The Columbus Blue Jackets played one of the best games in recent memory Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They dominated the game from start to finish in all aspects while taking advantage of a team in the Maple Leafs who had to play in a back-to-back situation.
On Saturday night, the Blue Jackets find themselves again playing against an opponent in the Nashville Predators who played a game the night before. The Predators came back from a 2-0 deficit to grind out a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks for just their second win of the season.
The Blue Jackets have had three days off in advance of Saturday night’s game while having the luxury of arriving in Nashville before the Predators did.
Winning in the manner the Blue Jackets did Tuesday was nice. However, the big thing they’re focused on now is consistency. While every team strives for consistency, it is hard to find. They want consistency in their game, their effort and their approach. Saturday will provide a good test for the Blue Jackets to see if they can build off such an impressive performance in a city where they haven’t enjoyed much historic success.
Talking Consistency
It doesn’t matter if you’re a new player in the NHL or a 10+ year veteran, every player says they want consistency in their game. But what is that exactly?
Over the course of a season, there are so many highs and lows that make consistency so fleeting. But if these Blue Jackets want to take the next step, they are going to have to find as much consistency as possible. Sean Monahan says that means being able to handle momentum swings in games.
“If there’s momentum swings in games and it’s not going your way, you can get away from the good habits of winning hockey,” Monahan said. “When you (handle momentum swings) consistently, you give yourself and the team a good chance to have success.”
“There’s different emotions throughout a game. There’s different emotions throughout seasons and a lot of momentum swings, shift-to-shift and period-to-period. You have to manage it and stick within your structure and stick together as a team.”
Head coach Dean Evason not only wants consistency from his team, he wants to see one thing in particular be consistent in every game.
“All we’re looking for is consistent work,” Evason said. “And consistent effort. The start of the Minnesota game, we didn’t have the same effort in the first period and it showed. We didn’t have success in that game. So that’s the consistency. It’s not consistently never making a mistake. It’s consistently, predictably being a team that works every single game. Teams know when they play against us that we’re going to work every night and for them to have success, they’re going to have to work. That’s the consistency we want as a team.”
Third Defensive Pair
So far in the first six games, the Blue Jackets have enjoyed good results from their top-two defensive pairs. Those are Zach Werenski with Ivan Provorov and Jake Christiansen with Damon Severson.
The third defensive pair however remains in a rotation.
Evason admitted that all of Jiricek, Harris and Johnson are vying for playing time on that third pair. In particular, Jiricek and Harris are each vying for playing time while still learning the daily grind of the NHL.
It will be Harris’ turn to play Saturday night alongside Johnson. Jiricek will be a healthy scratch. Evason said Thursday that there is not a long term plan when it comes to who plays on that third pair.
“It’s day-by-day,” Evason said. “It’s game-by-game and it’s an earned culture that we’ve tried to implement. As far as those two guys (Harris and Jiricek), they’ve been in and out a little bit. Jack’s been in and out too. So we want them to have a healthy competition to see who the guy is that stays in the lineup.”
Harris knows what he has to do now that he has another opportunity on Saturday. He also says he knows he can be better too. What does he want to show?
“(That) I can play the way that I know I can play and be reliable out there,” Harris said. “It’s two main things. I feel like from a player’s and coach’s perspective, I just want to be reliable out there, be trusted and add to the team however you can. That’s my goal out there.”
“I think I can definitely be better. I could play better and have more in me. I think that there’s some good things within me. There’s also some stuff to work on for sure.”
Evason wants to see Harris play his game more and play up to what he is capable of.
“Just to play a firm, straight-forward game,” Evason said of Harris. “Just getting the puck going, play good defensively, good box outs, just steady. We’ve seen it. He’s capable of doing it. We’re expecting him to do it here tonight.”
Projected Lineup/Notes
Here is how the Blue Jackets looked at practice this week. They skated an optional on Satruday morning.
- Cole Sillinger-Sean Monahan-Kirill Marchenko
- Yegor Chinakhov-Adam Fantilli-Mikael Pyyhtia
- Zach Aston Reese-Justin Danforth-Mathieu Olivier
- James van Riemsdyk-Sean Kuraly-Kevin Labanc
- Zach Werenski-Ivan Provorov
- Jake Christiansen-Damon Severson
- Jack Johnson-Jordan Harris
- Daniil Tarasov will make his fourth consecutive start in net. Elvis Merzlikins backs up.
Olivier returns to Nashville tonight. He has fond memories of the Predators as that was his first NHL team as well as the place where his second son was born. He says the game will mean a little extra something.
“It does, but in a positive way,” Olivier said. “I think it’s just very near and dear to my heart. This is where I started and lived here for a couple of years. It’s always special coming back. I’m a very big country fan as well. Coming to Nashville is always great. It’s just really fun to come back.”
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Olivier has turned into an important part of the Blue Jackets. While he will step up and fight when needed, he plays most every important situation too.
“I think a lot of people from the outside looking in think he’s a tough guy and can drop the gloves and look after himself, but he’s a great skater and gets up and down the ice,” Evason said. “He finishes his checks. He’s a wonderful teammate and he’s able to play in all situations, kills penalties, scored a couple of goals last game. So to have a guy like that on your hockey club that well rounded is awesome.”
The Predators didn’t hold a morning skate on Saturday but the Friday scratches in Chicago all skated which implies the same 18 skaters. Per Nick Kieser of Predators radio, they are projecting Scott Wedgewood to start against the Blue Jackets with Juuse Saros getting the win on Friday. Check back at warmups for an official word.