Thursday was a tough day for the Blue Jackets.
Not only did Columbus see Colorado score five straight goals to take a 7-3 win in Nationwide Arena, but the Blue Jackets also watched as their playoff hopes were dealt a blow elsewhere as Montreal downed Boston. Though Columbus retains a game in hand on the Habs, Montreal now has opened up a four-point lead on the Blue Jackets for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
It's a difficult but not impossible margin to make up in the last eight games for the Jackets, who head north of the border for a back-to-back that starts tonight in Toronto and concludes tomorrow vs. Ottawa. Wins are now at a premium, defenseman Zach Werenski said, no matter what happens elsewhere around the NHL.
“Don’t get me wrong – I think we all look at (the standings),” Werenski said. “We know, but at the end of the day, if we’re going to lose hockey games, we don’t deserve to make the playoffs. We have to do our own work in here. We can’t bank on Montreal losing and the Islanders losing and Detroit losing. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. We have to do our own work and win hockey games, and we haven’t done that consistently these last 14, 15 games.”
Indeed, Columbus’ setback against Colorado dropped the team’s record to 4-9-1 in the last 14 games, though the Blue Jackets had won three of four heading into the game against the Avalanche.
At the start of that 14-game stretch, scoring was an issue, as the Blue Jackets dropped four straight home games and tallied a single goal in that span. In the last four games, defense has been a sticking point, as the Blue Jackets have allowed 20 goals.
Facing a Toronto team with a ton of offense tonight, head coach Dean Evason said the Blue Jackets have to tighten up and find their best defensive game.
“I’m very concerned that we’re not dialing in to keep it out of our net,” he said after the Colorado game. “We’re very concerned about that. It’s our job as coaches to systematically dial it back in and get them to play the right way. At this point in the year, it seems like you shouldn’t have to do that, but yeah, there’s definitely some mistakes in this hockey game that pucks shouldn’t have went in the net, and/or we shouldn’t have given them that opportunity to have those scoring chances.”
That game is in the past, though, and the Blue Jackets can only look forward and try to keep adding points to the bank starting tonight in Toronto.
“We have lots of belief in this group,” captain Boone Jenner said. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Obviously reset (Friday), and we have a huge back-to-back coming up on the road. Huge points for us, so I have a lot of faith in this team that we’re going to bounce back and play the right way like we have all year.”
Know The Foe: Toronto Maple Leafs
Head coach: Craig Berube (First season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 3.25 (9th) | Scoring defense: 2.92 (16th) | PP: 26.1 percent (5th) | PK: 78.1 percent (16th)
The narrative: The most talked about team in hockey made some changes coming into this year – in particular, the hiring of Stanley Cup-winning coach Berube – but it’s still a squad built around the high-powered forward quartet of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitchell Marner and John Tavares. The Maple Leafs are trying to close out their first division title in a full season since 2000, but even with a ninth straight playoff appearance clinched, they ultimately will be judged on whether there's a Stanley Cup parade on Yonge Street this summer.
Team leaders: As you might expect, you can find some of those names above on the NHL leaderboard. Marner’s team-leading mark of 93 points is tied for fourth in the league, while his 69 assists are third; he’s also scored 24 goals on the year. William Nylander leads the Leafs with 42 goals, second in the NHL, among his 80 points, while John Tavares is 11th in the league in tallies with 36. He has 70 points on the year, while Auston Matthews has posted a 29-40-69 line after missing the start of the season with injury. Matthew Knies (26) and Bobby McMann (20) also have topped the 20-goal mark.
Joseph Woll also missed some time with injury but has made a team-best 38 games, going 25-13-1 with a 2.78 GAA and 906 save percentage. Anthony Stolarz has proved to be a shrewd acquisition, going 17-8-3 with a 2.34 GAA and .920 save percentage.
What's new: The Maple Leafs struggled a bit out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break but have found their stride, going 7-1-1 in the last nine games including three straight wins. That’s allowed Toronto to fend off Florida and Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division to this point, and the Leafs enter today’s action with a three-point lead. Toronto made a few moves at the trade deadline to bolster the lineup, adding forward Scott Laughton from Philadelphia and defenseman Brandon Carlo from Boston, but the two have a combined 1-2-3 line in 13 games.
Trending: Columbus has won four of the five matchups between the two teams the past two seasons, including both this year by a combined score of 11-3 – a 6-2 final Oct. 22 in Nationwide Arena as well as a 5-1 victory Jan. 22 in Toronto.
Former CBJ: The well-traveled Max Domi (8-22-30 in 67 games) is on his seventh NHL team but seems to have found a home in Toronto, where his dad is a Leafs legend, as he signed four-year deal with the squad in the offseason.
