And down the stretch, as the Blue Jackets battle for a fourth straight playoff appearance, the two will be crucial players for a Columbus team missing All-Star defenseman Seth Jones as well as Ryan Murray and Dean Kukan at the moment.
Savard and Gavrikov have eaten big minutes all season, but their play will be under a microscope now, with Gavrikov one of the recipients of increased playing time now since Jones' injury. The good news is they've been one of the top pairs of defensive defensemen in the NHL - of the 48 defensive pairings in the league to play at least 400 minutes of 5-on-5 time together, the duo is sixth in the league in expected goals against and eighth in actual goals against per 60 minutes according to MoneyPuck.com.
"We're both playing well defensively and being physical and closing guys, so it was an easy transition for me," Savard said. "He talks a lot on the ice and makes it really easy for me. That's good."
At this point, it almost seems destined the two were to play with one another once Gavrikov made the jump from Russia to join the Jackets at the end of last season. The two play a similar game, as each has the ability to chip in offense at opportune times, but the two are most noted for their ability to keep opposing players off the board.
One of the longest-tenured members of the Blue Jackets team, Savard has played with a number of partners over the years, notably Jack Johnson, but one of his most memorable pairings was the short-lived partnership at the end of the 2017-18 season with deadline acquisition Ian Cole. The so-called "Lumberjackets" given their thick beards and rugged play have been called to mind by the Savard-Gavrikov pairing.
In fact, Savard figured after seeing time with Gavrikov during the latter's two games in the playoffs a season ago that it might work out that the two would be paired together this year. There were a number of line adjustments throughout the early season, but the two have been a key pairing for the Blue Jackets since Murray's injury in mid-December.
"I remember last year when he came in how decisive he was with his play and how he's going hard at guys, making decisions and kind of going with it," Savard said. "That makes it easy for me to make reads. I knew this year that we had something going on last year with the first two games we played well together and seeing where it was going to go from there, but really early in the season, we played well together and that made it easy for me to transition to him."
Considering Savard has now played 548 games in his Blue Jackets career, tied with teammate Nick Foligno for the fourth-most in franchise history, Columbus fans have gotten to know the talents of the shot-blocking, gritty defenseman.
Gavrikov, meanwhile, was a bit of a mystery coming over from Russia, where he played with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL and was on the Russian team that won gold in the 2018 Olympics. His stats - over the past two seasons, the 24-year-old had 10 goals and 34 points in 110 games and was an eye-popping plus-69 for the Russian power - suggested someone who could patrol the blue line defensively, and that's what head coach John Tortorella has seen.
"If he gets his tentacles (on you), he's like an octopus," Tortorella said. "If he gets you, it's tough to get away from him. He's all arms and he's strong and he's ugly as sin at times, but he doesn't get beat.
"You know, the definition for him for me is he's a hockey player. I think that's the way he acts. I think there's no frills. At times he's ugly, but I think he just finds a way to be effective all the time."
Gavrikov laughed at the octopus line -- "If Torts says it, of course it's fine," he joked -- but said all he's focused on down the stretch is helping the Blue Jackets win any way he can.
"Helping the team, that is all I'm thinking about," Gavrikov said. "Defense is an important part of the game. Sometimes you need to defend your net. I care all about the team and I always want to win, so it doesn't matter who plays, who scores a goal, who makes some blocked shots. Getting two points is all I need."
