5 really good things from the Jackets' season-opening wins

For the first time since the 2014-15 season, the Blue Jackets are 2-0.
So live it up fans, as this doesn't happen all that often (for the record, it's just the third time over 21 seasons in franchise history the team has hit the mark). It's hard to win games in the NHL, so to put two in a row on top of one another is a great place to be.
"Obviously it's a good start to the season," goalie Elvis Merzlikins said after the 2-1 victory Saturday night over Seattle. "It's a good feeling. Obviously we are not going to score eight goals in every single game (like in the opener vs. Arizona), but it is a really nice feeling that you have inside. I think we have to keep working hard. We still did our mistakes and have to keep working and keep on going down the same road."

Obviously there are a ton of caveats at play -- it's two games, after all! -- but not only have the Blue Jackets won both, they've done a few pretty good things that could point to that continued success.
Here's five factors that have helped the Blue Jackets get off to the strong start so far ahead of the first full week of the season -- and first road game Tuesday night in Detroit.
1. The power play is clicking: Columbus woke up Monday morning in an unfamiliar place -- ranked first in the NHL in power-play percentage at 66.7 percent. Let's not go too crazy here, as that means the team is just 2-for-3 (and it didn't have a power play in Saturday's win over Seattle). But that sure beats 0-for-3, right? Oliver Bjorkstrand tipped home a pass from Zach Werenski in the opener, then Werenski scored himself later in the game with a shot through traffic. The thought that the addition of Jakub Voracek would allow the CBJ power play to open up this year thanks to his vision, creativity and ability to make quick decisions, has been so far, so good. The Jackets have employed a bit of a "total football" approach, with players confident enough to move around and swap spots if necessary, and that could continue to make the unit hard to stop. "These guys are always talking," head coach Brad Larsen said. "They've been working together for almost a couple of weeks now. They start to go to Plan B and C sometimes if they are taking away Plan A. These guys, they are sharp. It's great to see success on the power play early."

2. Patrik Laine looks like a different man:The Finnish sniper seems to have a little bit of his swagger back, no? There's little debating his first season in Columbus was rough, as he never really got his game going and finished with 10 goals in 45 games, by far the lowest output of his NHL career. This year, after a strong summer and impressive training camp, he appears to be on pace for a much more Laine-like season. He had a breakaway in the middle of the Seattle game and then won it in overtime with a very Laine goal, a snipe past the glove of goalie Philipp Grubauer. "It always feels good to score," Laine said postgame. "I've had some chances over the last couple of games. When you work hard, it's just a matter of time until you get one, and hopefully we're going to get plenty more." Larsen joked that Laine looked like he was playing with a wrong-handed stick at the start of Saturday's game based on the way he was fighting the puck, but the head coach also sees big things in store for Laine. "I have seen a different guy. You can feel it," Larsen said. "He worked at it this summer. He got himself in better shape, and he has a little chip on his shoulder. He wants to prove to everybody that he still has a lot of game."

3. The goaltending has been cooking: Merzlikins has been given the starting nod through each of the first two games and hasn't disappointed, allowing just three goals on 58 shots against, giving him a 1.47 GAA and .948 save percentage. Even better, MoneyPuck.com has Merzlikins saving 1.23 goals above average per 60 minutes, meaning his numbers are checking out analytically as well. Merzlikins has looked locked in, as he might have been the team's best player in the opening win over Arizona and then turned in another solid performance against the Kraken. With Columbus facing one of the busiest stretches of the early season -- four games in seven days starting Tuesday with the Wings -- look for Joonas Korpisalo to get a chance soon, but Merzlikins' start is something that is quite encouraging.

4. They're having fun doing it: From Larsen bringing his dog, Lady, to practice and media availabilities to Laine's pregame fits to Vladislav Gavrikov singing Bon Jovi on the scoreboard, it seems pretty clear the Blue Jackets are having a good time so far. Now, there's an old sports joke -- "How do you spell fun? W-I-N' -- so of course they're having a good time. They should be given the record, and there will be a lot less fun to be had if or when the team hits a rough patch. But at the same time, sometimes fun can be like confidence -- contagious. It appears to be a good group of guys that enjoys being around one another, as evidenced by the postgame celebration after the overtime win Saturday.
5. They've won in different ways: Going into last season, head coach John Tortorella wanted to open things up a bit. The previous year, the Blue Jackets were one of the best defensive teams in the NHL and used that disciplined method to make it into the playoffs with a bubble series win vs. Toronto, but Tortorella saw just how hard it was for Columbus to win games and tried to open things up. The hope was to maybe mix in a 5-4 victory every once in a while without losing the team's trademark defensive DNA, but instead, things became a bit of a disaster early and the Jackets ended up hemorrhaging goals for most of the season (the team fell from third in the NHL defensively to 25th) -- and also scored fewer goals than the year before as well. This year, the chance doesn't seem to be so much strategic as it has been letting the players play, as Columbus' top offensive guns were firing as the team pulled away to an 8-2 win the opener. Then Saturday, the Blue Jackets were pretty well bottled up vs. Seattle for much of the game, but the defense got the job done and Columbus eventually grinded out a 2-1 win. To be able to come out victorious in two very different games might very well be the mark of a good team.