The Blue Jackets stuck to their game for 63 minutes against the Rangers

Last night's Blue Jackets game against the New York Rangers was written into the stars. After both teams had allowed 7 goals in their previous matchups, we knew we were in for a defensive battle. We got more of that than we expected, with this one going all the way into over time as a scoreless tie.

The Jackets ultimately prevailed thanks to a Kent Johnson goal that was scored off of a nifty tic-tac-toe passing play, but what really stood out here was the way the team played overall. This is how this team is going to win hockey games.

Stuck to their system.

What we saw last night was a far cry from the team we watched through most of the first five games of the season. I would even include the one game we thought was good in this analogy.

The Jackets stuck to their system last night, and were not rattled by anything. Momentum swung both ways, offensive chances were thwarted at the other end, penalties were called. All along, this team stuck with their plan and never looked rattled.

It took a full team effort. All four lines knew their job and went to work. All six defensemen contributed. Their goaltender made some timely saves when called upon. That's what it's going to take for this team to compete in this league.

Now that the standard is set, they have to stick to it. We have seen them do it for a full 60+ minutes. Last night was a prime example of the way Rick Bowness wants his team to play, and the result speaks for itself.

Nailed our three keys.

In our preview yesterday, we laid out three keys to success for the Blue Jackets last night. They checked all three of those boxes. They did not allow a power-play until the third period (though, they sure made up for it). They played strong defense, and got timely saves. In fact, Jet Greaves stopped them all, and was the game's first star.

This might not have been the kind of high event, free wheeling hockey that people want to see. But, it's pretty effective, and this is how you beat teams on a nightly basis. You can't always count on offense, but you can always count on defense and structure.

On many nights, I think this team scores 3 or 4 goals if they play the way they did last night anyhow. Dylan Garand showed out in a big way, so give credit where it's due. And, we were treated to one really nice goal, that took home 2 points for this team.

Lets see if they can build upon it and take this same effort into Minnesota tonight.

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