Ivan Provorov’s Return Shows Exactly What the Blue Jackets Were Missing

The Columbus Blue Jackets faced a stiff test when the Colorado Avalanche came to town on Tuesday night. It took the home team just 28 seconds to find the scoreboard. From there, they found it again and again in a much needed and convincing win over one of the NHL’s true Stanley Cup contenders.

Charlie Coyle’s line had a night to remember. Coyle scored twice and added two assists, Mathieu Olivier added a goal and two assists while Cole Sillinger added a goal and an assist to lift the Blue Jackets to a 7-2 win over the Avalanche. 12 different skaters recorded a point. Cam Talbot was strong and finished with 27 saves.

While the scoreboard will get the attention coming off of this game, there’s another factor that we must talk about. Tuesday night was the Blue Jackets’ most complete game of the season. It was also Ivan Provorov’s second game back from injury.

Those two factors going hand-in-hand with each other is not an accident. Provorov was everywhere on Tuesday night impacting many facets of the Blue Jackets game in a positive way.

Blue Jackets Clearly Missed Provorov

We recently wrote how these Blue Jackets couldn’t be judged until Provorov was back in the lineup. The reason for that was because with him last season, the team had a legitimate NHL top-four on their blue line.

Provorov playing with Denton Matyechuk and Zach Werenski playing with Damon Severson carried the Blue Jackets most of last season. Recall when Severson was injured, the team just simply wasn’t the same.

Now that top-four is back together. The impact of Provorov being back cannot be understated. Not only did he impact the scoreboard, he made several plays that won’t hit the scoresheet but were just as important.

On a first period power play while up 1-0, Provorov fired home his first goal of the season. The Blue Jackets now have another option on the blue line that can move the puck while adding some much-needed offense.

But it was what Provorov did after it became 2-0 that showed just how much his presence was missed. Two plays in particular stood out.

First, Provorov calmly broke up a 2-on-1 Avalanche rush by breaking up the pass across. Then second, he won a battle behind his own net, won possession and then carried the puck out. It’s those little plays within games that allow his team to not only have the puck more, but also to have more confidence.

Provorov was in the right place at the right time throughout the night. He played over two minutes on both special teams units while playing just under 20 minutes for the night. He’s doing this after missing the first month of the season like he hasn’t missed a step at all.

Provorov’s coach and his teammates know just how much he was missed.

Bowness & Garland React

“It shows you how much we missed him,” Bowness said. “His skating ability and he’s such a competitive guy but he moves the puck so well. He’s so smart back there, so good in our zone and he’s one of the best in the league at getting pucks down to the net. He’s got his eyes up. He knows where he’s putting it. Games like Dallas, when he just comes out. He hasn’t been in a game for a month, just like he hasn’t skipped a beat. There’s very few guys who can do that and he could do it.”

“Provy’s one of the top guys in the league,” Garland said. “You see how thick he is and hard to play against. Breaks pucks out really easily, really good on the power play. (He) turns our second unit into a really dangerous unit. A lot of confidence in him. He’s a fantastic player. He helps (Werenski) and (Severson) and get some more offensive minutes. Those guys can make a ton of plays and you kind of see it when those three are out there. They control the pace of play. I think he helps us immediately.”

Provorov’s return also helps put players in better positions to succeed. Werenski was playing around 28 minutes a night or more without Provorov in the lineup. On Tuesday night, Werenski played over 24 minutes. That’s the kind of range the Blue Jackets would like to keep the Norris winner at if possible.

Provorov’s presence also allows the team to have flexibility on the third pair. Jake Christiansen and Dante Fabbro played together on Tuesday with the top-four in tact. The Blue Jackets can also utilize Erik Gudbranson or Emil Andrae if they need a different look. Bowness said that everyone is going to play especially if there are back-to-backs.

Then finally, Provorov being back gives the Blue Jackets multiple options that can get the puck to their forwards. The bottom four was in flux trying to find consistency. Not only did it impact the blue line, it impacted the forwards. The defenseman’s work at winning battles, retrieving pucks and getting things moving north faster makes the team more dangerous.

While there were many good things that happened Tuesday night, having Provorov back contributing at both ends of the ice might be the Blue Jackets’ biggest development.

Provorov was clearly missed. His first two games back showed everyone why.