Final Score: Canadiens 3 – Blue Jackets 1
Game Summary On one hand Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 straight saves to end the game, on the other hand, the first two Montreal shots went in and that ultimately was the difference in the game.
This loss is not pinned on Bobrovsky though. The first goal I’m sure he'd like to have back, it wasn’t the best chance, and he just got beat on it. The second one was a rip from Jonathan Drouin. It was on the power play and Bobrovsky couldn’t see it. Even if he could it was put it such a good spot, I’m not sure he would of stopped it. After that he played like peak Sergei Bobrovsky. Montreal was rolling in the first and the game very easily could got out of hand early. Bobrovsky settled down made some saves, and gave his team a chance to comeback.
Appreciate Sergei Bobrovsky. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/U4QOCNbFEx
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 28, 2017
At the other end of the ice the Jackets were up against Carey Price. Price playing in his second game back from injury and was peak Carey Price right from the get go. He made a couple really nice saves on Nick Foligno and Josh Anderson in tight and you just knew goals were going to be tough to come by.
Oh my word what a pad save by Carey Price! pic.twitter.com/CBR1OsXJB6
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) November 28, 2017
The Jackets did what they could to make things difficult on Price. They put up 38 shots and had a 54.55% Corsi at 5 on 5. The problem was that most of the Jackets shots were from the outside. Montreal seemed pretty content to take away the middle of the ice and let Price handle the rest. The Jackets held a slight 20-17 edge in scoring chances at 5 on 5 but only had 10 high danger chances to Montreal’s 11. It almost looked like Price was starting to get into the heads of the Jackets skaters. There were a couple times the Jackets had odd man rushes and they didn’t make the right decision. Sonny Milano was on a two on one, he was really indecisive on whether to pass or shoot, which allowed the defencemen to come over and take away both options. The Jackets had a three on one late in the game, Cam Atkinson passed it high to Zach Werenski, Werenski went back down to Cam, Cam I thought should have made a royal road pass to get Price moving, he opted to shoot.
One positive to take away was the power play was much better than it has been. The Jackets still went 0-for-5 which is very bad, but they were shooting the puck and getting chances. They had 13 shots on the power play, and of their nine chances, eight were high danger. The power play looked much more organized and like they actually had a plan of what to do. They got the puck up high to Werenski and he was firing everything. This worked very well last year as the team had Sam Gagner in the slot. He was great at tipping and re-directing those shots. The Jackets have not been able to find someone capable of playing that role; it’s a big reason why the power play has struggled.
Translation: They deferred to Werenski at the center point more often, barely worked the puck behind the net and most of the dangerous plays came from Sonny Milano on the left boards. Usual first unit with Panarin/Foligno/Atkinson barely played a role.
— Corey Sznajder (@ShutdownLine) November 28, 2017
As Corey says, this maybe wasn’t the optimal strategy, but for a power play that’s looked lost all season, this was a positive showing.
The Jackets did manage to score one goal, and as we’ve seen with this past stretch of games from Bobrovsky, beating a goalie playing this well is extremely difficult and you need some good fortune. The Jackets got some good fortune in the second. Josh Anderson goes hard to the net, Price sticks his stick out for the poke check, Anderson, with the defencemen all over him goes right through the poke check, leaving the puck at the side of the net. Pierre-Luc Dubois was right there to poke the up past Price. It was a very weird series of events, the Canadiens challenged for goalie interference but the call was confirmed and the goal counted.
The Quebec native has the Jackets within striking distance. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/kYFrDVJ3cT
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 28, 2017
The Jackets are right back at it again tonight taking on the Hurricanes to finish off this back to back. That game gets underway at 7pm.
Stat of the Night
With tonight's start, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is playing in his 267th career #CBJ game, surpassing Marc Denis for the most games played in club history.
— CBJ Public Relations (@BlueJacketsPR) November 28, 2017
Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and Hockey-Reference.
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