For the Blue Jackets, the last few games have been a little bit like one of those finger trap toys.
The harder the team has pushed to get out of its six-game losing streak, the worse it’s gotten.
Sometimes, you have to work smarter, not harder, and that might be the situation the Blue Jackets find themselves heading into tonight’s crucial game at Detroit. The frustration of losing control of their own destiny in the Stanley Cup playoff race – and scoring just 10 goals in the last six games – has led to individual play creeping into the team’s game, and it’s meant the squad just hasn’t been on the same page.
And when that's the case, you have a team that's simply pushing and working too hard to make things happen.
“I was talking with some of the guys, and I feel like the last however many games were probably the hardest we’ve worked, which is crazy to say,” defenseman Zach Werenski said. “But that’s probably just because we were the most disconnected. I feel like you almost have to work harder when you’re not connected.
“When it’s flowing and it’s easy and you’re breaking pucks out and you’re getting it back and you’re playing a three-quarter ice game, the game is a lot easier. So I feel like the results aren’t there, but I feel like we’re working probably harder than we have all year. It’s just not going, and it’s not for any other reason than we’re just not connected. The game is a lot easier when all five guys on the ice are on the same page and you’re just flowing.”
So how do the Blue Jackets get that connection back? That’s the biggest thing they must find as they embark on five games over the next eight days that will decide whether postseason hockey returns to Columbus or the team deals with another offseason of what ifs.
Even with the recent swoon, the Blue Jackets remain in the mix in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind Philadelphia (third in the Metropolitan Division) and Ottawa, which holds the final wild card spot.
The Blue Jackets just finished a stretch in which they played 19 games in 34 days, so the time to recharge and recalibrate over the past two days could be beneficial. The team was off Easter Sunday and then staged an optional practice on Monday, following the same schedule it used when it last had three days between games in mid-March, then downed Carolina, the New York Rangers and Seattle in the next five days.
“It’s huge,” Bowness said. “You look at the last time we took this two-day break, we did the same thing. We gave them the day off, then we had an optional skate. The most important thing is do what you have to do to get ready for tomorrow night, so we gave them the optional today, and tomorrow it’ll be the same thing.
“When we came out of that two-day break, one of our best games of the year was Carolina, 5-1. Then we beat the Rangers and we won three in a row. So we’re hoping to get the same results, but regardless, everything’s focused on Detroit, and these two days are beneficial for us.”
In many ways, tonight feels like a must-win, as the Red Wings enter tied with the Blue Jackets with 88 points, and both squads are chasing the teams above them. Both teams have struggled to get wins of late and should be desperate, so whichever team finds its game first will be the one to have success.”
“I’m expecting a great atmosphere, and I’m expecting a great hockey game,” said Werenski, a Detroit native. “I know the character we have in that room. At some point it’s gonna flip. It’s just gotta flip (tonight). I’m excited to see how we respond to all this and all the conversations and everything. We know it’s in there, it’s just doing it and pulling it out, and we believe in it.”
