While the Blue Jackets still remain a huge long shot to make the playoffs this season, they kept their slim hopes alive with consecutive wins; including one last night in Minnesota.
Columbus has a 1% chance of making the playoffs - according to SportsClubStats - but if not anything else some wins will at least make things interesting down the stretch.
Some thoughts on last night's game and what we've seen of late:
- Jeremy Morin played less than 13 minutes for his sixth consecutive game. For the most part he was given 15-16 minutes a game when he was first acquired, and he generated a lot of scoring chances + drove possession, but Todd Richards seems hesitant to use him all of the sudden. He'll get a few shifts on Ryan Johansen's line, then the next thing you know he's playing with Jared Boll or glued to the bench. He's great through the neutral zone and has created a lot of chances offensively, so I'd like to see him given a little more rope. It's hard to produce every shift, and it looks like Richards expects him to if he's going to give him legitimate top-6 minutes.
- Ryan Johansen's 13-game point streak was snapped against the Wild. Columbus needs to go 24-10-4 (per SportsClubStats) to have a realistic chance of making the playoffs, so they'll need him to jump right back on the horse and produce if they're going to have a shot.
- At what point does James Wisniewski start to get recognition for how good he is? He consistently plays 20+ minutes, drives possession and is usually top-20-30 in points among defenseman. The guy has been criminally underrated for half of a decade.
- I really liked what I saw from the Hartnell - Dubinsky - Anderson line. They combined for both even-strength goals Columbus scored in the game, and they were three of five Blue Jackets who posted positive possession numbers (i.e. better than 50%).
- The Blue Jackets lost the possession battle at even-strength, but for the most part I thought they played well at 5 vs 5 last night; particularly defending the lead in the 3rd. Shots were 9-9 in the 3rd frame, which is impressive considering Minnesota was playing from behind for a much needed two points, and were on home ice.
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