Columbus Blue Jackets 3 Reasons Why They Will Comeback
The Columbus Blue Jackets are still alive. With their 5-4 victory over the Penguins, the series can still be won by the Jackets.
Sure, its a long shot. But there are sound reasons to believe that the Columbus Blue Jackets can come back and win this series. They dropped the first three in rough fashion to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Arguably, the Jackets have played better than the Pens in all of their first three losses. The CBJ have outshot and out possessed Pittsburgh in all of their losses, as well as their win. In not one single game have the Jackets been out of the game before late in the third period.
Losing stud rookie Zach Werenski for the remainder of the season is tough. It will certainly make the climb back into this series more challenging. Two of the remaining three games will be played in PPG Arena in Pittsburgh as well. The Pens are the second best home team in the NHL thus far this year.
So there are daunting challenges that lie ahead. That being said, there are still many reasons to believe that the Jackets can climb back into this series. Let’s take a look at three reasons why the Jackets will comeback and win this series.
#3: Marc-Andre Fleury is Shaky
Marc-Andre Fleury started the series out in an heroic manner. After the injury to Matt Murray in Game one warm ups, Fleury came into the game and played magnificently. Fleury stopped 31 of 32 shots and led his team to a decisive game one victory.
Game two was even more impressive. Fleury singlehandedly won the game by saving 39 of 40 CBJ shots. Without Fleury this series is tied 1-1 heading back into Columbus. Since then though, Fleury has shown signs of old playoff Fleury.
His save percentage has dipped from .972 in the first two games down to .892 in game three. In game four that percentage dropped again to .853 as he allowed five goals on 34 shots. He is regressing and starting to show signs of classic playoff Fleury.
He could return home and put up great numbers again. Or he could continue to regress. I think that the Jackets are beginning to solve Fleury and playing a more simple offensive style that is finding cracks. He has faced a lot of shots thus far and could be wearing out after not being used to this big of a workload during the regular season.
Like the fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins, I don’t have faith in Fleury in the playoffs. Expect him to continue his decline and for the Jackets to take advantage.
#2: The 4th Line
The depth of the Columbus Blue Jackets has been a strength the entire season. Depth in the playoffs in necessary if you want to raise the Cup. The 4th line of Anderson-Karlsson-Calvert showed their value last night in the 5-4 victory at NWA. The three all played incredibly well and notched tallies on the score sheet.
Josh Anderson was able to rush up the right side and sneak his shot past Fleury in the waining moments of the first period to double the lead for the Jackets. His first playoff goal was assisted by Wild Bill Karlsson.
Karlsson was able to drive home a goal at the start of the 3rd period following an initial save by Fleury. He continued moving his feet, regained possession of the puck, and backhanded in a huge goal for momentum. Matt Calvert assisted on the young Swed’s first playoff goal.
The return of Calvert was much needed. His inexcusable play in game two cost him a game suspension. That suspension resulted in Sonny Milano filling in his place. No offense to Sonny, but Calvert would have been perfect for game three and might have shifted the outcome.
That being said this line is really clicking. They are playing well offensively but more importantly, showed up big time defensively. Coach John Tortorella paired this line up with the Sheary-Crosby-Guentzle line that has been on fire this series. And it worked. The Pens top line only recored seven shots on goal, including none by Crosby. The line combined for a -7 rating as well.
If this line can continue its scrappy play and harassment of the top Pens line, the Jackets will get back into this series. The depth of this team has to show in the final three games of the series.
#1: Bobrovsky Will Return to Vezina Level Form
This is certainly the top reason why the Jackets are in the hole they are in. And this change will be the top reason why they can return from the depths. The Columbus Blue Jackets have shown that they can win when Sergei Bobrovsky is not in Vezina form. He was fine in game four and made some big stops but he certainly wasn’t elite.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Sergei had been the best goalie in the league up until game one of this series. He has certainly struggled, allowing 15 goals on only 138 shots thus far. An .891 save percentage isn’t going to cut it if the Jackets expect to move on to the second round.
He has shown signs of improvement though and made several big saves in game four. A win under his belt will certainly help the confidence. The Jackets were able to play better defensively and cut down the opportunities the Pens had behind the net, a problem spot for Bob.
The defensive play of Kyle Quincey also made a big difference last night and will continue going forward. The seasoned veteran may not have as much foot speed as Torts would like, his plethora of playoff experience is enough to make up for that. Quincey was in all the right spots last night. Plus he laid some big time hits as well.
The Jackets have hung around with the Pens and won one game with a below average Bob. If Sergei can return to even 85% of what he was in the regular season, the Jackets can come storming back into this series.
Fleury faltering, the 4th line, and a top notch Bob will be the reasons the Columbus Blue Jackets get back in this thing. They can come back from 3-1 deficit no doubt. They’ve already won 16 straight games this season, they can certainly win three straight.