Columbus Blue Jackets Three Stars of the Month- October
The month of October held some great performances from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Here are the three stars of the month.
October was an average start to the year for the Columbus Blue Jackets. They survived seven games without Seth Jones as he recovered from a torn MCL and still kept their heads above water.
The 6-5-0 start for the CBJ have them in a playoff spot to start out November and that’s due to some great performances in the month of October. Traditionally when the Jackets start this well, you would normally find a goalie as one of the stars of the month.
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That isn’t the case with this Jackets team which is getting pedestrian net-minding from both Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo. Bob has started six games and is 2-4-0 while Joonas is 4-1-0 in his starts. Beyond the record though, Korpi’s numbers are pretty mediocre. His save percentage is .875 and he is allowing well over three goals per game.
The three stars for the month of October all are skaters and are led by a guy who is used to being named top star to just about anything he does. The second and third star of the week were tough to pick as there were four or five guys who played well all month long.
Let us know who you think were the stars of the month after this article in the comments!
Third Star: Anthony Duclair
Anthony Duclair’s year with his new team couldn’t have started any better. The skilled winger came to Columbus this offseason looking to get his career back on track and he started off the month the right way.
In 11 games Duclair had four goals and two assist for six points. Not bad for a guy making the league minimum.
Duclair came out of nowhere to become a big early season contributor on the Jackets and quickly moved up from the fourth line to the second line. He is even drawing top unit power play time.
Duclair’s October includes a two goal game against St. Louis on October 25th and an assist in his first game as a Blue Jacket. The Duke also had the goal of the month for the entire NHL against the Philadelphia Flyers.
https://twitter.com/BlueJacketsNHL/status/1053072972427214850
While there were other Jackets that scored more this month, it’s tough to argue Duclair’s presence in the lineup is rivaled by few. He brought skill and speed to the fourth line in the beginning and gave Torts another tool to augment the lineup. Torts shook up the lines and has found that Duclair fits great on the second line with Alexander Wennberg and Oliver Bjorkstrand.
The scoring threat and versatility Duclair added to this lineup has been fantastic and gives the Jackets one more threat on the ice. He earned this third star in his first month as a Jacket and I see many more coming this season.
Second Star: Zach Werenski
The fact that Zach Werenski started the season in the lineup is impressive. After playing most of the 2017-2018 season with a torn shoulder, Z spent the summer trying to make sure he was available after major offseason surgery. Thank goodness for the Jackets he was ready because they needed him more than they could have predicted.
For the first seven games of this year, Zach Werenski was the top defenseman on this team. With Seth Jones sidelined with a knee injury, it was up to Z to lead the defense and still continue to provide a scoring punch. He did just that without Jones on his side and he helped keep this team afloat without their Norris Trophy candidate in the lineup.
Z put up two goals and six assist through 11 games in the month of November. He was able to help keep this team above water as they missed a huge part of their team. Zach brought the offensive firepower needed to help the Jackets outscore their opponents in the first month of the season.
Although he hasn’t been dominate defensively, the offensive play of the 21-year-old was fantastic. That combined with the extra responsibilities thrown on his shoulders without Jones in the lineup, and you get a great performance from Zach in October. He is certainly worthy of the second star of the month for October.
First Star: Artemi Panarin
Yup, this one was pretty obvious. Artemi Panarin is off to an incredible start and was clearly the Columbus Blue Jackets best player in the month of October. Panarin set the franchise record for most points in his first ten games with 15 over that time period.
That 15 points includes three game winning goals, two of which came in overtime. The first was in the Jackets opening night game at Detroit and the second overtime game winner came against the Buffalo Sabres just a few nights ago.
Panarin has picked up where he left off last season and is the dynamic playmaker we all know and love. The contract situation is clearly not affecting his play and if he keeps up this pace, his next contract is going to be a monster.
Panarin is on pace for well over 11 points this year and is tied for 13th in the league in points. While he likely wont break the 111 point mark he is on pace for, Panarin looks like he is well on his way toward having the best season of his career.
Artemi is well deserving and the obvious choice to be the number one star of the month for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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What do you think? Did we get the three stars of October right? Let us know in the comments below.