The Blue Jackets played the Oilers last night, in their second matchup of the week. In a lot of ways, this was a similar type of game to the one in Edmonton on Monday, but with a much better outcome.
In both games, the Jackets hounded pucks in the offensive zone, effectively locking the Oilers into doing what they hate the most: playing defense. The third line with Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier were most effective at this last night.
They were rewarded with a combined 7 points, factoring in on 3 CBJ goals, ultimately leading this team to victory. Impressive, when you consider the fact that they were often matched up against the lethal top line of the Oilers.
It stands to reason that they were the line trusted by head coach Dean Evason to close this game out late. It was probably their most important contribution of the night. They played the final two minutes as the Oilers looked for the tying goal.
This line bent, but they did not break. A couple of key pass deflections, a blocked shot or two, and the game was over without requiring overtime. It's a big difference from Monday night, where they allowed the Oilers a similar type of comeback before losing early in the extra frame.
What was different?
Honestly, not much. It's really odd how these games mirror each other. In each of them, the Blue Jackets held multiple two goal leads in the third period. And, in both games, they let the Oilers get up off the mat and get back into it.
That's something they will need to improve upon, and in short fashion. This team is built to grind the opposition, but when they have to defend, it's a struggle. That can't continue to be the case as the season wears on.
I thought the biggest difference between these two games was in the way they responded to the third Oilers goal. In the game on Monday, they went into a full prevent defense when the game became 4-3, backing away and trying to hold the middle of the ice. It bit them. Hard.
They stopped grinding, stopped pressuring pucks along the perimeter, and generally just looked stunned. Maybe it was just a young team playing on the road. But, it happened, so we were afraid of it happening again as they played the same team.
It almost did. Last night, they did give up a goal just 27 seconds after Olivier had pushed the lead to 5-2. Uh-oh.
But they didn't panic. Instead, they got right back to work and continued to play the hockey that made them successful. There were a lot of chances at the other end, but I thought the Jackets did a better job holding their structure in the defensive zone.
The big guns for the Oilers made things very difficult, but the Jackets were able to keep them from getting that late tying goal. It helps that they won the majority of the faceoffs late in their own end. It also helps that they got some bounces.
But, that's all part of not panicking. Hopefully this is a sign of growth. This team needs to mature and start finding ways to put these games away more often. Thank goodness they did it last night.