Against the odds, the Blue Jackets went into Ottawa last night and stunned the Senators with an emphatic 4-1 victory. They have now won three straight games-all in regulation.
The Jackets had every excuse to take Monday night off. They won a hard-fought battle against the New York Islanders on Sunday night, without their best player. They knew he would miss last night's game, as well.
Then, they were unable to procure a working aircraft to get to Ottawa until the middle of the afternoon yesterday. They were so late to arrive, that the league postponed the game by 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Senators were sitting comfortably at home, not having played a game since Saturday night. They had lost two in a row, and were also getting back a very important middle six center.
Basically, just about everything that could go wrong for the Blue Jackets before last night's game, was going wrong. It got worse when Sean Monahan was announced as a late scratch.
But something has clicked with this group. Really, ever since the last time they faced these Senators, this has been a different Blue Jackets team.
The results weren't there at first, but they are coming along now. They have won three straight games in regulation-and decisively won the third period in each of them. All without Zach Werenski. What has changed?
What we learned: They do have an identity.
We are finally starting to see Don Waddell's moves pay off. He has made his mark on this roster, and it has been very evident that he has a specific archetype. We are seeing that pay off over this stretch.
The Jackets are no longer trying to be a speed and skill team. This team is big, tough, and hard to play against. We saw that last night.
When they could have made excuses and shrugged their shoulders, they banded together and played a really good road hockey game. The Senators had a hard time threading passes through high danger areas. They struggled to get in front of Jet Greaves.
That's because the Blue Jackets stuck to their system and kept things simple. They won wall battles, got pucks out of their own end (at least, aside from a shaky few minutes in the second), and rolled around in the offensive zone with an energetic forecheck.
When the game was down to the wire and the Senators were pressing, the Jackets remained patient, got some (huge) saves, and then took advantage at the other end. There was no panic defensively, and it paid off.
This team played with confidence and swagger last night.
That's the best way to summarize it. The Jackets went into Ottawa with a chip on their shoulder, and instead of trying to do too much; they came together and played a confident, physical road hockey game.
Hopefully, they have turned a corner and can start stringing a few more of these efforts together. This was a fun game to watch.