John Tortorella Guarantees a Columbus Blue Jackets Game 6 Win

John Tortorella guarantees the Columbus Blue Jackets will return to D.C. for game seven.

Game five of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals first round series was a must win in my mind. The Jackets fell in overtime in one of their better games of the series but coach John Tortorella isn’t worried about the team in game six.

“We’ll be back here for game seven” said Torts in his post game press conference following the 4-3 overtime loss. He feels like the team can shrug off the tough loss and come out of Monday’s matchup with a win.

And he has no reason not to feel that way. The Jackets are coming back home where they haven’t won yet this series despite playing well at home throughout the regular season. Just like the Capitals won their third game at home after losing the first two in the series, the Jackets can win their third home game after losing the first two at Nationwide.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have played well when their backs are against the wall. Every game from the start of March on was virtually a must win for the Columbus Blue Jackets and they delivered. The Jackets were 14-4-2 in the final 20 games that all had the “must-win” feel to them.

Certainly game six will be a different level than those games in March, but the confidence will still be there. The Jackets played well in game five and should come into game six thinking that if they stay out of the box, they can deliver on their coach’s promise.

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That is a huge “if” of course and will be the key to the game. The Capitals have scored a power play goal in every game of this series and it has been the difference. Torts should have prefaced his guarantee with “if we don’t take four penalties” but I love the confidence.

We’ll find out if his team can back him up Monday at 7:30pm at Nationwide Arena and deliver a game six win.