Friday night, the Blue Jackets entered the third period up 3-2 on visiting Pittsburgh and then ran away with the game, scoring three times in the final frame to ice a 6-2 win.
A night later in Montreal, the script was flipped on Columbus. The Jackets trailed 2-1 to the Canadiens after 40 minutes and saw the Habs pull away with three third-period goals of their own in a 5-1 final.
To head coach Dean Evason, the difference in the two third periods was clear. Against Pittsburgh, the Blue Jackets played staunch defense that led to offense; in Montreal, Columbus cheated to try to create goals and found the puck in the back of their own net instead.
"We were playing the right way,” Evason said. “We weren't having success as far as shooting the puck, I guess, was the most important thing. And then for whatever reason, we wanted to go try to make some plays that weren't there.
“We talked continually about simplifying and getting pucks deep and getting after it, and we were having some success there and we just didn't stay with the game plan and kind of went rogue a little bit. They capitalized on a few mistakes and then the game is over.”
So far, the secrets to success for the Blue Jackets haven’t been secrets at all. Columbus is at its best when it plays a simpler game, getting pucks into the zone and forcing teams to try to get them out, then playing with aggressive pressure to force turnovers and get going on the rush.
Evason calls it “winning hockey,” and for whatever reasons, the Jackets got away from it Saturday night.
“I think for us, we have to know our identity, and that's putting pucks behind teams and going down there and going to work,” Zach Werenski said. “I feel like tonight we were just turning pucks over too much at their blue line and our blue line, kind of playing into their style, which is their high-flying offense. I definitely don't think we played our style tonight, and that hurt us.”
The Blue Jackets will look to get back to that Monday against a Boston that’s always a hard out.
“When our team’s playing well and moving pucks, we get pucks in and behind the defense and get to work,” Dante Fabbro said. “That’s our identity right there. When you stray away from that, it’s tough to win games.”
Know The Foe: Boston Bruins
Head coach: Jim Montgomery (Third season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 2.47 (26th) | Scoring defense: 3.37 (24th) | PP: 11.3 percent (32nd) | PK: 75.0 percent (26th)
The narrative: The Bruins have been one of the most consistently successful franchises in the NHL, making the playoffs 15 of the last 17 years, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 and going to the Final in 2013 and ‘19 as well. But it hasn’t been a great start to the season, as the retirements of such core pieces as Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci has left some holes in the lineup that the Bruins are trying to fill with younger pieces.
Team leaders: The two players at the top of the scoring chart are certainly familiar names, as David Pastrnak leads the way with eight goals and 17 points, while Brad Marchand is next with five goals among his 13 points. They’re the only two Bruins in double figures, though, as Elias Lindholm is next with a 2-7-9 line, Cole Koepke follows with four goals and four assists, and then five players including defenseman Charlie McAvoy are tied with seven points.
In net, Jeremy Swayman leads the team with 13 starts and is 5-6-2 with a 3.35 GAA and .888 save percentage.
What's new: Boston acquired such pieces as Koepke, Mark Kastelic, Morgan Geekie and Nikita Zadorov to try to fill out the lineup while also turning to such youngsters as John Beecher (23 years old), former Ohio State defenseman Mason Lohrei (24) and Matthew Poitras (20) in bigger roles, but the Bruins are still trying to find their game. A recent injury to top-pair defenseman Hampus Lindholm hasn’t helped, and Boston is 2-2-2 in its last six games and yet to win three straight all season.
Trending: Columbus won the first matchup of three last season by a 5-2 score in Nationwide Arena on Nov. 27, but the Bruins won the ensuing meetings in December and January. That win for the Blue Jackets was their only one the last three seasons against the Bruins (1-5-3).
Former CBJ: Joonas Korpisalo went to Boston in an offseason trade from Ottawa and is 3-2-1 in seven games with a 2.74 GAA and .901 save percentage. Defenseman Andrew Peeke has been out with an upper body injury of late and has two assists in 13 games.
