The Blue Jackets needed to come out of the Olympic break and pick up right where they left off. Last night in Boston, I thought they did that. Unfortunately, they still came out on the losing end.
On a lot of nights, they will easily win with that kind of effort. The Jackets came out hard from the opening faceoff, spending several shifts in the Boston end and generating a lot of scoring chances.
They put 20 shots on the Bruins net in the first frame while only allowing 10 against, but could only manage one goal. Kirill Marchenko scored on a breakaway 4:32 into the game. The Bruins tied it late in the first, with Viktor Arvidsson getting credit for a goal that was deflected in by the Jackets.
The Jackets continued to dominate in the second and third periods, out-shooting the Bruins 20-13. But the story on this night was the Boston goaltending, with Joonas Korpisalo having one of those nights, making 36 saves. Michael DiPietro came on briefly in relief and stopped both shots he faced, also.
Three things that stood out.
1. The Jackets were ready to play. There was no Olympic hangover for the guys in blue and white last night. The Blue Jackets came out with energy and poise, honestly playing a near perfect road hockey game.
They were led by the top line, with Kirill Marchenko and Adam Fantilli each scoring goals. In particular, I thought Fantilli played one of the best games of his young career so far. Deservedly, he was named the game's third star.
The other three lines were also mostly effective, hemming the Bruins into their own end for long stretches of time and generally keeping the scoring chances down defensively. Unfortunately, they just could not find one more goal. It happens.
2. Goaltending told the tale. Joonas Korpisalo stood on his head. No other way to put it. We saw that over his time in Columbus: on some nights, the guy is just unbeatable. That was the case last night.
Joonas was calm in the crease, on time with his positioning, and made the saves his team needed him to make. MoneyPuck credits him with about 2 goals saved above expected, which definitely seems right if you watched the game.
Meanwhile, the Jackets could have used one more save at the other end. I'm not blaming Elvis Merzlikins for this loss. He played fine. But, I do think he would like to have the third Bruins goal back. That goal wound up being the game winner last night.
3. We're still waiting for them to play mean. Rick Bowness has mentioned it several times over the last month or so: he wants his team to play with more snarl. Last night, despite all of their efforts and how well they played, the snarl still wasn't there.
It doesn't need to be a fight. But, how about a big hit that turns the tide? Or, scrums in front of the net and in the corner. Outside of one moment in the third period with Damon Severson trying to draw them into it, the Jackets never brought the temperature up in this game.
They are built to do that, so at some point, they need to find a way to do it. It has helped them at other points throughout this season.
It was a tough loss in Boston last night, but the season is far from over. Next up for the Blue Jackets is a matchup at home against the New York Islanders, tomorrow night at Nationwide. It feels like they have to win this game in regulation if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.