After CBJ wins, we'll give three takeaways about what stood out or what we'll remember from the Blue Jackets' victory.
1. The Blue Jackets had to hold on at the end, but considering everything stacked against them, Rick Bowness wasn’t going to complain.
In fact, the head coach was quite pleased with his team after the Blue Jackets won for the eighth time in nine games in his tenure. This one was no easy task, as Columbus was playing the second half of a back-to-back with both games on the road, not to mention their third game in four nights, while St. Louis was off Friday.
Add in the fact the Blue Jackets lost Sean Monahan to illness for the third period and Isac Lundeström for much of the frame after a hard collision with St. Louis forward Jimmy Snuggerud, and there was a lot of adversity to overcome.
After two solid but back-and-forth periods delivered the Blue Jackets a 4-3 lead, Columbus ended up being outshot 15-4 in the third period but did what it had to do to get the victory.
“Just a very impressive, gutty effort,” Bowness said. “Going into that third period, it’s our third game in four nights, we’re down to 10 forwards, and then you’re scrambling your lines just to keep everybody in the game. But it was a tremendous, gutty performance tonight. I was very, very proud of the guys.”
With the win, the Blue Jackets extended their season-best winning streak to five games and moved within four points of the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division with a game in hand. When Bowness was hired, general manager Don Waddell spoke of how important the stretch of games before the Olympic break would be, and the Blue Jackets have become the hottest team in the NHL while moving into a tie for ninth pace in the Eastern Conference.
It's taken the whole team to get to that point, and never was that more true than on the banks of the Mississippi River. Thirteen different CBJ players notched points on the night, with Kent Johnson the only Blue Jacket to post multiple points with a goal and an assist. Lundeström, Damon Severson, Denton Mateychuk and Mason Marchment also scored, while Jet Greaves made 28 saves, going a perfect 15-for-15 in the final period when the Blues made their push.
After a four-point night Friday in Chicago, Charlie Coyle said that someone different would likely lead the charge the next night, and the Blue Jackets proved him right with their team effort in St. Louis.
“Last night, it was the Coyle line that was huge for us,” Severson said. “Obviously Charlie had the hat trick, Ollie chipped in, Silly, Z chipped in as well. That was a big night for us last night for that line, but then tonight it was somebody different, and that’s kind of what it’s going to have to be throughout the rest of the season here. We can’t just rely on one line or one player; it’s going to have to be everybody for sure.”
2. Bowness has found success with both CBJ goaltenders since taking over as head coach.
The new head coach has revitalized the Blue Jackets in a variety of ways, including in the crease. Both Merzlikins and Greaves have played five games since Bowness has taken over and posted matching .910 save percentages in that span; Merzlikins has allowed 11 goals for a 2.49 goals-against average, while Greaves has given up 12 for a 2.58 GAA.
Greaves was likely the difference between a win and a loss on this night, as his third-period performance allowed the tired Blue Jackets to kill two penalties in the frame and keep the Blues at bay.
“I can’t say enough about Jet,” Bowness said. “You get like that, you need your goalie to come up big, and he was absolutely huge.”
In some ways, it brings back echoes of the start of the season, when the Blue Jackets alternated Greaves and Merzlikins for the first 12 contests of the year with impressive results. Just as they said at that time, the CBJ netminders have made it clear that they’re a tandem that’s willing to do whatever it takes to help the team earn victories.
“I think both of us, we have a really good relationship and we’re both excited for each other, supporting each other and just trying to do whatever we can to help us win,” Greaves said. “Whether we’re in the net that night or not, I think it doesn’t really change our perspective. It’s just trying to help the team win hockey games however we can.”
3. Bowness and his staff made some tweaks to the lines, which led to immediate success.
Many coaches in the NHL are reluctant to change any forward trios when the wins are piling up, but Bowness decided to flip some things around during Friday’s win in Chicago and did the same against the Blues.
The Boone Jenner-Monahan-Johnson line that netted the late game-winner Wednesday was broken up in the Windy City and again in St. Louis. Instead, Bowness decided to keep Monahan and Johnson together with Dmitri Voronkov on the other wing, while Jenner centered a line with Lundeström and Miles Wood.
By the end of the first period, it proved to be a smart move, as both lines scored in the opening frame. Jenner fed Lundeström for the Jackets’ first tally of the night, then Johnson found Mateychuk on a drop feed for a look that went in thanks in part to the netfront screen of Voronkov.
When you’re hot, you’re hot, and Bowness has pushed all the right buttons since taking over the Blue Jackets.
“I like the way the four lines looked tonight,” Bowness said. “I wish we could have played the whole third period like that because when you’re playing three in four, you need your four lines, you need your six D to go. So that’s why for two periods I thought we were playing really well. It was really strong hockey. Everyone was contributing. It got a little scrambly in the third, but that’s to be expected. I did like the look of all four lines tonight.”
