During Tuesday night's game between the Blue Jackets and Ducks, in-game analyst Jody Shelley mentioned that Columbus head coach Todd Richards is all about the process.
If that's the case he wouldn't have been too happy with his team's play last night, or over the last while, for that matter.
The Blue Jackets allowed 40 shots to the Ducks, and were crushed in even-strength possession, but still managed to slip by thanks to a) highly mediocre goaltending from John Gibson and; b) excellent goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky.
This isn't just a one time occurrence, either, as the Blue Jackets have allowed 40+ shots in four consecutive games. They've won each of those contests, but have been outplayed significantly in the process.
The Jackets won't win consistently over time playing this way, so hopefully Richards realizes this, and makes some necessary changes.
Some thoughts:
1) James Wisniewski didn't get the result he wanted in his return to Columbus, but he played an excellent game. Wisniewski had an assist, a pair of shots, and was one of the game's best possession players, posting a plus-12 Corsi (73%). It hasn't taken him long to adjust to playing in Anaheim again.
2) Speaking of Wisniewski, the key piece Columbus received in return for him was William Karlsson, and he made his Blue Jackets debut last night. After going pointless in eight games with Springfield, Wild Bill picked up a point in his first game with Columbus, while logging a little over 12 minutes of ice.
3) Scott Hartnell has been a scoring machine since the calendar turned to March. Coincidentally, that's about the time he started playing on a line with Marko Dano.
Highlighted by his hat trick over the Ducks, Hartnell has scored 11 goals in 12 games this month while leading the Blue Jackets to an 8-2-0 record over their last 10 games.
Despite all the injuries this season, Hartnell has had a very productive year. The same can't be said for R.J. Umberger in Philadelphia.
Sure Hartnell has two more years than Umberger does, and Philadelphia will get out of the contract quicker, but Hartnell is a legitimately good top-6 forward, and Umberger is a borderline NHLer. Give me Hartnell and the extra two years any day of the week.
4) It hasn't been a banner year for Sergei Bobrovsky, but he sure is putting it together down the stretch. He's stopped 38, 38 and 37 pucks over the last three games, and has posted a .925SV% or better in each game. He's up to a .916SV% on the year, and is trending upwards. That's pretty good given how many injuries Columbus has dealt with, and the amount of defensive breakdowns that occur in front of him on a nightly basis.
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