The Columbus Blue Jackets have taken the form of a pendulum.
This postseason, they've bounced back and forth – a win followed by a loss. A win, a loss. Again and again for seven straight games.
| TBL 1, COL 1 • FIRST ROUND |
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| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING |
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43–21–6 (92 points) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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7:30 P.M. – SATURDAY, AUG. 15 SCOTIABANK ARENA TORONTO, ON |
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FOX SPORTS OHIO, NBCSN FOX SPORTS GO |
On Saturday afternoon, they can finally alter the pattern. They're gearing up to face off with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third game of a knotted-up-at-one seven-game series. Tampa Bay snuck out of a five-overtime game with a win on Tuesday, then Columbus bounced back on Thursday to grab a 3-1 Game 2 victory.
In a sense, the first two games of the series perfectly illustrated the oddity of this Blue Jackets postseason run.
The opening game was a slobber-knocker, with goaltenders Joonas Korpisalo and Andrei Vasilevskiy unwilling to let their teams lose. Columbus' offense, however, couldn't come through in seven-and-a-half periods enough to score more than two goals, leading to a seemingly devastating 3-2 five-overtime loss. Yet the Blue Jackets took it in stride, looking like the more physically ready-to-go team two days later in a not-so-turbulent 3-1 victory.
"It's what we do," John Tortorella said on Thursday. "It's what pros are supposed to do. I don't think it's anything special. I think it's the proper way about going about your business. We've had a lot of opportunities with the ups and downs, especially in the last couple of weeks, to work at that. So we're just getting ready for Game 3."
| Game | Date | Result |
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| 1 | TUE, AUG. 11, 2020 | TBL 3, COL 2 (5OT) // GAME HIGHLIGHTS |
| 2 | THU, AUG. 13, 2020 | COL 3, TBL 1 // GAME HIGHLIGHTS |
| 3 | SAT, AUG. 15, 2020 | TBD |
| 4 | MON, AUG. 17, 2020 | TBD |
| 5 | WED, AUG. 19, 2020 | TBD |
| 6 | FRI, AUG. 21, 2020 | TBD |
| 7 | SAT, AUG. 22, 2020 | TBD |
A Game 3 win would give Columbus a 2-1 series lead, and to get there the team both needs to continue what it's done defensively and turn it up a notch offensively.
Starting Joonas Korpisalo has turned into one of the Blue Jackets' best decisions of August. He'll look to keep up his stellar play into Game 3. Across six games – Elvis Merzlikins started the fourth game of the Stanley Cup Qualifying series – he has faced 239 shots on goal with a 0.962 save percentage. Korpisalo and the Seth Jones-led defense will need to stifle the Lightning once again on Saturday.
Most of the Blue Jackets' troubles in the postseason – and, really, in the regular season – center on their offensive inconsistency. Pierre-Luc Dubois has eight points – with a team-high four goals – but no one else has more than five points through seven games. Cam Atkinson's status for Game 3 is unknown; he missed Game 2.
“As the game went on, both teams had some momentum both ways. I think we played a better game in Game 2 here, but we're going to have to be better as we keep on pushing forward.”– John Tortorella on Thursday
Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lines
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | ALEXANDRE TEXIER | 18 | PIERRE-LUC DUBOIS | 13 | CAM ATKINSON |
| 19 | LIAM FOUDY | 20 | RILEY NASH | 28 | OLIVER BJORKSTRAND |
| 14 | GUSTAV NYQUIST | 38 | BOONE JENNER | 71 | NICK FOLIGNO |
| 50 | ERIC ROBINSON | 10 | ALEXANDER WENNBERG | 24 | NATHAN GERBE |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | ZACH WERENSKI | 3 | SETH JONES |
| 44 | VLADISLAV GAVRIKOV | 58 | DAVID SAVARD |
| 27 | RYAN MURRAY | 14 | DEAN KUKAN |
| Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | JOONAS KORPISALO | 90 | ELVIS MERZLIKINS |
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | ONDREJ PALAT | 21 | BRAYDEN POINT | 86 | NIKITA KUCHEROV |
| 17 | ALEX KILLORN | 71 | ANTHONY CIRELLI | 9 | TYLER JOHNSON |
| 19 | BARCLAY GOODROW | 37 | YANNI GOURDE | 20 | BLAKE COLEMAN |
| 14 | PATRICK MAROON | 67 | MITCHELL STEPHENS | 13 | CEDRIC PAQUETTE |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | VICTOR HEDMAN | 44 | JAN RUTTA |
| 27 | RYAN MCDONAGH | 81 | ERIK CERNAK |
| 98 | MIKHAIL SERGACHEV | 22 | KEVIN SHATTENKIRK |
| Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | ANDREI VASILEVSKIY | 35 | CURTIS MCELHINNEY |
Storylines
- Winning special teams: About five months passed between the pause of the regular season and the beginning of the postseason, yet the Blue Jackets' special teams trends remained about the same. In the regular season, they ranked 12th in the NHL in penalty-kill percentage (81.7) and 27th in the NHL in power-play percentage (16.4). This postseason, they're fourth in penalty-kill percentage (89.5) and fourth-worst in power-play percentage (9.1). So far, Columbus has done an exceptional job when killing penalties. Yet there's plenty of work to do to be more dangerous with a one-man advantage on the ice.
- Korpi holding it down: Don't look now but Joonas Korpisalo is putting on a clinic in the net. He pulled off two shutouts in four stars versus the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Qualifying series, and he's somehow stepped up his game with 121 saves and a 0.968 save percentage through two games against the Lightning. To be clear, this level of success rarely happens against a dangerous Tampa Bay offense. Yet Korpisalo has weathered most of what the Lightning have sent his way, and he'll look to do so again on Saturday. He's arguably the No. 1 key to Columbus' postseason success so far.
- Somehow, someway got to score: Columbus might not have a conventionally dangerous offense. It might not have the most skillful forwards. Yet they've shown they can be dangerous at times. Perhaps the key? Consistency. Between games, only Pierre-Luc Dubois has shown he can be counted on to either score or set up others for clean looks with the puck. The Blue Jackets need others to step up, and while there have been various contributions from Alexandre Texier, Alexander Wennberg, Liam Foudy, Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno, it always seems like a bit of a struggle. They've gotten out-shot by double-digit shots in the past four games.
