PREVIEW: Blue Jackets get right back on the road in Toronto
Columbus saw how it has to play in Sunday win over San Jose, wants to do it again against the Maple Leafs
Those are the words of defenseman Adam Boqvist, anyway, after the Blue Jackets snapped a four-game losing streak Sunday night with a 6-4 win over San Jose in Nationwide Arena. The team had energy and got its skating legs going, which wore down the Sharks to the point that the Jackets got better each period and eventually scored three times in the third to earn the win.
"I think we have a lot of skill guys and we have a lot of guys who can move their feet as well," Boqvist said. "I think we're a very annoying team to play against. We use our speed a lot on the forecheck. When we don't do it, I think it's pretty easy to play against us. We have to be annoying every night, and then it's fun to play."
GAMEDAY GUIDE: Jackets roll with the same lineup in Toronto
As head coach Brad Larsen has said throughout the year, this is a team that can skate, and that speed can be pretty annoying to other teams when it allows the Blue Jackets to set up their forecheck and get teams chasing in their own defensive zone.
And simply put, as Boqvist said, Columbus wasn't all that annoying in the four games lost on the road. There were some good stretches, to be sure - first periods in St. Louis and Dallas, for example, or the third in Washington - where the team skated its way to strong stretches, but there just wasn't a full 60 minutes, especially against some of the toughest teams to play against in the NHL.
"I want us to be that relentless, tenacious team and we just haven't been able to do that," Larsen said "We've played some big teams. We've played some teams that are heavy, veteran guys. You look at that road trip, when you're going through St. Louis on a back-to-back, that's a team that won (the Stanley Cup) not too long ago with some big, heavy guys. Nashville is a pretty good-sized team. Dallas (too) and obviously Washington.
"I thought these are really good learning games for our group to see what it takes."
Against a San Jose team, then, that entered as one of the best defensive squads in the league, the Blue Jackets were able to get those legs going, especially in transition. The result was the third six-goal game of the year, something that should help a team that had just six goals on its entire road trip as it goes into Toronto.
"I think we scored," Larsen said. "When you start scoring, you can feel it on the bench. You can feel, 'OK, we can finish,' and so it loosens everybody up. Even if one or two lines are scoring, it helps the whole bench. You take a breath, you're not squeezing (the stick) as hard. There's no magic formula to find that. Tonight, they went in, and hopefully we can carry that over."
Know the Foe
The Maple Leafs are as hot a team as there is in the NHL, following a 2-4-1 start to the season with a 15-3-1 record since. With 36 points, Toronto is in a dogfight at the top of the Atlantic Division with a Florida team that leads the NHL with 37 points and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions in Tampa Bay just two points behind.
Of those four losses in the last 19 games, two have come in a row, though, both with the squad missing Mitchell Marner with injury. Toronto dropped a 4-3 final in a shootout at Minnesota on Saturday, then fell 6-3 at Winnipeg on Sunday night in a penalty-filled game that Auston Matthews described as a "gong show."
Even with the losses, Toronto has scored at least three goals in each of its past seven games, and the squad has 32 tallies in that span (4.57 per game). Before the past two games, the defense had also been on point, as Toronto had given up just 15 goals in its previous 11 contests.
In fact, while the common thought is Toronto is built for offense behind the likes of Matthews, Marner, captain John Tavares and William Nylander, the defense has led the way this year. The Maple Leafs are third in the NHL in team defense, allowing just 2.35 goals per game on the season.
A team still looking for its first playoff series win since 2004 has excelled in all areas, though, checking in second in the league in faceoff percentage (55.0), fifth in power-play percentage (25.7), 13th in scoring (3.08 goals per game) and 15th in penalty kill (82.4 percent).
The big guns are still producing quite well for the Leafs, in particular Tavares and Matthews. The captain leads the way with an 11-15-26 line, totals that place him tied for 15th in the NHL in goals and tied for 11th in points. Matthews is also red hot, having scored in six straight games to reach a tie for sixth in the league with 15 goals among his 25 points. He's been particularly dangerous on the power play, scoring six times to place tied for third in the NHL.
Nylander is right behind with a 10-14-24 line, while Marner has six goals and 15 assists for 21 points of his own. Winger Michael Bunting came over from Arizona this offseason, and the 26-year-old has been a perfect fit with a 7-11-18 line, including three goals and 10 points in the last seven games. Morgan Rielly leads the scoring from the blue line, tying for the team lead with 15 assists among his 18 points.
With offseason signing Petr Mrazek hurt for most of the season -- he has played in just two games, though he did make a rehab start over the weekend for the AHL Marlies -- Jack Campbell has carried the load and been one of the best goalies in the league. Campbell has posted a 13-4-2 mark in 20 games (19 starts) with a 1.78 GAA and .942 save percentage, both tops in the NHL among goalies with at least 10 games.
Joseph Woll is currently serving as backup and has played in four games (3-1-0/2.76/.911).
