I will admit that it was difficult setting my alarm for 6 A.M. after staying up until the early hours of Wednesday morning to watch hockey. But like most who follow the Columbus Blue Jackets, I believe that it was well worth it to watch the team play their best game of the season.
Hey, it’s nothing that a few cups of coffee won’t cure.
The most impressive thing about the Blue Jackets play against the Sharks is how complete it was. From controlling the offensive zone, to their defensive support. Not to mention that Sergei Bobrovsky looked remarkably like the award-winning netminder that we all know him to be.
Yes, there were some scary moments that felt like things could fall apart, but they held it together and won in impressive fashion.
Quick-Hit Thoughts
– It was nice to see Boone Jenner be rewarded for his efforts with a goal, especially after he missed a wide open net early in the game. With a team leading 7 goals on the year, Jenner is on pace for a career year, and is my early candidate for team MVP.
Jenner go-ahead goal pic.twitter.com/NaCLvQlTKj
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 4, 2015
– Ryan Murray had possibly his best game of the season. He was a force at both ends of the ice, and scored a goal to cap off his strong performance. This is the player that they sorely needed all of last year after they lost him to injury.
– The Blue Jackets are making more sound decisions, save for a bad turnover by Nick Foligno that led to a goal. The impact that coach John Tortorella is having on this team is obvious.
– In addition to Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky and Scott Hartnell have really taken this team on their shoulders. Their leadership has been invaluable.
– With Brandon Saad starting to heat up, the Blue Jackets really need Ryan Johansen and Nick Foligno to follow suit. At the end of the day they are the stars of the show, and will be relied upon to lead if they are to be at all successful this year.
– At some point, in addition to a little more defensive depth, Columbus really needs to look at acquiring a power play quarterback on the blueline. I know that is easy to say, but it is a badly needed asset.
– Oh yeah, and there is Bobrovsky.
b?b pic.twitter.com/vxsydcUMfC — NHL Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 4, 2015
Let’s Not Get Ahead of Ourselves
The Blue Jackets players need to take this for what it is. One game. They have to continue the approach that they took Tuesday night and build upon it. They are still a 3-win team in November, but they can’t look at it that way.
As I have been saying, one shift at a time, one game at a time. They have now shown that they can do it, so there are no excuses anymore.
Stock up on the coffee Blue Jackets fans, we have another late night tomorrow.
Until next time.
