For 20 minutes on Friday night, the Blue Jackets couldn’t have been happier with their play.
Columbus came out with its legs and dominated Vancouver in their building, earning a 17-2 edge in shots and taking a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.
As one would expect, the Canucks pushed back, though, and Columbus couldn’t get back on the score sheet. Vancouver scored early in the second, added another goal late in the period, broke the tie early in the third and pulled away to a 5-2 victory that dealt the Blue Jackets their third straight loss on its annual Western Canada road trip.
“It was by far the best period of the year,” head coach Dean Evason said of the start. “I’m very proud of the way the guys came out. We were ready. It was awesome. But obviously we didn’t get the results, so it sucks.”
In Evason’s eyes, it was another learning experience for the Blue Jackets, who didn’t manage the game at critical times. They didn’t play bad hockey the rest of the way, but they gave the Canucks enough openings that one of the best teams in the Western Conference took advantage.
“You have a start like that and you have the momentum going your way, you almost have to play a boring hockey game at that point and not allow anything to happen,” Evason said. “We didn’t, and obviously they gained momentum. We just should have kept getting pucks behind them and we didn’t, and consequently they just kept building. It wasn’t like they were all over us ... but again, it’s just key mistakes and key points of the game that we need to clean up.”
Things don’t get any easier tonight as the Blue Jackets finish their five-game road trip against a Winnipeg team that has been one of the NHL’s best in the early going. Mathieu Olivier said the Blue Jackets know what they have to do and the style of game they have to play, it just has to be consistent for 60 minutes.
“I thought the first period was great for us,” Olivier said. “We just went back to basics and played a really simple game, and it worked for us. We have the recipe for success right there. We have it on video, so we just have to do it all three periods.”
Know The Foe: Winnipeg Jets
Head coach: Scott Arniel (First season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 3.64 (5th) | Scoring defense: 2.54 (2nd) | PP: 29.3 percent (3rd) | PK: 79.2 percent (18th)
The narrative: Former Blue Jackets head coach Scott Arniel finally has another chance to sit in the big chair, and he's off to a great start, as Winnipeg won its first eight games and is third in the NHL in points percentage. It’s a similar start to last year, when the Jets won 27 of their first 40 games to move to the top of the NHL standings, but the campaign ended in disappointment yet again as the Jets lost in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row.
Team leaders: One of the top scorers in the NHL – he's posted at least 30 goals in each of the last six full seasons – Kyle Connor again leads the way with 14 goals, tied for 12th in the league. He’s the team leader with 32 points, while four other Jets have reached double digits in points so far: Mark Scheifele (14-16-30), Josh Morrissey (2-23-25, fourth among D scoring in NHL), Nikolaj Ehlers (9-16-25) and Neal Pionk (4-18-22). Gabriel Vilardi also has added 11 goals.
In net, one of the league’s best is again off to a hot start, as two-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck is 17-5-0 with a 2.14 GAA and .925 save percentage. He started yesterday in Chicago, so the Blue Jackets appear likely to see backup Eric Comrie (3-3-0, 3.04, .903).
What's new: The Jets made few additions to the roster in the offseason, sticking with a core that has made playoff appearances six times in the past seven years and won 52 games a season ago. The biggest change came behind the bench, as Rick Bowness retired after a long career and was replaced by Arniel, who led the Blue Jackets to a 45-60-18 record in a season and a half from 2010-12. After the hot start, Winnipeg hit its first stretch of adversity in late November and early December with losses in five of six, but the team has responded with wins over Buffalo and Chicago.
Trending: Winnipeg has dominated the last three contests, outscoring the Blue Jackets 17-3 after taking a 6-2 win in Nationwide Arena on Nov. 1. Those victories for the Jets ended a five-game point streak (4-0-1) for the Blue Jackets in the series.
