The Blue Jackets have passed the halfway point of the NHL season in a playoff spot.
Staying there will be an even more difficult task.
That’s just naturally the case, as the grind of an 82-game season reaches a fever pitch when the intensity rises as teams battle for a ticket into the postseason. But the Blue Jackets also have been dealt a difficult hand, as No. 1 center Sean Monahan was placed on injured reserve this week after suffering an upper body injury Tuesday at Pittsburgh.
Columbus was already without captain Boone Jenner and assistant captain Erik Gudbranson, and Monahan has brought a lot to the team with his play and veteran leadership this year. But the Blue Jackets passed the first test without Monahan – as well as ill regulars Cole Sillinger and Jack Johnson – on Thursday night, thumping Seattle by a 6-2 score.
Thirteen different players had points in the victory, as Columbus did what it had to do at home against a team on the outside of the playoff race.
“Did we like how the team played last night? Yeah, we really did,” head coach Dean Evason said Friday. “We really were committed to keeping the puck out of the net. Not one person picked up the slack of Monahan. It was collective, but we liked the group and we liked the team and how we played as a team in that hockey game.”
Not only did the Blue Jackets win in the first game without Monahan, they were boosted by a number of youngsters in the lineup. Rookie center Luca Del Bel Belluz was called up to fill in at center and posted a goal and an assist, while rookie defenseman Denton Mateychuk scored his first career goal. Owen Sillinger turned in a solid game in his NHL debut, and the team’s stalwarts did the rest, as veterans Zach Werenski and Sean Kuraly scored along with young guns Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson.
Most importantly in Evason’s eyes was the fact the team played a team game even with a bevy of new charges in the lineup.
“It just shows we played the same way, which is great,” Evason said. “We didn’t deviate. It doesn’t matter. Honestly, would we like Monny and (Jack Johnson) in the lineup? Sure. Of course, right? But the way that we play, the way that Cleveland plays sets us up to play the same way.”
Del Bel Belluz, Mateychuk and Owen Sillinger have spent most of the season with the top affiliate in Cleveland, but they have come up with a job to do and did it Thursday night.
“I feel everywhere you go, everyone wants to win,” Del Bel Belluz said. “It makes everything better, right? The vibes are better on the team when you’re winning hockey games. You should always want to be around the game when you’re winning hockey games. In Cleveland we have a good team over there, and we’re also winning hockey games so it just makes it easy.”
Now, the Blue Jackets must take the show on the road and get a road win against a St. Louis team they beat at home seven days ago. Columbus has won just five road games all season, but one of them came Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.
Know The Foe: St. Louis Blues
Head coach: Jim Montgomery (First season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 2.86 (21st) | Scoring defense: 3.05 (15th) | PP: 17.9 percent (25th) | PK: 73.8 percent (27th)
The narrative: The Blues won the 2019 Stanley Cup but have captured a single playoff series in the past five seasons, missing the postseason altogether each of the past two seasons. They face an uphill climb this year as they enter tonight on the outside looking in at a wild-card spot, and it feels like a proverbial roster that’s caught in between – not too young or too old, and not good enough to consider itself an elite contender for the Cup but not bad enough to bottom out, either. The November firing of head coach Drew Bannister to bring in Montgomery has been a bit of a shot to the arm, but the Blues still have work to do to be a playoff team.
Team leaders: Jordan Kyrou has become a consistent producer over the years and is putting together numbers in line with his career averages, as his 19 goals and 38 points lead the Blues through 43 games, and he has six points in the last three games. Robert Thomas is next with an 11-22-33 line, while Dylan Holloway has a 15-17-32 line and has thrived under Montgomery (11-13-24 in 23 games). Pavel Buchnevich adds 11 goals among his 29 points, while Colton Parayko is the top defenseman with 23 points, including seven goals.
Cup-winning goaltender Jordan Binnington has been the starter for 29 games on the year, going 11-15-3 with a 2.86 GAA and .902 save percentage.
What's new: The Blues do have some intriguing young players on the roster, including 23-year-olds Holloway and defenseman Philip Broberg, who were added as restricted free agents from Edmonton this summer in a move that opened eyes across the league. Add in 22-year-old forward Jake Neighbours (11 goals) and 2021 first-round pick Zachary Bolduc and there’s hope for the future. The Blues are also 11-7-3 with Montgomery at the helm after going 9-12-1 under Bannister.
Trending: The Blue Jackets have won four of the last five in the series and three in a row, including a sweep last season and last Saturday’s 6-4 victory against the Blues in Nationwide Arena.
Former CBJ: Brandon Saad is now in year four in St. Louis and has a 7-8-15 line in 35 games, while Alexandre Texier is in his first year with the Blues after an offseason trade from the Jackets. He’s played in 23 games with three goals among his eight points.
