The Columbus Blue Jackets rebounded from an embarrassing loss to the Edmonton Oilers with a sloppy but much-needed home win over the New York Islanders.
The Blue Jackets won 6-4, but saw a 3-0 lead turn into a 3-3 tie before pulling away. It wasn't the 60-minute effort that John Tortorella would have hoped for, but after Tuesday's clunker, two points in the standings was paramount.
These are five takeaways from an important divisional win:
THAT'S BETTER
The Blue Jackets came out slow in the first period on Tuesday, then came out embarrassingly flat in the second. Against the Islanders, the Jackets came out with a 3-0 start. Sure, it didn't last, but this is a team that has struggled to start fast all year.
It feels kind of bizarre to pick apart "minor victories" for a team that's in first place in the hotly-contested Metropolitan Division, but the Blue Jackets needed to come out strong after Tuesday night's debacle.
DEFENSE PROVIDES OFFENSE
The Blue Jackets got scoring up and down the lineup, but it was impossible to ignore the contribution made by the defense.
Zach Werenski, Markus Nutivaara, and Seth Jones all scored for the Jackets. Werenski, especially, was feeling it tonight, and could have had a had trick in the first period alone. He scored his league-leading (for defensemen) 10th goal of the season to give Columbus an early 1-0 lead.
In a season where it's been a struggle to get offensive production from many of the top forwards, scoring three goals from the back end is a nice bonus for the Blue Jackets.
D-PAIR SHUFFLE
Tortorella wanted to keep the top pairing of Jones and Werenski intact, but said that he would shuffle the other two pairs. Jack Johnson was paired with Nutivaara and David Savard played with Scott Harrington, to mixed reviews.
They weren't worse than the original pairs of Savard-Johnson and Harrington-Nutivaara, but it'll be interesting to see if Tortorella continues to keep the pairings in a blender or if this was a temporary move. They could sure use Ryan Murray back and healthy.
BJORKSTRAND GOES OFF
Oliver Bjorkstrand played just 7:45 through two periods, but had three assists in his first career three-point night.
Don't look now, but Bjorsktrand is second on the team with 21 points in 32 games. All this, and he's averaging just 13:54 of ice per night. I've been vocal about playing Bjorkstrand more (and will continue to be, regardless of if Tortorella is reading/listening), but it is incredibly frustrating that a player that brings this type of production is held to such limited ice time.
To be fair, he finished with 14:08 of ice against the Islanders, which is still too low, but encouraging that the coaching staff recognized he was playing great through two periods and upped his ice time. Here's hoping that continues in the coming days.
DUBOIS SOLVES POWER PLAY?
The Blue Jackets' power play scored on 50% of its opportunities. Sure, they only had two chances, but semantics.
Funny, the play that scored the 3-0 goal is exactly what we've talked about in recent days. Was it a tic-tac-toe goal? No, not even close.
3-0 Blue Jackets on this fantastic finish from Dubois.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/0yV8UPJvCq
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) December 15, 2017
It was a simple play, and the Jackets forwards out-numbered the Islanders at the point of attack. Hopefully that type of goal is what jump-starts the power play, which could use a bounce or two.
The power play will have another chance (hopefully) to convert on the power play on Saturday night against in Raleigh, as the Jackets take on the Carolina Hurricanes.
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