Columbus Blue Jackets: Staring Down the Barrel – Bolts by the Bay
The Columbus Blue Jackets face off in a huge early season game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. We talked to BoltsByTheBay.com contributor Chase Kimball about the game.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have a massive early season matchup tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The two teams are atop the NHL standings and it’s looking like an Eastern Conference Finals showdown could be in their future.
Before the game, I talked to BoltsByTheBay.com contributor and Lightning fanatic Chase Kimball. Our pregame ‘Staring Down The Barrel’ covers the Lightning, Nikita Kucherov‘s historic start to the season and a blockbuster trade.
Be sure to check out Chase and all of the great work over at Bolts by the Bay as the season goes on. The Lightning will certainly be in the playoffs and have at least two Hart Trophy candidates and a Norris candidate to follow all season long.
How did you become a Tampa Bay Lightning Fan? What’s the best part about being a Bolts fan?
CK: The story of how I became a Bolts fan is actually a pretty weird one. I was first introduced to hockey when I was about four years old by my older cousins. They were big Red Wings fans (ew) and their favorite thing to do was play the latest and greatest NHL game of the time, NHL Hitz Pro.
I wanted to be a part of the game, and of course, they wouldn’t let their younger cousin play as the Red Wings so I had to pick a team of my own. Somehow, I ended up picking the Lightning, and my first reaction was that those St. Louis and Lecavalier guys were pretty good. That got me into actually watching games, and watching Nikolai Khabibulin play was what sealed the deal for me.
The best thing about being a Lightning fan is definitely the community. Almost all Bolts fans that I know and have met are great people and there’s an instant community that can be seen and felt with Bolts fans. For example, my first time at Amalie Arena, an older couple could see that I was looking for my seat and made a point to show me where to go and even offered to buy me dinner as a welcome to the stadium. I’ve never experienced something like that anywhere else.
What was your reaction to the Drouin trade?
CK: Personally, I wasn’t all that devastated or shocked when I heard that Jonathan Drouin had been traded. His hockey skills are undeniable and he’s going to be a good player, but his heart was never in Tampa. Ever since his self-imposed lockout in 2016, things have been tense between the coaching staff and Drouin.
While he may have rescinded his trade request, things were never going to be the same, and that goes for fan relations too. A good number of Bolts fans (myself included) saw this as a betrayal of their trust and to an even further extent, disrespectful to both the Lightning and their AHL affiliate. My personal view on the situation is that there are players who would kill to be in his position and it was a show of pride on the part of Drouin, which isn’t good for team atmosphere. It was also unjustified as he had yet to prove himself in the league at the time and had just returned to play from an injury.
Personal opinions aside, we got very skilled young defensemen out of the trade. The Bolts are already pretty deep at the forward position, but our defense was lacking before the start of the season. Sergachev has impressed so far this season and is even getting a good chunk of time on the power play. If he’s showing this much promise now, I can’t wait to see what his play is like in five years. Plus, even with the subtraction of Drouin, there hasn’t been a lack of scoring so far for the Bolts this season, so I don’t think the team is any worse for the wear.
Nikita Kucherov is on an historic tear. How do the Jackets shut him down?
CK: This is Nikita Kucherov’s world, and we’re just living in it.
As he’s already proven so far this season, he can score from any part of the ice any way he wants to. The way he scores seems impossible, and it is unless your name is Nikita Kucherov. To shut down him, you have to start by preventing pucks from getting to him however possible. That means locking him off, preventing passes whenever possible, and making them hard to revive all night long.
Of course, this won’t do it on its own, as he can get the puck for himself and score on his own just as easily. Speed and sacrifice will also be necessary to keep Kuch off the scoreboard. If you can’t get to him before he gets a shot away, you’ll have to get in front of his shot before it reaches the net. Of course, not every shot will hit the net, but with a shooter like Kucherov, better safe than sorry.
We usually ask what’s the biggest strength of a team but its clearly the Tampa offense. So what’s the biggest weakness of this team?
CK: The biggest weakness of the Lightning is the play of their depth defense, including their goalie as of now. Victor Hedman is undoubtedly one of the best defensemen in the league. Anton Stralman is another great defender and there are worse d-men than Braydon Coburn, but other than that, there are some question marks surrounding the Bolts blue line. Mikhail Sergachev, Jake Dotchin and Slater Koekkoek are all promising defensive prospects that just need more time to develop.
Koekkoek seems to be rotating the healthy scratch role with Andrej Sustr, who has turned into a pricey anchor for the Bolts. This decision from Jon Cooper makes no sense as Koekkoek has potential, but not if he’s in the press box instead of on the ice.
Truth be told, I’m really not sure how I feel about Dan Girardi either. On one hand, he is taking up a roster spot that could be filled by one of the Bolt’s developing d-men. On the other hand, (and against all odds) he hasn’t played horribly yet and he hasn’t really given Tampa fans a reason to be mad at him yet.
In his first showing of the year, Peter Budaj looked rusty. He let in two soft goals in the first period against the Devils, which proved more than costly. Vasilevskiy is a workhorse, but he can’t play in every game, and if he were to be injured, the Bolts need a solid backup to rely on. One game isn’t enough to read into, but let’s just hope that game was an irregularity.
Prediction for the game?
CK: Tonight’s game will be a battle of the goaltenders. Both Bobrovsky and Vasilevskiy have started the season strong and it won’t be easy to get pucks past either.
Penalties will also be a big part of the matchup. Tampa Bay has been taking penalties like they’re going out of style, registering four in their matchup against the Devils and five against the Penguins. Thankfully, they’re 80% on their penalty kill so far. This isn’t an excuse though, as this percentage could easily be lower than it is now and can take a nose dive at any given moment.
Countering this is one of the league’s worst power plays thus far. Entering this game, Columbus is boasting a meager 6.3% on the power play. On the other hand, Tampa Bay has the 10th highest power play percentage in the league. Columbus has taken a fraction of the penalties the Lightning have though, so a good power play won’t do much if you aren’t on the power play.
This is going to be a tight competition between two high-caliber teams that could really go either way. If Kucherov stays hot and the Bolts keep themselves out of the box, it’s a win for them. If the Lightning soak up a lot of penalties and Columbus converts on the power play, they run away from this one with two points.