Yeah, so Tuesday was kind of awful.
But in a league where each team plays 82 regular season games, the difficult thing is not to overreact to a stinker.
Deal with it, correct it, and move on. The Blue Jackets had one of those against the Edmonton Oilers – and let's not kid ourselves, it was hideous. They were slow, sloppy and looked nothing like a 19-win team. And because of the schedule, they got a chance to make up for it two days later.
They responded well.
You could tell they were playing pissed off. They could use more of that, quite honestly. They were skating and attacking, using their defense as a game-breaker that ended up scoring twice and generating a handful of grade-A chances. John Tortorella said Zach Werenski could've had himself a hat trick in the first period, and he's probably right.
More importantly, though, that game showed us something. It let us know the Blue Jackets are holding themselves accountable for their no-show and were hellbent on making sure it didn't happen again. These are healthy vital signs for a young team that is still trying to figure out how it needs to play on a nightly basis to hang around in this brutal division.
The next week will prove to be another challenge: Carolina, Toronto and Pittsburgh are on deck. Let's see how they handle it.
IN A WORD: POWERFUL
I saw The Last Jedi last night.
There will be no spoilers or discussion here...yet.
But I'll say this: we'll debate this movie for a long time, but it's bold. It's daring. And it challenges everything we think we should expect in a Star Wars movie. I loved it.
Rian Johnson. You the man.
YOU SHOULD BE READING
- Nick Foligno scored his 100th goal as a Blue Jacket in last night's win. Here's more on the milestone, including video.
- An active defense – hello, Jones and Werenski! – helped the Blue Jackets beat the Islanders.
- Worth watching again: this laser-like pass from Artemi Panarin that set up the opening goal.
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