Winning Thoughts: Blue Jackets keep it rolling vs. Panthers

After CBJ wins, we'll give three takeaways about what stood out or what we'll remember from the Blue Jackets' victory. 

BLUE JACKETS 4, PANTHERS 2 

1. The Blue Jackets went into deadline day having stated their case (successfully as it turned out) to general manager Don Waddell. 

Friday is one of the most anticipated days of the NHL calendar, with the trade deadline passing at 3 p.m. A few months ago, Waddell figured he’d be a seller, with the Blue Jackets in last place in the Eastern Conference and Boone Jenner, Charlie Coyle, Mason Marchment and Erik Gudbranson set to be unrestricted free agents. 

Of course, a lot has changed since early January. The Blue Jackets improved to 13-2-1 under head coach Rick Bowness with Thursday night’s victory over the Panthers; they’re also 3-1-1 since the Olympic break and have moved to within one point of Boston for the East’s final wild card spot and three points of Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders for third in the Metro. 

Speaking on the FanDuel Sports Network’s broadcast during the second period vs. Florida, Waddell said that not only did the current group deserve to stick together, he wanted to add some scoring help up front. 

Mission accomplished with the late Thursday night/early Friday morning acquisition of Vancouver wing Conor Garland, an eight-year NHL veteran who has averaged 20 goals and 49 points per 82 games in his career. He’ll give the team more scoring depth and is another sign from Waddell – who earlier this season acquired Mason Marchment and also brought in Bowness in a season-changing move – that he believes in his group. 

The Blue Jackets left Nationwide Arena seemingly secure in the knowledge that they would not be sellers going into the deadline, and the Garland deal is a sign the team is serious about its playoff push.  

“We’re really happy,” forward Mathieu Olivier, who scored twice against the Panthers, said postgame. “We want to keep those (UFA) guys in this room, obviously. They’re a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish here, and they bring a ton of experience that we’re going to need for this playoff push. Everyone is bought in, and it starts with those guys. They brought in some outside experience to help us and maybe help us realize a couple things, and it shows with their play and also off the ice. We’re all happy for them to stay with us.” 

Perhaps most important to Waddell was not taking away from the group, as just like a season ago, the Blue Jackets have shown they've built a tight locker room that wants to try to accomplish something special with one another. 

“I think we have a great group of guys that just overall get along well off the ice and on the ice, and I think that’s very important,” defenseman Ivan Provorov said. “Everyone is ready to play for each other, and I don’t think it’s something you really want to mess with.” 

2. Without Zach Werenski and Dante Fabbro, Provorov led the way as the Blue Jackets got the job done defensively against the Panthers. 

When the Blue Jackets reconvened at Nationwide Arena after Wednesday's off day, they got some good news, some bad news and some status quo. 

The good? Captain Boone Jenner would be able to return up front, and all the captain did vs. the Panthers was score his first goal since Jan. 13. The middle ground? Nothing was changing with Werenski, with the Norris Trophy candidate missing a third straight game because of illness. And the bad was that Fabbro had been added to the injury list, with a lower-body injury keeping him out against the Panthers. 

That left Columbus without two of its top six defenseman, but Egor Zamula and Jake Christiansen filled in admirably, with each posting a plus-1 rating and Christiansen blocking four shots.

Provorov, though, bore much of the weight of Werenski’s absence, and he certainly had an impactful game. He scored on the power play to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead, added two assists for his first three-point game of the season, put four shots on goal and blocked four Florida shots. Oh, and you can’t forget his all-out effort to dive into the crease to stop a sure goal in the second period. 

“Yeah, we obviously know what’s on the line,” Provorov said of what that play represented. “We all are trying our best to win every game and make the playoffs, and that’s what it takes.” 

In the end, it was a Werenski-like stat line for the veteran left-shot defenseman, and head coach Rick Bowness was happy with what Provorov brought to the table. 

“That’s the best game I’ve seen him play since I’ve been here,” Bowness said. “We needed him to do that tonight, and he stepped up and he did it. So yeah, very, very happy for him. He was all over the ice with the puck, without the puck, battled hard, broke it out, flipped it out, did all the right things. He made the right play at the right time, and he competed very, very hard.” 

3. The Blue Jackets won a key challenge late to avoid seeing another third-period lead disappear. 

Bowness – not to mention video coaches Aron Augustitus and Cam Briere – must be living right because for the third game in a row, a goaltender interference challenge went the Blue Jackets’ way. 

Columbus had already seen its 3-0 third-period lead become 3-2 thanks to a deflection past goalie Jet Greaves and a power-play goal for the Panthers, and it appeared Florida had tied the score with 2:55 left when Gustav Forsling’s shot from the center point went into the net. 

The issue, though, was that by the end of the play, Greaves was nearly in the right circle. He had no chance to make the save as he was shoved out of the way by a netfront battle between Provorov and Florida forward Jesper Boqvist, and Bowness quickly got the call from the video coaches to challenge. 

“Once (Boqvist) goes in between the defenseman and the goalie, he’s initiating that contact,” Bowness said. “If our guy was there first and pushing him in, that’s a different contact, but when he tries to get between the D and the goalie, he’s gonna do that. The video coaches, Aron and Cam, have done a great job on that. They didn’t hesitate to call up and say, challenge it. Whatever they tell me to do, we’re gonna do.” 

Consider, though, all that was on the line with the challenge. Had it gone the other way, the game would have been tied at 3 and Florida would have had a power play with a chance to win the game in regulation. 

Instead, the Blue Jackets won the challenge and kept the lead, and Olivier iced the game with an empty-net goal with 1:42 to go. His only complaint postgame was just how long Columbus had to wait to see its lead go back on the board.  

“We actually thought it took longer than it should have,” Olivier said. “It was clear as day it was goalie interference, but we knew it was going to go our way on that one.”