success. On the other hand, this team’s play throughout the season changed expectations. They finished third in the Eastern Conference and looked like a team that could go on a decent playoff run.
Unfortunately due to the NHL’s playoff format they faced the second best team in the East. I'm not upset that the Jackets lost the series, more disappointed that the series wasn’t as close as it could have been. Losing in five games, just doesn’t do the season justice. Hopefully the players feel the same way and will come out next season hungry for a long playoff run.
Finally, big thank you to everyone for reading this season. This was a great season and I had a blast covering it. I appreciate everyone who followed along throughout the year, and I hope you enjoyed everything.
Stat of the Night
Stats courtesy of
Natural Stat Trick and
Hockey-Reference.
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