CBJ vs CHI: 3/2
It’s hard to say too much about a game against an actively tanking Blackhawks team, but we can at least still take some joy in some individual performances.
The Stats
The Blue Jackets largely breezed through the Chicago Blackhawks this game. In both directions, it was largely a game of large mistakes rather than interesting tactical matchups or skillset interplay.
Technically the Blackhawks outchanced the Blue Jackets. Their significant swing in the 3rd period was absolutely deserved but the game had so little energy after the Blackhawks’ horrific start that it never really felt like much.
The 5v5 xG battle turned out exactly even between both teams. The Blue Jackets players that stand out on this chart are deserved, they had massive impacts on the game.
From the Blackhawks’ perspective, it’s pretty much the same. I didn’t think Seth Jones was particularly good but his partner during specific times, Alex Vlasic, made up for it. Connor Bedard was excellent and created such significant danger with creative moves that I’m not surprised his linemates were carried along.
Phillips and Crevier were not good whatsoever. I’m surprised to see Korchinski-Megna in a positive contribution but Bedard did create quite a lot with Korchinski so perhaps it was all low events outside of that.
Texier-Sillinger-Nylander brought energy every shift and that was perhaps enough for them to stand out.
The Blue Jackets largely had an easy time controlling play. In nearly every matchup they had the upper hand. The exceptions, therefore, stand out.
Danforth-Kuraly-Olivier did not perform well against Donato-Bedard-Kurashev. In the minutes I saw, Bedard just thinks the game at too high of a level for Kuraly to routinely stop. Kuraly is primarily effort driven, another reason he’s not likely to succeed in these low intensity games, and Bedard can calculate that and exploit it quite quickly.
Bedard struggled the most when matched up against Werenski-Boqvist who create the type of danger and possession that is much harder to stop. Still, Werenski-Boqvist didn’t have a particularly good game though the production and results were certainly there.
The Tape
The first goal of the game and it really felt like there wasn’t any hope from there. It’s still an NHL game and anything could happen but the vibes were way down.
It’s nice to see Texier put that puck into the net. Early in the season, when paired with Fantilli, he was getting a lot of chances to shoot from his off-wing and was deferring to the pass. This lead to a lot of turnovers. It’s good to him get this one back on the board and shoot from this position because it was his bread and butter during his successful 2021-22 season.
Nothing too much to say here other than it was nice to see Werenski get rewarded for his pinch→ middle mindset.
It’s possible that this play by Bedard wasn’t totally intentional. If Korchinski kept his feet moving after their exchange at the blueline, I believe they certainly could have exploited both Gaudreau and Jenner overpursuing the same target.
Additionally, while I don’t see a fantastic reason for Jenner to be moving by Gaudreau at that position on the ice, Roslovic’s intensity has to be a bit disappointing. He read the hole pretty early, but stopped moving and didn’t continue to cover the slot when the puck hit the back wall.
Perhaps Boqvist shouldn’t have left his post there but also perhaps Werenski could have anticipated the rotation as well.
I wouldn’t overthink this clip too much but I think it goes to show you how little intensity, focus and attention to detail there was in this game.
Alex Nylander has had a pretty solid, major mistake free start to his Blue Jackets career. In quite a few cases he probably got a little lucky to avoid painful turnovers. In this case, he was extremely unlucky.
Still, I would focus on Conor Bedard’s immediate connecting the dots with his quick one-touch pass. He has a mental map and processes everything so quickly, it’s really just a treat to watch.
He’s going to be an awesome player to study as he starts to operate on a tactical level with respect to skill development and how he uses those skills to create offense.
In this clip, Chinakhov shows off how excellent his skating is and how he weaponizes it in the dump recovery game. He gets quite a lot of separation in just a few strides.
Still, Alex Vlasic comes out on top. He’s 6’6” and quickly stripped the puck from beneath Chinakhovs and then followed up with a clean first pass to start the breakout. His strip and pass were so quick and connected it was hard to comprehend at first.
This kid looks like he could have a massive ceiling and be just the kind of player that any team would die for. A very modern defenseman who is executing at height.
Notable Performances
Connor Bedard
It’s hard to say too much about the most recent 1st overall pick who was touted as a generational player. Everyone knew about this kid’s exceptional shooting but I think he showed in this game just how advanced his playmaking ideas already are.
This pass off of a loose puck, immediately and softly into space behind the layer of defense is just immaculate.
Alex Vlasic
I touched on him quite a lot above as well. I would imagine he’s a firmly untouchable piece for the Blackhawks but his archetype is something that could fit perfectly as a 2nd pair Left Defenseman behind Zach Werenski. I’m a massive fan of Denton Mateychuk too but Vlasic is in a rare mold of excellent neutral zone defense and ice coverage that I feel is perfect for being a strong-side defender to be pair with a more forward skating (coming backwards, if that makes sense) up-ice defender.
Devon Toews isn’t necessarily huge but I think you can imagine someone like K’Andre Miller fitting a very similar mold. Not being active and jumping into the play is just leaving quick-strike offense on the table.
Zach Werenski
Werenski was fighting the puck on the breakout at times this game. Still, all of his activation and middle control skill was evident.
Werenski was on the ice for every single Blue Jackets goal. A testament to his being the backbone of this team.
Cole Sillinger
It’s fantastic to see Sillinger playing with so much pace and energy. He’s forming a fantastic energy pairing with Alexandre Texier and Alex Nylander is doing just enough of the play connecting that it’s working.
Perhaps this should inform some of the roster construction around Sillinger. When played with Kent Johnson he did find some success but it also slowed him down and didn’t totally feel like a glove-perfect fit.
Finding players, or perhaps just rearranging them, and allowing him to play an all-out forecheck or matchup based style, could help him forge a middle-shooting and pacey identity. Perhaps he can start to take some of those duties from Sean Kuraly, perhaps being paired with Justin Danforth or another quality forechecker, and open up the lineup next year for a more offensive oriented middle-six line.