Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets meet in Tampere on Friday 4 November. and on Saturday 5.11. The matches are broadcast live on TV2, Areena and the app. On both Friday and Saturday, the broadcast starts at 19:45.
It was a dream start. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ first game of this NHL season had barely three minutes to go, when the star acquisition of the summer Johnny Gaudreau kicked the opening goal against the Carolina Hurricanes. The sold-out home arena exploded and the noise was infernal.
The drug congealed quickly. Carolina won 4–1, and Columbus’ toddlerhood began. Before this week’s trip to Finland for the NHL’s Global Series matches, Columbus lost its last three games, in which it conceded 17 goals. The team is at the bottom of the entire series after ten games they have played.
– The team’s grips have been very fluctuating and recently really weak, Columbus’s GM Jarmo Kekäläinen commented in an interview with Urheilu.
The defensive game has rained badly. In the early season, the team has conceded 44 goals. 4.4 goals conceded per match is the most in the entire series, together with Anaheim.
– We analyze both the defensive game and the offensive game, and both can be done better. We can definitely tighten up the defensive game, Kekäläinen estimates.
The goals conceded reveal the harsh truth
Columbus, which has won only three games, has fallen into a stealing attack direction in several of its matches. This has been seen, among other things, in opponents’ direct counter-attacking goals and excessive anticipation of situations in the direction of attack. The opponent has managed to steal the puck or stop the pass in critical places.
Urheilu looked at all the goals scored by Columbus from the beginning of the season. Opponents on the most flat field have scored 13 goals with fast counter-attacks or direct attacks.
After Columbus turnovers or stray passes, the opponents have punished 11 times.
The “blue jackets”, who have conceded 36 goals on a flat field, have other problems in their defensive game. The team has defended the front of the goal weakly and, for example, the opponents have already vaccinated several times from loose pucks.
This has resulted in the team conceding goals both under and overpowered and, for example, directly after lost corner kicks and kickoffs.
At the same time, the goalkeeper’s game has garnered a lot of criticism. Latvian Elvis Merzlikins the save percentage is 86.39 after seven matches. It is the worst in the entire league among goalkeepers who have played at least five games.
The head coach Brad Larsen however, gave credit to his No. 1 point guard after a 1–7 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
– He worked hard today. He is a competitor and fought until the end. We weren’t good enough in front of him.
The game needs a leader
Columbus has not found a clear leader of the defensive game during the fall. Was the club’s number one defender for years Zach Werenski has not convinced in the defensive direction in the early season.
– We have to play harder to help each other. In an 82-game season, you lose games, but we have to make sure we do it the right way. By playing hard and competing. If we play like that most of the time, we will also start to win, Werenski commented after the Devils match.
Werenski’s playing has not directly reflected the things he mentioned. The defender, who is known for his play on the puck, certainly plays the most of his team, almost 25 minutes in the match, but there have been too many mistakes even in relation to the workload.
Werenski, who enjoys an annual salary of more than nine million dollars, is especially expected to lead the offensive game, but that does not explain the weak scoring play or the lack of stick pressure. If stars like Werenski are granted differential exemptions, others should be able to fill in the gaps. This has not happened now.
The defenseman, who has represented Columbus his entire career, said after the Devils game that the more experienced players need to set a standard in practice and maintain it. That way, the team plays the right way in the games.
Coaching and players play themselves
After the Devils loss, the team talked behind closed doors. Head coach Larsen took the poor performance personally in front of the media. The players emphasized their own responsibility.
– Naturally, this starts with the players. We have to be more competitive. Now there was no competition on the ice, Werenski told the media after the match.
Individual good sets or winning matches have not created a positive continuation in Columbus. An even match may have turned to the opponent at a fast pace.
For example, the other weekend, the team led 2–0 Pittsburgh after the opening set. In both the second and third periods, Pittsburgh scored three goals in about ten minutes.
Has the training break brought a change?
The team has been trying to find a solution to its lower size.
– Less than two weeks ago, we beat the New York Rangers away 5-1 and we thought we were on the way to a good start. Since then there have been losses in a row. During the last week, we have been scratching our heads on how to translate this course, Kekäläinen stated in Finland.
Now the team has had time to find ways. The team has practiced during the first week in Finland and prepared for the matches by spending time together.
– We get a bit of this kind of spirit creation during this week, we are able to train well and do the basics and get back to the grassroots level. Let’s put the basics in order and be ready on Friday and Saturday, Kekäläinen told .
He hopes that the training break and the time spent together will be reflected in the team’s actions at the weekend.
– I want to see a well-prepared team that comes into the game with full intensity and gives everything to ensure that we are able to turn the team’s course, the GM emphasized.
Colorado’s season against Columbus has also started poorly. This creates interesting setups for two encounters.
– We will definitely see two really intense teams fighting for important series points, Kekäläinen concluded.
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