If the Blue Jackets rally to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, they’ll likely look back at Monday night’s game vs. New Jersey as a turning point.
At least that’s the way head coach Dean Evason sees it. Columbus didn’t leave Nationwide Arena with two points on St. Patrick’s Day, but the Blue Jackets found a level – of both play and perhaps desperation – that they will need to reach consistently down the stretch.
The Blue Jackets crashed the net, created opportunities and put 46 shots on goalie Jake Allen – 24 of them in the third period – but only one went into the net in a 2-1 loss to the Devils. But if the Blue Jackets play that style of relentless, aggressive hockey in the remaining 15 games, they’ll likely find themselves on the winning end more often than not, Evason said.
“Did we get the result? No,” Evason said. “Did we play the right way? Do we believe that this is the turning point? Do we believe this is one that not only the period, the game that turns us around and we’re ready to go forward? Yeah, 100 percent.”
Perhaps most importantly, what the Blue Jackets heard – the blast of a cannon – in the third period is hopefully a sign that better days are on the way. Columbus had been shut out in the previous two home games for the first time since 2011, and it took until just over six minutes remained in this one until Mathieu Olivier drove the net and put home a loose puck to make it a 2-1 game.
As much as teams try to minimize scoring lulls in the season when they happen – if they keep getting their chances, surely they'll go in, they often say – there’s no doubt a weight had seemingly been placed on the shoulders of the CBJ players as the scoreless streak inched upward. It was particularly frustrating because the Blue Jackets have been one of the most consistent goal-scoring teams in the league this year, particularly at home where their 3.81 goals per game entering Monday still led all NHL squads despite the recent funk.
Every goal-scoring slump feels the same – the sure goals that go off the post, the extra pass instead of a shot on net, the frustration that builds – but the hope is seeing Olivier put one in the net lifts that burden.
“You go through ebbs and flows in the year,” Olivier said. “Sometimes it goes in like nothing and sometimes you’re having a hard time scoring. It’s just part of a long season. Unfortunately, our timing of not being able to score as much is a little tough, but obviously we did the right things to score. It’s gonna come.”
For the Blue Jackets, that goal came in the nick of time from a confidence perspective. Now, the Blue Jackets have to carry that forward, as it will take a similar effort to overturn what has now become a four-game losing streak as well as losses in six of seven.
It’s been an ill-timed skid that has left the Blue Jackets three points behind the Eastern Conference’s final wild card spot with 15 games to play, so the results must turn around quickly. The good news is that there’s plenty of time to make up ground, and Evason said Columbus will take the way they played against the Devils and go forward.
“We went in and just talked about how incredibly positive that game and that period was, and the guys know it. We know it. We're good,” Evason said. “I hope ... they feel that it’s moving in the right direction, that the momentum has shifted. Would we like to have been rewarded with two points? Of course. But the way that we played, you can put that in the memory bank.”
The Blue Jackets also have plenty in the memory bank when it comes to battling back from adversity. Whether it’s been during games, through losing streaks or any other situation, this CBJ team has shown the ability to respond positively to whatever has been thrown at it.
“We just have to focus on the positives,” Olivier said. “I know it’s a little cliche to say, but obviously our performance tonight, we gave ourselves the best chance to win and it didn’t work in our favor, but that doesn’t mean we have to change the recipe. Stay the course. It worked for us most of the year. It’s a little bit of a tough stretch right now, but we’re a resilient group. We’ve proven that from the summer all the way to here. It’s not gonna change now.”
After a game where they threw the kitchen sink at the Devils but still couldn’t come out with the win, the only thing the Blue Jackets hope changes going forward is the outcome.
“We played our (butts) off,” Evason said. “We had so many unbelievable opportunities. We played the right way. We played hard, we played disciplined, we played within the system structurally. We just didn’t get the result, but we’re right where we want to be.
“Obviously, we would love to be 10 points up and in a (playoff) spot, but these kind of things, streaks, you have to believe. It takes some time to get out of it and you have (to have) some breaks, and that has to be our momentum-shifting period to go forward and change things around here.”
