It wasn’t a shining example of perfect hockey, but it didn’t have to be.
It just had to be a win, it couldn’t be a loss to the sad Detroit Red Wings and the Blue Jackets met both requirements in a Friday night 2-0 at Nationwide Arena.
The Jackets surpassed Detroit 44-16, earned four power games and dominated the game even though they sometimes got a bit sloppy, and the Red Wings (13-39-4) spent a striking distance most of the night.
Zach Werenski again scored and sent his 17th goal of the season to set a franchise record that he and defense partner Seth Jones had shared with 16 each (2017-18).
Elvis Merzlikins made 16 saves for his second straight shutout and fifth of the season – becoming the first rookie to record five shutouts in eight starts since Frank Brimsek did it in 1938-39 with the Boston Bruins.
And Boone Jenner scored his ninth goal of the season in an empty net with 1:25 left to play, sealing two more points for a Blue Jackets team that handled matters largely for business.
They improved to 19-2-5 in the past 26 games, grabbed points in their 10th consecutive game (9-0-1), won their 30th games (30-16-9) and went back to exclusive possession of third place in the Metropolitan Division by going to 69 points – one for the New York Islanders (31-15-6).
They also avoided a mental fall that coach John Tortorella feared she would catch if they had been complacent.
“We are now in the 20s, as long as there are games in season,” said Tortorella. “We will have to become better at how we play and who we are – and not forget who we are. If you have any success, you sometimes forget who you are. I think our boys have behaved so well.”
However, the weekend is not over.
Coming Saturday night, a bigger test is waiting against the Colorado Avalanche (30-16-6), which is second in the Central Division and praises one of the most powerful offenses in the competition – not to mention the former Blue Jackets Matt Calvert and Ian Cole.
Nationwide Arena should rock for Hockey Night in Columbus, but until it arrives … here’s the 3-2-1 post-game division against Detroit: three takeaways, two questions and one more thing:
Three takeaways
1) Grinding
Based on statistical measurements, this game looks like a blowout. The Blue Jackets ended up with huge benefits in shots (44-16), shot attempts (67-34) and power-play opportunities (4-2), but the Red Wings made sure they worked pretty hard for this win.
Jimmy Howard was strong in the net and made 42 rescues, and the Red Wings did well to keep Columbus shots out. They also had a number of counterattacks based on sales for strange rushes and forced Merzlikins to make a few difficult stops to prevent them from scoring.
The Blue Jackets were just better in that same strategy and for the most part limited the scoring opportunities of Detroit to those few emergency attempts. They also killed two Red Wings power-plays in the third and held on to a 1-0 lead.
In other words, they scored two more points – and that is something that the jackets are now expected to do about every time they play.
“I wasn’t worried about momentum,” said Tortorella. “I was just worried about staying with it. They hit a post earlier (Werenski scored). We don’t give them much, but it’s one of those games – and I liked the way we treat ourselves. It is a difficult game. “
2) “Z” keeps rolling
This was Werenski’s 12th career game against the Red Wings, the team he encouraged to grow up in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe, Mich.
Seeing the winged wheel logo still makes it special, but the shine of playing the Wings is steadily declining – even with one of his best friends, Dylan Larkin, who plays for Detroit.
“I think the more I have played against them, the more that has faded a bit,” Werenski said. “They play differently in Detroit because there are more people I know, so it’s always nice to see family and friends, but playing here just feels like a different game to us.”
That does not mean that his purpose was not special.
It set the franchise sign and cost him 29 less to get there than it took to score 16 goals in 77 games to get the line with Jones in 2017-18. The fact that it happened against the Red Wings was an extra bonus.
“I have received many good matches this year,” said Werenski, who cut off the shot after a nice pass from Captain Nick Foligno. “Guys made it easy for me. Tonight was just another example of that. I didn’t really do anything except put the puck in the net. I’m pretty happy. “
3) A sleepy shutout
You could say that in this game Elvis had a little more conversation afterwards than he had in the game. The 25-year-old Latvian rookie put all 16 shots of the Red Wings on net, but that actually made it a harder night than usual for him.
“I think it is not easy to play games like this,” said Merzlikins, who has won eight in a row and moved his saving percentage to a ridiculous .967 with his fifth shutout during the play. “I prefer to always be warm and have a chance. The shots were dangerous here, so it’s hard, I think, for a keeper to be ready for hard shots. I think the team played really well, but my opinion of how I played is not satisfied. I made a lot of technical mistakes, so I’m not really happy with my game tonight. “
The dominance of the jacket of the puck was also a challenge.
“It was a little different tonight,” he said. “I felt different. I wasn’t (felt) awake 100 percent. I felt a little sleepy, perhaps. Again, I am really critical of myself, so yes, I am not happy with my performance, but I am happy with the points with the team. “
Sleepy or not, it was a shutout again. It was also the second time during this eight-game streak that he placed back-to-back shutouts.
Two questions
1) How did Werenski’s goal develop?
It happened after about 90 seconds of 6-to-5 during a delayed penalty that followed a Blue Jackets powerjack. Sonny Milano threw a perfect feed to Foligno from the wall on the right and the captain took it from there – literally.
After shortening the slit, he grabbed the puck between two Red Wings defenders and then pushed a perfect feed to Werenski who camped just to the right of the net. Werenski broke it over Howard’s left block and Columbus had a 1-0 lead.
“I saw him there,” said Foligno. “He opened and I just knew he had a better chance of scoring, because the (defender) stood in front of me. So it worked out great. “
Werenski was not sure, however, whether Foligno saw him. In fact, at first he just tried to avoid.
“At first I thought he would shoot it and I got in the way,” Werenski said. “So I just tried to avoid. Then I saw him make the move under the stick of the (defender) and I was open. I hoped he would see me and he played great. He didn’t even look at me and just turned it around – and when you look at the replay, Howard doesn’t even know it’s here. I literally just had to hit the net. It was an easy game for me. “
2) Is Elvis recognized in the city?
Maybe it’s the fact that he’s wearing a mask, but the Merzlikins can still become a recognizable face around Columbus. Asked if he is noticed more in public, he could not help but smile and share a recent story about it.
“No, I actually did an interview with Letten (TV crew) and I went to the gallery, and there was someone who worked on the ice rink and he asked me where I was going – and I said,” I’m going for it interviewing “and he just asked me who I am,” Merzlikins said, laughing. “This is good … but yes, I am happy for the team, what we do.” More than happy, I am proud of them. “
One more thing
The Blue Jackets celebrated Hockey Is For Everyone Night, which is part of the NHL’s global efforts to be more inclusive and to show that the sport is played by people from all walks of life.
Part of the celebration was a moving pregame video presentation about Charlie Cook, a local youth player who works with the Columbus Special Hockey team. Charlie suffered a stroke in the womb and his parents, Valerie and Paul, were told that he had no chance to live.
Although he is limping, he runs and was shown him crossing the finish line of a road race in the video. Charlie also goes on ice, just like his older brother who plays hockey, using a metal device that helps with stability.
After the video, Charlie was introduced to a loud cheering, skating to join the Blue Jackets on the blue line for the national anthem. When he arrived, Foligno greeted him with a big hug and a smile.
It was an inspiring moment for fans, but also for the players – who watched the video on the ice or on the couch. There was also a group of other youth players on the ice from the greater Columbus area who represented different groups.
“He said to everyone:” Get out of the way! “, Foligno said laughing.” It is clearly our job and we are solved, but we complain about some pretty stupid things when you look at it and see what he is going through – and see how much fun he is having. And he just wants to be on the ice because his brother is on the ice. It’s incredible. “
@BrianHedger
