PREVIEW: Blue Jackets face Maple Leafs again

For coaches, there are two kinds of mistakes a team can make – errors of execution and miscues caused by not bringing enough effort.

It’s fair to say the second one is more maddening because, as head coach Pascal Vincent says, you’re not supposed to have to coach effort at the NHL level. Mistakes that come from execution errors simply become teaching moments, and that was the case for the Blue Jackets this week.

Columbus allowed New Jersey’s Luke Hughes to skate untouched up the ice and score the tying goal late in Wednesday’s game, and the Devils won in overtime to give the Blue Jackets their latest close lose of the season.

In practice on Thursday, then, the Blue Jackets worked on shutting down plays in the neutral zone, hoping to eliminate the kind of mistake that led to the Devils’ tying goal the day before.

“We’re on a change, so there’s a hole on the ice, but I mean, that guy was flying, so that’s hard to defend,” Vincent said. “But we worked on it today, and we showed some video about that yesterday when our neutral zone forecheck is passive, we’re giving time and space. We want to stay away from that. We want to be aggressive. We got passive because of a line change, and we’re trying to take that off the playbook.

“If our F1 does a good job, then the four guys behind our first forward, they can adjust to where the puck was going. But because our F1 was too passive, then there’s holes everywhere. Good players will make their plays … but it’s on us to fix that problem.”

The unfortunate part of it is that the late goal dashed yet another good effort by the Blue Jackets, who held one of the top offensive teams in the league in check for most of the game. Columbus never trailed in the game until the final score was set, but it was yet another example of leaving points on the table.

“Guys battled hard,” Vincent said. “It’s disappointing, but the effort was perfect.”

“I don't think we can really be too upset with our game tonight,” defenseman Damon Severson added. “It's one of those games where, you know, we probably felt like we should deserve better.”

The challenge doesn’t get any easier tonight, though, as another elite offensive team visits Nationwide Arena for the second time in a week’s time.

Know The Foe: Toronto Maple Leafs

Head coach: Sheldon Keefe (Fifth season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.53 (4th) | Scoring defense: 3.38 (23rd) | PP: 25.5 percent (7th) | PK: 79.4 percent (17th)

The narrative: It’s hard not to know where things stand with the Maple Leafs, as one of the biggest stories in hockey every year is the squad’s quest for its first Stanley Cup since 1967. Toronto finally won its first playoff series since 2004 – and first for its current core – last year, and the hope is to make another step this season. So far, the Leafs are again one of the top offensive teams in the league, but the team defense has taken a step back.

Team leaders: Maybe the least talked about of the Maple Leafs’ stars, William Nylander has broken out the past two seasons, following last year’s 40-goal campaign with a team-best mark of 19-27-46 that ties him for fourth in the league in scoring. Auston Matthews’ 28 goals lead the league, while Mitch Marner adds an 13-23-36 line and John Tavares has 10 goals among his 30 points.

Joseph Woll has risen to the team’s No. 1 goalie spot this year with a 2.80 GAA and .916 save percentage but is out with an ankle sprain. Ilya Samsonov has had a disastrous last three appearances, allowing 15 goals, while Martin Jones has started the last two games; he has seven appearances and a .914 save percentage this year.

What's new: The Leafs shut down Columbus before the break, taking a 4-1 win Dec. 23 in Nationwide, but outside of that Toronto has lost four of the last five and given up 24 tallies in those games. Woll joins a large group of defenders (Mark Giordano, John Klingberg and Jake Muzzin) on injured reserve, but sometimes, scoring trumps all. Nylander is on a 12-game point streak (4-15-19), while Matthews has 12 goals in the last eight games.

Trending: The Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs have split the season series, all in December. Columbus won a 6-5 overtime contest Dec. 14 in Toronto before the Leafs won the last game before Christmas in Nationwide. Interestingly, there contest in Toronto was just the sixth overtime game ever in the 38-game series; Columbus has won five and tied the other.

Former CBJ: Max Domi signed with the squad in the offseason and is sixth in points (3-15-18) and first in penalty minutes (52) on the roster.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Adam Fantilli – Justin Danforth
Yegor Chinakhov – Dmitri Voronkov – Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson – Cole Sillinger – Emil Bemstrom
Alexandre Texier – Brendan Gaunce – Jack Roslovic
Damon Severson – David Jiricek
Ivan Provorov – Andrew Peeke
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Spencer Martin

Scratches: Mathieu Olivier, Sean Kuraly (day to day, abdominal), Daniil Tarasov

Injured reserve: Zach Werenski (ankle, week to week); Nick Blankenburg (upper body, day to day); Patrik Laine (fractured clavicle, out six weeks as of Dec. 15); Boone Jenner (fractured jaw, out six weeks as of Dec. 9); Adam Boqvist (shoulder strain, out approximately four weeks as of Dec. 6)

Roster Report: Werenski was placed on injured reserve today after being injured Wednesday, while Kuraly will miss a second straight game. When it comes to good news, Roslovic (fractured ankle) has been activated from IR and play for the first time since Nov. 12.

3 Stats to Know

• With a goal Wednesday night, Yegor Chinakhov has seven in the last eight games and 10 on the season. Chinakohv has posted 9-5-14 in the last 14 games and is tied for third in the NHL in goals since Nov. 27 behind Toronto's Matthews (14) and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon (12). He has five goals in the last five home games.
• Justin Danforth has scored in two straight games and three times in the last six. With nine goals, he’s one shy of his second double-digit scoring season, and he has 21 goals in 87 career regular-season games.
• Milestone watch: Johnny Gaudreau is four points from 100 for his Blue Jackets career (27-69-96, 116 GP). … Spencer Martin is one game from 50 for his NHL career (16-24-6, 49 GP).

Who’s Hot

With five goals and six assists in the last 11 games, Adam Fantilli is third among NHL rookies in goals (nine) and points (21). … Dmitri Voronkov also is tied for seventh among NHL rookies in goals (six) and tied for sixth in points (17). … Kirill Marchenko has scored six times in the last 10 games, and since being placed on a line together, the trio of Marchenko, Voronkov and Yegor Chinakhov has 14 goals in 12 games. … Johnny Gaudreau had a five-game point streak snapped in New Jersey but has a 2-5-7 line in the last six games. … Cole Sillinger has scored in two of the last four games. … Kent Johnson has a 3-5-8 line in the last nine games. … The team’s rookie stat line of 16-31-47 is second in the NHL in both goals and points.

This Day in CBJ History

Dec. 29, 2006: In one of the more unfortunately memorable moments in CBJ history, Minnesota’s Wes Walz scores the infamous “pants goal” to give the Wild an overtime win over the Blue Jackets. The puck was in Walz’s pants as he was checked into the net, giving Minnesota the 4-3 victory at 1:29 of the extra frame.

Dec. 29, 2008: Steve Mason makes 24 saves and earns his second of three straight shutouts in a 2-0 victory at Los Angeles. His shutout streak after a blanking on New Year’s Eve in Anaheim would eventually reach a CBJ record of 199:19.