Game Recap: Columbus vs Toronto 11/3

This should be interesting.. I'm going to go ahead and scratch the typical intro. Let's get right into it:

Mason

The hot topic of fans last night I am sure.  Mason had an underwhelming night from the start, giving up four goals before being yanked early in the second period.  Per usual, let's run through the goals:

1 - Joey Crabb receives a pass by Lupul and is all alone in the slot. Mason cuts across and tries to cut the angle and gets beat glove side just under the cross bar. Fault Defense, and here's why:


Wisniewski makes a stretch pass from the goal line that Nash tips at the blue line.  It lands on a Toronto stick and the play is made to Lupul who gains the offensive zone as seen in the following picture. Four Blue Jackets players converge on him including Nash and MacKenzie. Nash takes the puck carrier while MacKenzie takes the middle of the ice near the blueline.

Kubalik Shows Promise

There has always been crazy amounts of hype surrounding star players drafted in the first five or so picks making their debut in the National Hockey League.  Many people like to gage a players ability based on those first couple games, and some even go as far as critiquing the entire team after those first couple games, deeming the season a success of a failure.  In Columbus, guys like Nash and Filatov had that hype.

But the unsung heros seem to come from the depths of the Columbus draft days, like Matt Calvert (5th round, 127 overall in 2008), Derek Dorsett (7th round, 189 overall in 2006), Kris Russell (3rd round, 67th overall in 2005), Jared Boll (4th round, 101st overall in 2005), Grant Clitsome (9th round, 271st overall in 2004), and Marc Methot (6th round, 168th overall in 2003).  The success of a team can be measured in a handful of ways that are generally not televised or highlighted by the media because of the lack of 'sexyness' that it generates.  Sure enough though, Columbus is knee deep in mid draft talent, and over the last two weeks, two more names have been added to the list.

Kubalik showed promise in Columbus' training camp this year, making decisions hard in a top six that had very little wiggle room (not to mention a hungry Calvert also waiting in the wing).  I support any conclusion that says he belongs in a top six role and may struggle outside of that realm.  I personally agree that players with specific styles are wasted in secondary roles, and Kubalik is no exception.  He spent the year conditioning his talent in Springfield and took to the ice for the first time as a Jacket last night.  No ticker tape parade, no fans expectations waiting to skyrocket at the ring of a post or the crunch of a check.  Just Kubalik, showing the Jackets faithful what he is capable of accomplishing in a Blue Jackets jersey.

Early in the game I saw comments regarding his play become a bit negative on twitter.  Certainly moving to the NHL stage against one of the premier Eastern Conference teams is a daunting task, and getting his feet wet may have included a dunking or two, but by the second period, the line of Calvert - Vermette - Kubalik was far and away the most effective unit for the Jackets.  My favourite talking point of the game for him was watching him chase a defender around their net, forcing a weak pass to the secondary defender on the boards.  Kubalik sprinted and pressed him, who had to make a play back behind the net with Kubalik once again quickly in pursuit.  The puck was finally cleared, with Vermette and Umberger watching on as the rookie jetted from side to side forcing difficult passes.

If Kubalik brought anything last night outside the actual game itself, he brought a very distinct definition of quality drafting to Columbus.  He was drafted 7 picks after his linemate from last night, Matt Calvert.  Another 5th rounder making waves in the Blue Jackets roster, and another successful start to what I believe will be a strong NHL career.

Carry the Flag!

Some Negative Trends Take a Quiet Toll

I am not a big fan of game recaps, but I think it is important to reflect on common trends following a team.  If teams are winning close games, it is usually reflective of a handful of things done correctly, and subsequently, losses can usually be attributed to one or two things that simply are not clicking.

I would like to point out, is that Columbus has been flat out outworking teams.  Their character has been expanding each game, including what I believe to be a substantial outworking of Vancouver last night.  For a team that most seem to pretend is not getting better, they are slowly turning heads again the way they did a couple years ago when they made their first legitimate playoff chase.

With that said, here are some of the glaring issues I believe are keeping the Blue Jackets out of the win column, and may cause them to really struggle down the stretch;

First, they seem to be openly timid against teams who are notably better than they are, at least in the standings.  Take last night for example, they seemed to play with urgency, but rarely with the swagger that gives them the edge they need to win.  I do think they played well to an extent, but I think they need to find the edge a bit more rather than being so timid with the play.  What does give me some confidence is that it does show up at times.  After the Upshall goal, the swagger was there in full force, although it lasted only until about mid-way through the third period.

Second, the shots being taken by the Jackets are rarely high percentage, high quality shots.  I support the concept of 'getting the puck on net' but it has to be followed up by players crashing.  If the Jackets want to find easy ways to beat goaltenders,  they will need to learn to start taking advantage of the scramble after the initial shot.  In the Vancouver game, they outshot and outplayed the Canucks for most of the 65 minutes of playing time, however, when you go to the highlights, most are of Vancouver shots.

Finally, if the Jackets want to win games, they are going to have to learn to finish their high percentage opportunities.  I can understand that the goalie has just as good of a chance of making the save as the player does of putting the puck past him, but there were at least four or five breakaways/odd man rushes that lead to clear, extremely high quality opportunities to score that did not lead to a goal.  Notably, RJ Umberger has been struggling really hard with this lately, including the shootout attempt last night that he seemed beat on before he even crossed the blueline.  I can understand a lot of the fanbase giving Voracek some grief for his struggles to 'bury the biscuit' but it should be noted that he is not the only one struggling.  Other notable gaffs were Dorsett's breakaway shot directly into the chest logo, Calvert's semi breakaway which lead to a fairly textbook pad save by Luongo, Umberger's breakaway that saw him fall trying to shovel the puck through a Luongo pad that was waiting for him.... The opportunities are there for whenever these boys want to start taking advantage of them.  Good teams outplay their opponents, but great teams find ways to win.

For all the negatives, I would like to draw on a very big positive for the Jackets.  They have been unconscious on the penalty kill.  I believe the stat line was killing 22 of the last 23 penalties through the end of the game last night.  For a team fighting for the playoffs, that is a major contributor to success.  While I do not expect them to continue that kind of pace, they are quickly generated one of the more effective penalty kills in the league, now sitting at 19th overall with an 81.3%.

Also, the play of Scottie Upshall was very refreshing.  I personally look forward to seeing what all he can bring to the lineup as he learns the system, and frankly, seeing Pahlsson's name so often in a positive way is something I have been hoping for since he came to the team.  If Upshall can bring out the best in Pahlsson, we could be looking at the outline of a very deep Columbus team when Brassard returns.

Carry the Flag!

Matt Calvert

There is no question in my mind that Matt Calvert is a major bright spot on the Columbus roster of late, and could easily be considered the top prospect that has brought the most upside to the main club this year.  In fact, I would be hard pressed to believe anyone who claimed that the 127th pick in the 2008 draft would make such a substantial difference with the big club next year, let alone this year.  His hattrick last night upped his goal total to nine this year, in the twenty games he has spent with the big club.

As much as I am personally excited to see his success, I have focused on a couple different aspects of how his play has made a difference on the team dynamic, and I wanted to share them.

First, this makes Nikita Filatov 100% expendable.  At the beginning of the year, I had a tremendous amount of confidence in the potential star power Fily is capable of bringing to the Columbus top six.  I can admit being both wrong, and was completely devastated when it became clear that he had a great deal of developing to do before he would become a viable top six forward.  What makes him expendable, is the current Jackets lineup.  With the addition of Calvert to the top six, the Jackets first two lines look like some form of the following:

Nash - Brassard - Voracek

Umberger - Vermette - Calvert

IR: Huselius

Not only does this allow Arniel to force Juice down to the third line, it gives him room to bring in a legit top six player if someone is taking advantage of their position with lazy or foolish play.  This lineup of course would be my ideal option once Brassard returns from injury, which should be somewhere within the next two weeks.

Second, it makes Huselius expendable.  I have long badgered his lazy play, and I feel like Calvert is about as non-Huselius as a player can get.  The kid flat out hustles, taking great advantage of every opportunity he is given, and forcing the issue when the opposition has the puck.  While his size would lead you to believe he would be more of a finesse player, his 5'9 frame actually ends up giving the presence of a 6'3 player the way he throws his body around on the ice.  Essentially, this roster swap changes the 'patience' of Juice to the frenetic, exciting play of Calvert, a player who was noticeably on the shoulders of the entire fanbase Friday night against Phoenix.

As it stands, Calvert has 9 goals in 20 games.  He also has 5 goals in his last 3 games, and 6 goals in his last 4.  These numbers are not familiar to fourth round picks who are brought up to the main club as a rookie over halfway into the season.  It leads me to my final comment about his rise with the Jackets, and it relates to the quality drafting done by the Jackets over the last few seasons.  Notably, on their current roster, they have (of those they have drafted) Methot (168th - 2003), Calvert (127th - 2008), Clitsome (271st - 2004), Dorsett (189th - 2006), Boll (101st - 2005), Murray (242nd - 2001).  Obviously excluded are the players drafted in the top 100 who are finding great success (Nash, Brassard, Russell, Mason, Voracek) on the roster and most of whom are signed to fairly reasonable extensions with the club.

Why the Jackets Should Not be Buyers or Sellers at the Deadline

In tonight’s game the Jackets absolutely dominated the Phoenix Coyotes for the majority of the game. This has been the standard over nearly the last two months. What is even more notable about tonight’s game was the play of Rick Nash. He was invisible. When he was visible he was turning the puck over or making poor decisions. This may have been Nash’s worst game of 2011. For much of the Jackets history, Nash had to play great or the team had to grind out a win over a better team. Lately, the Jackets have simply been better than their opponents. The Jackets team that we have been watching over the last twenty games or so has been the best Jackets team in franchise history.

Those are weighty words that sound hyperbolic. Yet they are not. While part of this is related to Doug MacLean’s reign of terror, the other part has to do with the well balanced team currently being iced by the Blue Jackets and the maturation of their younger players. It would be really tempting for the Jackets to make a major move at the trade deadline. This would be a mistake. A hockey team is a fickle experiment in chemistry. Right now, this Jackets team is clicking in a way that makes them very dangerous. A major addition to their top nine forwards or top four defensemen could very well do more harm than good.

On the other hand, the Jackets have a number of upcoming unrestricted free agents. Ethan Moreau, Chris Clark and Jan Hejda are the exact type of player that could be dealt to a contender for picks or prospects at the deadline. Instead, the Columbus front office should be looking at these players as the Jackets deadline moves. The only type of addition that makes sense for the Jackets are the exact type of players they already have. Simply keep those players.

There has been a lot of discussion lately on adding a top six forward or a top defenseman. That would be a mistake. As great as the Jackets have been lately, this is not a championship team. The goal is to win the Stanley Cup, not make the playoffs. This team should make the playoffs. Any deal to bring in a player to significantly upgrade the top six forwards or top defense pairing would cost the team in players that will be needed in the future. The core of this Jackets team is locked in for a significant amount of time (Jake Voracek excepted). This team should be competing for the Cup in two or three years, with John Moore, Ryan Johansen, David Savard and their other top prospects as part of that team. To give up those pieces now to make it to the second round is asinine. It’s short sighted.

On the other hand, they need to make the playoffs this season. Young teams rarely win right away in the playoffs. They need to make the playoffs a couple of times and lose. They need to get those playoff reps. Once the talent and experience mesh, the team will truly be a contender. Nash, Brassard, Voracek, Russell, Calvert and company need to get that playoff experience now. Clark, Moreau, Hejda and Sammy Pahlsson are important parts of this team and necessary to make the playoffs. While those players likely won’t be in Columbus when the Jackets are Cup contenders, they will play a big part in getting them there.

Vermette Creating Flexibility in the Top 6

With the recent play of the Columbus top line, a thought of "don't fix what isn't broken" immediately floods the brain.  Thanks to the injury to Derick Brassard, the tinkering was unavoidable as we watched Antoine Vermette return to the top line, a position he has managed well for the Blue Jackets in years previous.

What surprised me, was the rather seamless transition that occurred as the top line continues to roll, scoring key goals against difficult matchups over the last two games.  In fact, what it makes me wonder, is whether this opens the door for Scott Arniel to generate a two line powerhouse once Brassard returns from injury without forcing the young center back to both top line matchups, or top line minutes.

What excites me about the possibility of dropping Brassard, is the opportunity to give Umberger a fast paced, pass first center who can force the play towards the net.  While Vermette has been solid on the second line, it is my personal opinion that he stands to gain more both on the ice and on the scoresheet by playing with Nash on line one, all the while providing the top line with arguably the teams most capable faceoff winner.

Extending on the potential second line, an injury to the generally mediocre, lazy Huselius opens the door for Arniel to get creative and bring in a guy like Calvert, who has shown remarkable poise and speed for a rookie just learning the NHL game.  By introducing two elements of speed to the second line, it will undoubtedly force opposing teams to get creative with their matchups, and if they are successful, lightening the rather substantial load that is commonly thrust upon the first line.

It could certainly be argued that I am getting ahead of myself a little bit with Brassard still injured, and the team potentially adding bodies before the deadline next week, but it is an exciting possibility to generate speed and a legitimate scoring threat from a secondary line in Columbus.  It reminds me exactly how far along the team has come since the days of bad press complaining about a lack of a supporting cast for Nash.