Columbus would argue that giving up William Karlsson and a 2017 first-round pick and a 2019 second-round pick was a win-win deal. And hey, they have a point. David Clarkson, at $5.25 million per for the next three seasons, was hampering their flexibility. Josh Anderson, who they "protected" in favor of Karlsson, is on pace for a career-high 26 goals.
Last night, however, the only winner was the Golden Knights, who rode Karlsson's 26th and 27th goals of the season to a convincing 6-3 victory over the Blue Jackets. The Swede is on track to score 47 goals this year.
Winning Play
My favorite Brad Hunt play wasn't his PP strike, which gave Vegas a 3-2 second period lead.
Brad Hunt is an honest man. He admitted, about his goal, "I was so excited, I almost fell." pic.twitter.com/dD9YmDxFMt
"Hunt hustles to it," remarked Columbus play-by-play announcer Jeff Rimer, and there is no truer description. Hurtling from blueline to blueline, Hunt just beats Boone Jenner to the loose puck, before getting off the ice.
This is what happened because of Hunt's hustle:
That's over a minute of clear possession and a couple chances because of another little Vegas hustle play which added up to a whole lot.
It's over two minutes before Columbus regains the puck.
"Lukas Sedlak is gassed," admitted Blue Jackets color analyst Jody Shelley. Here's Sedlak changing after a 2:04 shift. He's the diving, gasping Jacket:
Jenner was out there just as long. Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, the Columbus defensive pairing of record when Hunt sticked it in, were twisting in the wind for 2:53 and 3:31, respectively.
"It's all a part of it," Hunt observed. "I did that, but you have other guys going to get the puck too. It's playing as a five-man unit. Everyone's on the same page."
All the pieces matter.
Pluses
"The second period was our best period of the year," said Gallant. "I thought we were flying."
"They were pretty gassed at certain times," offered Erik Haula, who led the charge. The Finn enjoyed three one-on-one opportunities on Sergei Bobrovsky in the course of seven minutes. He also set up another for James Neal.
Jackets forwards change, and Scott Harrington and Marcus Nutivaara learn that a Siamese defensive pairing doesn't lend itself to either gap control or keeping Haula to the outside.
Vegas wins a defensive zone draw, and Columbus sends two forecheckers at Shea Theodore behind the net. Once Theodore beats them, the Jackets are chasing.
According to Alison Lukan of The Athletic, hitting the late man in transition is not a Blue Jackets norm. For 30 minutes, Columbus forced Vegas-like hockey down the home team's throat.
"We were overforechecking, overaggressive. That’s the one part of our game I didn’t like tonight, we gave too many odd-man rushes," Gallant observed.
"We turned pucks over in the first period and when you’re turning pucks over in the neutral zone, you’re not going to be able to play fast because you’re usually backchecking and playing the defensive zone.
"The second period, I thought we played really fast and hard and we didn’t turn the puck over."
Haula added, "We're a team that realizes when we're playing well. And when we need to change something."
Vegas certainly made a change, and it felt real good. The Knights hunt for a league-leading 20th home victory this Thursday night against the visiting Islanders.
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