3 Takeaways
1. Head coach John Tortorella said there would come a time this season where the Blue Jackets would face adversity, and the key to getting out of it would be for the team to keep the swagger and confidence it's built through the past few seasons. That test could be now, as the team has been outscored 11-3 through its first two games. It's just two games, though, with 80 to go, and ringing any alarm bells would be a sign of panic more than anything else. "We're a (freaking) good team," Dubois said. "We just have to believe in it."
2. There's no getting around this: The team has to play a better game defensively than it did against the Penguins. Team members attributed that to losing patience and chasing the game once Pittsburgh took the lead, but it was frustrating that after the coaching staff talked through the preseason about limiting odd-man rushes, the Blue Jackets gave up quality opportunities in spades against the Pens. "They end up scoring a few goals and then we lose our composure as far as how we have to play," Tortorella said. "It just gives me a great opportunity to start teaching as far as what the patience of our game has to be."
3. The NHL debut of Merzlikins certainly wasn't what he had hoped, as he allowed seven goals on 40 shots. He said he's been in worse situations, and he's right, pointing to a 14-0 loss when he was in the Latvian net during a World Junior Championships game in 2011 vs. Russia. Merzlikins took most of the blame afterward -- "I am a grown man ... I should save the team," he said afterward -- but the Blue Jackets skaters did the same, too, expressing dismay at the number of chances the team gave up. "I don't think we gave him much help at all the last 20-25 minutes," Tortorella said. Merzlikins did make some quality saves, though, and the key will be to learn from the setback.
