February 20, 20196 yr Despite last night's loss, Columbus is still above the playoff line at 69 points - just one above Carolina. There are only two games left before next Monday's Trade Deadline - Friday at Ottawa and back home against San Jose on Saturday. Hopefully, Panarin can play in both of these games, as every point is important in this tight Eastern Conference playoff race. But looming over these final two games before Deadline Day is the Bread and Bob situation. And it is looming: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/17/18227140/trade-deadline-fatigue-is-real-the-waiting-is-the-worst-part
February 22, 20196 yr The CBJ made a huge trade today ... but its not the one we were expecting: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/22/18236328/columbus-blue-jackets-trade-for-matt-duchene-vitaly-abramov-jonathan-davidsson-first-round-center Or as the JacketsCannon put it at the top of their home page: "Breaking News: OMG WTF: BLUE JACKETS ACQUIRE DUCHENE"
February 22, 20196 yr The Blue Jackets landed centre Matt Duchene from Ottawa in a blockbuster trade ahead of the NHL trade deadline. https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/22/18236328/columbus-blue-jackets-trade-for-matt-duchene-vitaly-abramov-jonathan-davidsson-first-round-center The Jackets gave up two top prospects and a 1st round pick - they'll send Ottawa another first round pick if Duchene signs an extension. He's a free agent July 1, just like Bobrovsky and Panarin. Barring further trades, the CBJ front office is going all in - and the team currently sits out of a playoff spot. Very Stable Genius
February 22, 20196 yr 2 minutes ago, Columbo said: The CBJ made a huge trade today ... but its not the one we were expecting: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/22/18236328/columbus-blue-jackets-trade-for-matt-duchene-vitaly-abramov-jonathan-davidsson-first-round-center Or as the JacketsCannon put it at the top of their home page: "Breaking News: OMG WTF: BLUE JACKETS ACQUIRE DUCHENE" Interesting side note about this trade: The Blue Jackets are playing in Ottawa tonight, which is Duchene's former team! Instead of playing for the home team in Ottawa, he will be playing for the visiting team, the CBJ(!)
February 23, 20196 yr I predict this move seals Jarmo's fate with CBJ - either for good or for ill. He very well could lose his three prize free agents this summer for nothing, and it's not like the Jackets are suddenly Cup favorites. On the other hand, if they win a series or two, the move will cement him as the GM for years to come. But if it's first round exit, followed by losing the big 3...yikes, it'll set the franchise back a good several years. Very Stable Genius
February 23, 20196 yr 2 hours ago, DarkandStormy said: I predict this move seals Jarmo's fate with CBJ - either for good or for ill. He very well could lose his three prize free agents this summer for nothing, and it's not like the Jackets are suddenly Cup favorites. On the other hand, if they win a series or two, the move will cement him as the GM for years to come. But if it's first round exit, followed by losing the big 3...yikes, it'll set the franchise back a good several years. Can't disagree with any of that. It's a bold move for Jarmo and JD. Potential high risk/high reward. And it might not be the CBJ's last move before Monday's Trade Deadline. Paranin could still be dealt (if Jarmo gets an "offer he can't refuse" deal for Bread). I don't see Bob moving (he wouldn't net much as a rental and we need him too much in the net for the rest of this season). We also could see a depth d-man rental acquired, since it looks like Murray will be out for some time.
February 23, 20196 yr ^ But its "so far, so good" for the Duchene deal: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/22/18237045/game-60-recap-columbus-blue-jackets-ottawa-senators-duchene-josh-anderson-cam-atkinson-bjorkstrand Very nice dominating 3-0 win at Ottawa last night. However, with the caveats that Ottawa is 22-34-5 (49 pts & last in the East and entire NHL); traded to C-BUS one of their three best players; and healthy scratched their other two best players because they will be trading them soon! Still, Bob was Vezina-ish Bob with a 22-save shutout and the team looked good (with the exception of an 0-4 power-play; tho Cam did get a shorty!) Today's 5PM matinee against 36-17-8 San Jose (80 pts & 2nd in the West) will be a much tougher test. San Jose is 8-1-1 in their last 10 games; pummeled PIT 4-0 on Thursday; and will start their best goaltender today. While the Jackets are flying back to Columbus on short rest and might need to start Korpi or use Bob again about 20 hours after the Ottawa game finished.
February 24, 20196 yr "So far, still so good" for the Duchene deal: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/24/18237086/game-recap-61-san-jose-sharks-at-columbus-blue-jackets Dominating (and surprising) 4-0 win over San Jose in Nationwide last night. Duchene makes his home debut as a Blue Jacket and scores his first goal as a Blue Jacket. Oh, and the CBJ made another trade for another Ottawa player that was announced after the game was over. (see next post)
February 24, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/23/18238005/columbus-blue-jackets-trade-for-ryan-dzingel-in-exchange-for-anthony-duclair Columbus traded Anthony Duclair and two second-round draft picks (2020, 2021) for forward Ryan Dzingel and a 2019 7th-round pick from Ottawa. Another bold move from Jarmo and JD. Another potential high risk/high reward deal. Dzingel is a big upgrade from Duclair (who is now on his 5th NHL team in his 4th NHL season at only 23-years-old!). But two 2nd-rounders is a hefty price for another potential UFA rental. Although the 26-year-old Dzingel did play three seasons for the Ohio State hockey team before joining Ottawa in 2014. And is being reported that he loved living in Columbus while at OSU, so he might re-sign with the CBJ. In any event, CBJ management seems to be all-in for a 2019 playoff run. If Bob and Bread remain on the roster after Monday's 3PM Trade Deadline, the Jackets will have four potential UFA rentals in Bob, Bread, Duchene & Dzingel. Risky - but they're going for it(!)
February 26, 20196 yr If the previous two deals to add Duchene and Dzingel were the equivalent of "swinging for the fences" - then today's two deals were the equivalent of a sacrifice bunts ? https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/25/18239606/columbus-blue-jackets-acquire-new-jersey-devils-goaltender-keith-kinkaid --- The first CBJ deal on Deadline Day was to acquire the New Jersey Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid for a 2022 fifth-round pick. The 29-year-old Kinkaid has been the Devils primary backup goalie since 2012 and then pressed into more of a starting role in their past two seasons because of injuries to their starting goalie Schneider. Kinkaid is a UFA this summer, so this is a pure rental move that acts as insurance for the CBJ's goalie corps. Kinkaid might slot in as Bob's primary backup for the remainder of this season. Or Korpi might continue as the primary backup with Kinkaid as insurance against injuries. Either way, the Jackets didn't give up much to NJ. This 5th-round pick isn't until the 2022 draft (which is not this summer, or the next summer, or the next summer, but four summer's away!) https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/25/18240201/columbus-blue-jackets-acquire-adam-mcquaid-from-new-york-rangers --- The second Deadline Day deal was an eminently logical move to rent a depth defenseman for the stretch run. 32-year-old, 6'-4" Adam McQuaid was acquired from the New York Rangers for 2019 4th-round pick and a 2019 7th-round pick. Another rental move, since McQuaid is a UFA this summer, made necessary because of Ryan Murray's injury. McQuaid is the epitome of a big defensive defenseman and should slot onto the Jackets third d-pair. GM Kek gave up a little more than the Kinkaid deal, but still not much for basically an insurance-type rental. Think of McQuaid as this year's Ian Cole!
February 26, 20196 yr So the deals are done for the 2019 CBJ. They added Duchene, Dzingel, Kinkaid, McQuaid. They didn't trade pending UFA's Bob and Bread. And they didn't move anyone from the existing roster except for Duclair (who was inconsistent and in the Torts doghouse). Not bad at all for GM Kek and PoHO JD. They're all in for a 2019 playoff run! Personally, I like this "all in" move. Because I'll never fault a team for tying to win. And after too many seasons of "wait until next year", its a great thing to see the CBJ going for it - despite the risks involved. And the risks of this "all in" strategy are huge. There's no guarantee of re-signing the many UFA's now on the roster for future years. There's no guarantee of even making this year's playoffs (although currently above the playoff line - its only by a single point going into tonight's games). And although the Jackets preserved their prospect pipeline, they traded away alot of future draft picks. When you see the picks available for the next three drafts, it looks mildly terrifying(!) One CBJ reporter even joke tweeted that the organization could save itself some money by not sending anyone to the 2019 draft, since they currently only have a 3rd-round and 7th-round pick! But What The Heck --- I'm on the All In Train for the next 21 regular season games and hopefully some playoff games! (And hopefully more than 4 to 7 playoff games too!!) FIRE THE CANNON ⚠️ ??
February 27, 20196 yr These guys, again: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/26/18242211/blue-jackets-fall-yet-again-to-penguins Okay, beating the Pens last night would've been great: https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20190226/rob-oller--its-blue-jackets-time-to-win--well-starting-thursday The next three home games (3-in-4-day stretch) will be big: Thursday (PHI); Saturday (EDM); Sunday (WIN) As will all 20 remaining games (full schedule here): http://www.espn.com/nhl/team/schedule/_/name/cbj/columbus-blue-jackets Nice analysis of the remaining schedule here: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/27/18242250/the-month-ahead-analyzing-the-columbus-blue-jackets-remaining-schedule
February 28, 20196 yr I just heard the CBJ signed one of their UFA players to an extension: UFA player extension news: https://www.reddit.com/r/BlueJackets/comments/avh1n5/cbj_extends_dalpe_2_years_2_way_contract/
February 28, 20196 yr 17 hours ago, cfdwarrior said: Trade you the Cavs and the Monsters if you ship the Blue Jackets to Cleveland!
March 1, 20196 yr Now that's more like it: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/2/28/18245521/game-63-recap-seth-jones-panarin-columbus-blue-jackets-bury-philadelphia-flyers The CBJ won their first post-deadline day game in thrilling overtime fashion last night. If (and hopefully when) the Blue Jackets make the playoffs, winning overtime games will be a big reason why. So far the CBJ are 8-2 in games decided in OT (plus one SO loss). This is the second time this season Columbus won in OT over Philly - both times on goals from Seth Jones(!) And Columbus swept the 4-game season series against Philly with this win.
March 3, 20196 yr Now that's less like it (very much less): https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/2/18247716/game-64-recap-edmonton-oilers-blank-columbus-blue-jackets-4-0 The Jackets can rebound with a quick turnaround game tonight hosting Winnipeg. But the CBJ really need to get off this "good game - terrible game - good game - terrible game" pattern if they hope to make the playoffs!
March 4, 20196 yr Well, they went "terrible game - bad game." 2-3 on the homestand including an aggregate score of 9-2 in the final back-to-back losses. Team is now barely treading waters and the playoffs are slipping away. Very Stable Genius
March 4, 20196 yr 3 hours ago, DarkandStormy said: Well, they went "terrible game - bad game." 2-3 on the homestand including an aggregate score of 9-2 in the final back-to-back losses. Team is now barely treading waters and the playoffs are slipping away. The panic is real(!): https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/4/18249491/game-65-recap-the-season-is-over And today's Dispatch sports section(!):
March 6, 20196 yr That's more like it (but just barely): https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/6/18252653/game-66-recap-columbus-blue-jackets-losing-effort-points-new-jersey-devils-disgrace-fix-it Or as the Jackets Cannon headline put it: "Game #66 Recap: Columbus Blue Jackets Submit Losing Effort, Come Away with 2 Points Against AHL New Jersey Devils - They didn’t deserve to win, but they got a win anyway. Whatever. Points are points." The CBJ did get two valuable points with a 2-1 SO victory last night over the Binghamton New Jersey Devils. Unfortunately, the other three teams Columbus is fighting a playoff spot for (Carolina, Pittsburgh, Montreal) all won (PIT & MON) or got a point with an OT-loss (CAR). So going into this critical Thursday-Saturday home-and-away with the Pens, Columbus is still two points below the playoff line. Lots and lots on the line for the CBJ, who will need a much better effort against a team that always brings it.
March 7, 20196 yr This photo below from the JacketsCannon game preview accurately reflects both teams feelings going into tonight's game: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/7/18253981/game-67-preview-columbus-blue-jackets-at-pittsburgh-penguins --- Oh, and the game is on national TV (NBCSN), so c'mon CBJ - don't embarrass us on national TV⚠️
March 8, 20196 yr 21 hours ago, Columbo said: c'mon CBJ - don't embarrass us on national TV⚠️ Not an embarrassment, but definitely not good enough: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/8/18255440/different-goalie-same-result-penguins-3-blue-jackets-0 CBJ are now on an 8-game losing streak vs. PIT ... and we play them again Saturday night(!)
March 10, 20196 yr Now that was definitely more like it: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/10/18258470/game-68-recap-columbus-blue-jackets-save-playoff-dreams-defeat-pittsburgh-penguins Such a satisfying win last night over the Pens! Joy to the way the CBJ played, joy to keeping in the thick of the playoff race, and joy to sticking it to the yinzers that always infest Nationwide Arena for these games!
March 10, 20196 yr Now, as for the playoff implications of last night's 4-1 win over Pittsburgh. Columbus has been one of four teams fighting for the final three Eastern playoff spots. Pittsburgh, Carolina, Montreal and Columbus have all been separated by a mere point of two for the past few weeks. Lately, Carolina has surged to the front. But with each game played, the order of the pack shifts around. Which is why the CBJ win last night was so important - it kept C-BUS in contact with the pack. In fact - going into today's games - the Blue Jackets hold the final wild card spot over Montreal. Below are the full Eastern playoff standings: Of course, with only 14 games remaining, every game and point is important. Next week, the CBJ schedule features two Metro teams in playoff position (NYI & CAR) and two games against the hottest team in the league (Boston, who is 15-0-4 dating back to 1/19, which was their last loss in regulation!) Mon, 3/11 at NY Islanders Tue, 3/12 vs Boston Fri, 3/15 vs Carolina Sat, 3/16 at Boston
March 11, 20196 yr Pens won again, bumping them up to 83 points through 69 games. If the Jackets don't want to be first round sacrificial lambs for Tampa Bay, they need to jump the Hurricanes and ideally the Penguins as well. Very Stable Genius
March 12, 20196 yr Bob-was-gr8 + offense-was-bad = https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/11/18261063/game-69-recap-not-nice-new-york-islanders-thomas-greiss-columbus-blue-jackets-park-the-bus-i-am-sad Chance-for-CBJ-to-redeem-themselves-tonight: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/12/18260897/game-70-preview-boston-bruins-at-columbus-blue-jackets The shutout loss on The Island doesn't help Columbus' playoff position. Still in the second wild-card spot because Montreal didn't play last night - but the CBJ burned off their game-in-hand advantage. A chance to redeem themselves against Boston tonight - but as the english soccer announcers would say "they must do better".
March 13, 20196 yr Game #70 Recap: Jackets Beat Bruins 7-4 in Game That Had Everything - A Panarin fight, a Boone hat trick and a big win: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/12/18263055/columbus-blue-jackets-beat-boston-bruins-panarin-fight Big & odd win last night over Boston. The team finally found their post-trade offense with 7 goals (equaling a season-high). And almost blew a 5-1 lead, but didn't. The win allows Columbus to hold serve in the standings. Still tied with Montreal in points, but the CBJ still hold the second wild-card spot via ROW tiebreak. Friday's home game hosting Carolina (who is two points ahead of the CBJ) is obviously huge.
March 16, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/15/18268131/game-71-recap-sergei-bobrovsky-steals-a-win-columbus-blue-jackets-carolina-hurricanes Weird but wonderful 3-0 win over Carolina for the CBJ last night: Bob was Vezina Bob last night - setting a new CBJ record with a 46-save shutout! The two goals scored by the CBJ in the first period were from defensive defensemen McQuaid & Savard! Gene Simmons of KISS was at the game, had a very visible glass-side seat and was interviewed by the FSO sideline reporter during the game! (KISS is playing at Nationwide Arena tonight) Carolina goes all-in and pulls their goalie with 3:07 left after Columbus commits a 2-min penalty. The 6-on-4 power-play gambit backfires when Anderson scores an empty-netter 29 seconds later to clinch the win! Columbus was outshot 46 to 19 by Carolina! This was a big must-win home game for the CBJ. Columbus is now tied at 83 points with Carolina for the two wild-card spots - Carolina currently holds the WC1 spot by virtue of one game-in-hand over C-BUS. Columbus is 2 points up on Montreal in 9th-place going into tonight's game at Boston (a high-flying Bruin team that is suddenly on a 3-game losing streak).
March 18, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/17/18267506/game-72-recap-columbus-blue-jackets-at-boston-bruins Very nice game at Boston that went to overtime. But this time, the CBJ didn't prevail in OT (they're now 8-3 in OT). Fine game in goal by backup Korpisalo with 31 saves and only giving up an early power-play goal and the 3-on-3 OT goal. At least they earned a road point for the standings. After this weekend's play, Columbus still holds the WC2 spot -- one point below Carolina for the WC1 spot and three points above Montreal for the spot below the Eastern playoff line. The team will vacate Nationwide Arena to make way for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The CBJ will instead take their Western Canadian road trip this week - with a Tuesday game at Calgary, a Thursday game at Edmonton and a Sunday game at Vancouver. After that road trip, the CBJ return to Nationwide for two straight big home games against NYI and MON next week.
March 20, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/20/18273661/game-73-recap-columbusblue-jackets-flame-out-in-calgary-lose-4-2 Decent game last night in Calgary, but not decent enough against a 'Best in the West' Flames team. Would've been nice for the CBJ to have stolen a point or two in Calgary - but this was always going to be the toughest of these three Western Canada games. Edmonton and Vancouver are sitting third-worst and fourth-worst in the West. So the next two games are "must-wins" for the CBJ. The Jackets will need these points in EDM and VAN after getting none last night. Carolina won in a shootout against Pittsburgh and Montreal beat Philadelphia in regulation last night. Columbus is now only one up on MON and three behind CAR in the Eastern playoff race (see full standings below):
March 22, 20196 yr Bleck: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/22/18276191/late-start-in-edmonton-blue-jackets-miss-memo-fall-out-of-playoff-picture-with-latest-loss Disappointing loss at Edmonton leaves the Jackets below the playoff line. Three points behind CAR (WC1 w/ game-in-hand); one point behind MON (WC2). Makes the Sunday night game at VAN even more of a "must-win".
March 25, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/25/18280414/game-75-recap-josh-anderson-leads-columbus-blue-jackets-to-two-points-vancouver-canucks After losing the first two games in their Western Canada road trip, the CBJ desperately needed a win in Vancouver last night. And they got it with a big 5-0 win - as the Jackets finally looked like a team playing with some desperation for a final playoff spot! Here is the Eastern playoff race after last night's results: Columbus is currently two points below the playoff line behind Montreal -- although the CBJ now hold a one game-in-hand advantage over Montreal. Only seven regular-season games remain for the CBJ - with two huge home games coming up this week: Tuesday hosting the NY Islanders Thursday hosting Montreal (which could be an immensely determinative game for both team's playoff hopes!)
March 27, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/26/18283121/game-76-recap-blue-jackets-shut-out-islanders-panarin-bobrovsky The CBJ finally figured out NYI - winning a big must-win game last night 4-0 to hold pace in the Eastern playoff race. Bob got his second straight shutout after missing last Thursday's game at EDM with a minor injury. Bob is turning into Vezina Bob with three shutouts in his last four starts - dating back to 3/15 against CAR. The prime CBJ goal scorers also came up big last night: Dzingel had a PP goal in the first period that held the lead until Panarin scored early in the third period to go up by 2. Bjorkstrand added the CBJ's third goal and then Atkinson finished the night with an empty-netter. Panarin's goal was important in the game and, hopefully, important for him going forward. It was the Breadman's first goal in 13 games(!) We need him to emulate Bob's output for the CBJ to reach the playoffs. And speaking of those playoffs: Montreal won big over FLA last night to keep two points ahead of Columbus for the WC2. WC1-holder Carolina lost to the Caps to tighten the wild-card race up. CAR hosts WAS on Thursday. But Thursday's really really big game is Montreal coming into Nationwide for a playoff-like game that will go a long way to determining which team (MON or CBJ) will make the 2019 playoffs. In yesterday's games, Montreal's superstar goalie and team captain Carey Price looked like he might have been injured on a shot midway though the third period. But he remained in the game and didn't seem affected. The Jackets young d-man phenom Zach Werenski looked like he suffered a lower body injury early in the third period last night. He tried to continue but left for the locker room and didn't play the remainder of the third. Z's loss would be a huge blow to an already weakened d-corps with Murray out indefinitely.
March 29, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/29/18286170/recap-77-columbus-blue-jackets-beat-down-the-montreal-canadiens-and-carey-price-playoff-picture The Jackets "figured out" another team that had been their kryptonite this season (like NYI on Tuesday). Plus this was the CBJ's first win over supergoalie Carey Price since 2014! Although it didn't look that way to start the game. Montreal scored an early goal 1:15 into the first and the Jackets didn't get their first shot-on-goal until 10 minutes in! But the Jackets' own French-Canadian David Savard got the CBJ on the board 1:42 into the second period. Only to see Montreal retake the lead at the 8:36 mark. But then the Jackets prime goal scorers came through later in the second. Bjorkstrand deflected a Jones slap shot to retie the game at 2-2. Then Panarin scored a one-timer shot off a beautiful cross-ice pass from Duchene (a beautiful goal) to give the Jackets a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish. But one the biggest goals of the night came early in the third from Nash (or as TheJacketsCannon twitter feed said RILEY FREAKING NASH!). This was only Nash's second goal of the season, and his first goal in 49 games! This extended the lead to 4-2. A few minutes later, Bjorkstrand got his second goal of the night off a nice puck interception from Kukan to make the lead 5-2. (Bjorkstrand's fifth goal in five games!) Dubinsky got an empty-netter to completely finish off Les Habs with a 6-2 final score. (EDIT: CBJ d-phenom Werenski played the entirety of this game. His removal from Tuesday's game was reportedly "precautionary". So good news there too.)
March 29, 20196 yr Big big win for the CBJ! A loss last night wouldn't have eliminated Columbus from the playoffs, but it could have dropped them 4 points behind Montreal with only 5 games remaining. Instead, the win brings Columbus even with Montreal at 90 points - but ahead via the tiebreak and with one game-in-hand. Washington beat Carolina (in back-to-back games - thx Caps!) to keep the Canes at 91 points. So the WC1 spot is now within reach for the CBJ. The Jackets play two road games this weekend - Saturday at Nashville; Sunday at Buffalo - before returning to Columbus for their final regular-season game in Nationwide on Tuesday against Boston. Then next Friday at NYR in MSG; then the final regular-season game at Ottawa on Saturday, April 6. Here is the extended Eastern Conference Standings going into this weekend's games:
March 31, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/30/18288479/game-78-recap-blue-jackets-hitting-the-high-note-at-right-time 5-2 victory at Nashville last night for the fourth consecutive win for the CBJ. Cam Atkinson got two goals last night to tie the franchise goal scoring record of 41 goals (set by Rick Nash in 2003-04). Artemi Panarin got four assists last night to give him 53 assists and 83 points for this season - a new franchise record for points which beats the 82 points Panarin had last season! Jenner, Savard and Bjorkstrand (with his 6th goal in the last six game!) finished out last night's goal scoring. Carolina, Columbus and Montreal all won yesterday - so there's no change to the wild-card race. Carolina has 93pts and holds the WC1 spot; Columbus has 92pts and holds the WC2 spot; Montreal has 92pts and is below the playoff line via tiebreak and one additional game played. Montreal is off until Tuesday. Carolina plays at Pittsburgh today. While the CBJ shuffled off to Buffalo after last night's game and will face the Sabres tonight at 6PM.
March 31, 20196 yr Boy I hope we can overcome Carolina and get a chance at the Caps again. We've played them really well all season, and we can get revenge for what should have been a series win last year!
April 1, 20196 yr 18 hours ago, aderwent said: Boy I hope we can overcome Carolina and get a chance at the Caps again. We've played them really well all season, and we can get revenge for what should have been a series win last year! Wake up and the CBJ are now in WC #1 spot and control their own destiny. Carolina has a tough game against Toronto tomorrow (Toronto may or may not be locked into their playoff seed after their game tonight), then New Jersey and the Flyers - two teams who are out of it. The Jackets, meanwhile, host Boston tomorrow night and Boston is very nearly mathematically locked into their playoff spot as well. Then they have the Rangers and Senators, two teams who are also playing out the string. Under the radar, the Pens have a back-to-back with Detroit who have sneakily won five in a row. Pens are three up on the Jackets in the standings, so the CBJ would need to win out and have Pittsburgh go 1-1-1 or worse. Montreal, still mathematically alive, faces a brutal final stretch of Tampa (top team in the league and perhaps best team of the salary cap era), Washington (Metro division leaders), and Toronto. Very Stable Genius
April 1, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/31/18289720/game-79-recap-columbus-blue-jackets-win-fifth-straight-blank-buffalo-sabres That easily could've been a trap game at Buffalo last night. But Bob is dialed in right now and the rest of the team is playing well. The 4-0 victory gives them their fifth straight win.
April 1, 20196 yr 4 hours ago, DarkandStormy said: Wake up and the CBJ are now in WC #1 spot and control their own destiny. Carolina has a tough game against Toronto tomorrow (Toronto may or may not be locked into their playoff seed after their game tonight), then New Jersey and the Flyers - two teams who are out of it. The Jackets, meanwhile, host Boston tomorrow night and Boston is very nearly mathematically locked into their playoff spot as well. Then they have the Rangers and Senators, two teams who are also playing out the string. Under the radar, the Pens have a back-to-back with Detroit who have sneakily won five in a row. Pens are three up on the Jackets in the standings, so the CBJ would need to win out and have Pittsburgh go 1-1-1 or worse. Montreal, still mathematically alive, faces a brutal final stretch of Tampa (top team in the league and perhaps best team of the salary cap era), Washington (Metro division leaders), and Toronto. Amazingly - with all the post trading deadline ups and downs - the CBJ can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Boston tomorrow and a Montreal loss in regulation tomorrow!
April 1, 20196 yr 59 minutes ago, Columbo said: Amazingly - with all the post trading deadline ups and downs - the CBJ can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Boston tomorrow and a Montreal loss in regulation tomorrow! I gave up on this team 5 games ago. Very Stable Genius
April 3, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/2/18293167/game-79-columbus-blue-jackets-no-show-again-under-the-national-spotlight-boston-bruins No clinching a playoff spot last night - and definitely no win last night. The CBJ just had to make everyone sweat it out. Only two regular-season games left for Carolina, Columbus and Montreal to determine who gets the final two wild-card spots. Here's the wild-card standings going into the final two games: And here are the schedules for each team: CAROLINA -- Thursday vs. New Jersey; Saturday at Philadelphia COLUMBUS -- Friday at NY Rangers; Saturday at Ottawa MONTREAL -- Thursday at Washington; Saturday vs. Toronto
April 5, 20196 yr Last night's results and the current wild-card standings going into today's CBJ game: Carolina won last night. So Carolina clinches their playoff spot and goes three points up on the CBJ. Montreal lost last night. So Montreal stays behind the CBJ and below the playoff line. Columbus can clinch a playoff spot with a win tonight at NYR.
April 6, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/6/18296115/win-and-in-blue-jackets-take-care-of-business-at-msg https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/5/18297568/game-81-quickcap-blue-jackets-win-clinch-playoff-spot The CBJ finally clinched their 2019 playoff spot with a win over the Rangers at MSG last night. However, as befitting this season, they did it in a drama-filled up-and-down fashion. The first goal was scored by NYR 1:47 into the second period. That lead held up until 2:25 into the third period, when the CBJ tied it up on an odd-man rush scored by Ryan Dzingel. Then, it looked like the Jackets got the game-winning goal with 5:33 left on a brilliant pass-to-himself play by Panarin to go up 2-1. But the CBJ's drama-filled up-and-down season wouldn't allow it to end that way. The Rangers got a game-tying goal with only 6.1 seconds remaining(!) to send it into OT. Neither team scored in the overtime. And so the Jackets chance to clinch would be decided via the shootout. Bob stopped the Rangers 1st attempt, Cam got stopped, and then Bob stopped the Rangers 2nd attempt, until Panarin scored on his attempt. Then Bob stopped the Rangers 3rd and final attempt to win the shootout and clinch the playoff spot! In the end, it was Bob and Bread - the two pending free-agent Russians that fueled this drama-filled up-and-down season - that finally clinched this playoff spot in this game!
April 6, 20196 yr Although the Jackets punched their playoff ticket last night, there still is some playoff drama left for today's Game #82 for both Columbus and Carolina. The CBJ play at Ottawa and Carolina plays at Philadelphia tonight. Below are the wild-card standings going into tonight's games. Either Columbus or Carolina could be in the WC1 spot or WC2 spot depending on the following scenarios: If CBJ win (in any way - reg, ot/so) and CAR loses (also in any way) --- CBJ are in the WC1 spot If CBJ lose via OT/SO and CAR loses in regulation --- CBJ are in the WC1 spot Any win by CAR tonight --- CBJ are in the WC2 spot
April 7, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/7/18298582/game-82-recap-columbus-blue-jackets-defeat-ottawa-senators-tampa-bay-lightning-first-round The CBJ needed a win last night and for Carolina to do something less than match at Philadelphia in order to pass the Canes for the WC1 spot. The Jackets did their part with decisive 6-2 win over Ottawa. Korpisalo was in the net and did a fine job to give Bob a day off going into the playoffs. Dubois, who has been slumping a bit lately, got two goals in the first period to set the tone for the night. 19-year-old Alexandre Texier (who I've been talking up in the Monsters thread) got his first NHL goal in the second period off a nice feed from Bjorkstrand - who added a goal his own in third period. An empty-netter finished off the scoring at 6-2, but the Jackets never let Ottawa get closer than two after they took an early 3-0 lead. The CBJ game was not a nail-biter - unlike the Carolina/Philadelphia game. Carolina got off the an early 2-0 lead and held a 3-1 lead after the first period. But the Flyers tied it up 3-3 six minutes into the second period. But then Carolina went up 4-3 less then two minutes later and held that lead into the third period. Carolina then held off the Flyers for the entire scoreless third period to preserve their win - and preserve their WC1 spot. Here are the final Eastern Conference standings:
April 8, 20196 yr The CBJ have made the NHL playoffs for the third straight season. The bad news is that because they couldn't get past Carolina for the WC1 spot, the Jackets must face the Tampa Bay Lightning - who finished a phenomenal regular season: TBL tied the NHL record for most wins Had the best goal differential - by far! (look at the eastern conference final standings) Had the leagues's best power play and was tied for the best penalty kill (with the CBJ) Had the season's leading scorer, Nikita Kucherov with 41G-87A-128pts Had three of the top 12 leading scorers, Kucherov plus Stamkos at 97pts and Point at 92pts Has a top defense led by Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh Has one of the top goaltenders in Andrei Vasilevskiy TBL has top elite scoring, scoring in depth, top special teams play, a great defense, and a great goaltender. So its no surprise that the Lightning are not only heavy favorites to beat the CBJ in the first round, but are also heavy favorites to win it all this year. TBL has won one Stanley Cup in 2004 (with current CBJ head coach John Tortorella as their head coach). But Tampa has been knocking on the door for another Stanley Cup for the previous four seasons. In 2015, they lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to Chicago; 2016 they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to Pittsburgh; 2018 they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to Washington. Most experts believe this is Tampa Bay's year to hoist another Stanley Cup. However, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are also notorious for denying the best regular-season team the post-season crown. Which gives the CBJ faithful some hope that the Blue Jackets could pull off an epic upset against this TBL juggernaut. On the other hand, Tampa Bay might be heartened that Columbus was eliminated in the last two playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup winner(!). Either way, Tampa Bay still needs to beat the Jackets on the ice. Which they did in their three-game season series: 10/13/2018 at TBL -- TBL won 8-2 01/08/2019 at TBL -- TBL won 4-0 02/18/2019 at CBJ -- TBL won 5-1 Tampa Bay will be playing with everyone thinking they will win and with everything to lose. The CBJ will be playing with everyone thinking they will lose and with nothing to lose. Below is the schedule between the Tampa Bay and Columbus playoff series that starts Wednesday: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/7/18299078/columbus-blue-jackets-vs-tampa-bay-lightning-playoff-dates-tv-times-announced Game 1: Wednesday, April 10 at Tampa, Fla. – 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Ohio and USA Game 2: Friday, April 12 at Tampa, Fla. – 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Ohio and CNBC Game 3: Sunday, April 14 at Columbus, Ohio – 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Ohio and NBCSN Game 4: Tuesday, April 16 at Columbus, Ohio – 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Ohio and CNBC Game 5: (if necessary): Friday, April 19 at Tampa, Fla. – TBD Game 6: (if necessary): Sunday, April 21 at Columbus, Ohio – TBD Game 7: (if necessary): Tuesday, April 23 at Tampa, Fla. – TBD
April 8, 20196 yr It ticks me off so much that Columbus, 19 years in, has never hosted a playoff game on a Friday or Saturday. Very Stable Genius
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