Lackluster Effort Downs Blue Jackets Last Night vs Montreal

The NHL season is very long, with each team playing 82 games. With that much hockey to be played, there will certainly be plenty of ups and downs. But the Blue Jackets lost last night for an unacceptable reason. They lost because they brought a lackluster effort.

It’s somewhat expected for a young team to have off nights. It is part of the growth process as younger players look to find their way in the league. But last night, youth wasn’t the issue. In fact, the team’s youngest line; their de facto third line of Dmitri Voronkov, Cole Sillinger, and Yegor Chinakhov – was their best line. Arguably, it was the best line on the ice for either team.

The Jackets struggled last night because their top-two lines were entirely not effective against the Montreal Canadiens – a team that was only two points ahead of them in the standings heading into their matchup. The “Habs” were struggling, also; winning just two of their previous seven games. For the Jackets, this really seemed like a favorable matchup, a chance to pull themselves up and get two points on home ice. But unfortunately, the guys who are supposed to lead the way here, played down to the competition. And they paid the price for it.

The top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Boone Jenner, and Kirill Marchenko struggled, generating just over 31% xGF last night (per Natural Stat Trick). This happened in a game where the Blue Jackets had control of the last change, giving them favorable matchups if they wanted them. On most nights, even when things don’t go their way, this line is at least effective at doing the little things. But last night, I thought they struggled to find their legs. Call it an off night.

More concerning to me is the continued poor play of the second line of Alexandre Texier, Adam Fantilli, and Patrik Laine. They accounted for an xGF of just 1.52% last night(!), which is one of the worst performances I can ever recall seeing. I don’t want to pile on here, but something clearly isn’t right with Laine. We broke down one of his shifts on “X” last night, right after it happened (click for full thread):

I don’t know if he’s still feeling the effects of his concussion, or if he’s otherwise injured. Maybe it’s mental, or he’s upset about something. But, they need to figure this guy out and get more from him. He was the worst player on the ice last night, and I say that without holding back. On their lone power-play, the first unit saw the puck cleared out of the offensive zone twice. Both times, it was on passes that were made to Laine. Good passes, too – not the kind that are hard for him to handle. He just flat out missed them, and on the second one, rather than skating back to get the puck, he audibly shouted in frustration and dropped his shoulders – nearly resulting in a breakaway for the Canadiens.

We’ve said it time and time again: if your best players aren’t playing like your best players, you aren’t going to win many games in this league. Last night, the top two lines for the Blue Jackets did not bring it. Lackluster effort is the best (kindest) way to describe their game. It wasn’t good enough, and this loss falls directly onto the shoulders of this team’s leadership core. We can’t blame the kids. We can’t blame the goaltending. The veterans need to be better – in this league, even the worst teams can beat you on any given night. Hopefully they learned that lesson in this one.