Next Day Review: CBJ vs NJD 1/19
A poor second period hid what could have otherwise been a contested and interesting game.
The Stats
The matchup at 5v5 was much more contested than the scoreline shows. Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets powerplay was awful and didn’t generate any chances. As the game went on, the Blue Jackets found more ways to break though to NJ’s goalie but ultimately couldn’t get it done.
Fantilli-Jenner-Roslovic struggled mightily in all of their matchups. They played relatively evenly across the lines and relatively evenly lost off of their matchups. For my money, Fantilli was the best player and Roslovic was largely wasteful. Jenner being the pivot for two “wings” who like to use the middle probably isn’t a recipe for success.
NJ’s neutral zone was largely the problem so seeing that Texier-Kuraly-Danforth line perform well doesn’t surprise me. They have absolutely no desire to play a controlled game and made hay off of disrupting the depleted NJD d corps.
The same results largely show up in the chance share at 5v5. Though Johnson-Voronkov-Marchenko wasn’t played much, they did a good job of getting some quite dangerous chances.
The Tape
From the jump, NJ threw a neutral zone structure at the Blue Jackets that was a different look than what we have seen often in the NHL. They have a 1-2-2 neutral zone forecheck but their middle “2” form a tandem and flood the strong side of the ice.
Columbus was either unprepared or unfocused to begin this game. Oftentimes, an unexpected structure change can make players “think” while they’re on the ice which can come across as unfocused. Really it’s just the players’ brain processing unexpected information, which requires a bit more time because of journeys through more neural pathways/brain systems, and taking them out of instinctual and quick play.
Either way, the sequence ended with this look. An in-form Tyler Toffoli finishes that no problem and the Blue Jackets are left chasing the game.
The way to beat a strong-side flooded neutral zone is to get the puck on the other side of the ice. The Blue Jackers went about this a couple of ways but it took them a little bit to find more consistent solutions.
First, Chinakhov starts the breakout with a crosslane play. This allows NJ to push the Blue Jackets into a cul-de-sac and Gaudreau wants to get the puck across ice.
He identifies Chinakhov as the option but they aren’t on the same page. Gaudreau displays one of his poor neutral zone habits here, as does Sillinger. Both of them stop skating and coast. Gudbranson, too, could be presenting a better option and serve as a sort of hinge to the attacking Chinakhov.
Here, I’ve crudely annotated some of Gaudreau’s options:
Crosslane indirect pass off the boards to Chinakhov
Difficult lane to see and play with pace. Might force 59 to make a bouncing puck pickup at speed with potential pressure
Directly south to let Gudbranson act as a hinge to hit Chinakhov with a runway
Gudbranson isn’t communicating with his body language that he’s ready to hit the continuation pass
Cutback sharply to open the lane to Chinakhov
Not necessarily an easy lane to open considering his forehand pass angle is cut off by Mercer
Skate in a sort of curl towards the boards to open the lane to Chinakhov
preserves space, potentially also opens himself up to NJ91 checking
Get the red and hard rim to Chinkahov’s speed
NJ43 is already ready to burst for a retrieval and is an elite skater, though 59 could probably get there to contest
None of the options feel fantastic but all are made worse by Gaudreau stopping his feet and his hands to use his brain. With a superstar all three should be working separately and in tandem to threaten the defense. In this case his feet and hands stop working which makes him an easy kill target. His indecision and lack of deception allow NJ24 an easy stop and feed to NJ20 who gets the puck deep and goes to work.
On their opening goal, the Blue Jackets did find an option to beat the NJ neutral zone structure. This time it was simply Chinakhov’s dynamic skating and individual effort.
By beating NJ91 cleanly out of the zone, Chinakhov bought himself access to the middle. Then, he was able to make a clean crosslane play which gave Gaudreau time to make the next play.
I don’t love the motion from Chinakhov and Sillinger here but they found a solution and bought a goal. Ideally, one or the other recognizes the correct player to take the 2v1 and the other goes to attack the next layer. Instead, they sort of overcrowd the same ice but make the play anyway.
Later, once NJ is comfortably in the lead, they’re able to sit back in a more conservative 1-2-2 and create a stout middle box around their own blueline.
The Blue Jackets countered this formation by jumping their defensemen up into the rush plays. Often, they helped recover weak side rimmed pucks by forming a tandem with that sides forechecker.
In this case, Provorov tries a controlled maneuver but Boqvist and Marchenko end up stacked at the blueline and the Jackets lose all of their depth of play.
A neat idea, and Provorov makes a clever move to pull the forwards into the middle, but Boqvist and Marchenko can’t make anything happen largely because they have bled all of their speed at the blueline.
As the game progressed, the Blue Jackets found more ways through/around the more conservative neutral zone. Instrumental in these plays were good skaters like Adam Fantilli and Jake Bean. Bean’s cross-ice vision and passes featured on many of the Blue Jackets’ successful zone entries.
I especially love the way Bean skates laterally to drag the defender out of Fantilli’s middle ice space. Then, Bean bypasses that defensive layer and has given Fantilli more runway.
Because Fantilli has threatened the NJ structure, he’s able to enter the zone on an angle. He’s a fantastic skater and has pulled two NJ defenseman out of the middle and has his head up surveying the ice.
Ultimately, he sets up a play that was perhaps a little bit forced but also inches away from being a prime scoring opportunity.
Notable Performers
Jake Bean
Jake Bean’s skating ability and cross-ice passing were a big help for the Blue Jackets as they tried to navigate a clogged neutral zone. His presence up-ice, especially after the blue line, helped the Blue Jackets establish possession. In the absence of Zach Werenski he’s beenoffering the Blue Jackets a glimpse at what they might need from a defensemen who they want to cover 200 ft of ice.
That’s not to say there aren’t warts for the 25 year old who is on the ice for too many goals but his neutral zone defending and ice coverage should not be taken for granted.
Marchenko-Johnson-Voronkov
This is an easy line for Pascal Vincent to hate. None of these players wants to stretch the ice vertically in the way Vincent is enamored with. Voronkov and Johnson play east-west neutral zone games and as such did a great job of finding eachother and navigating the neutral zone. With time, perhaps each can skate more confidently and find their top-end pace.
Unfortunately, Kent Johnson and Dmitri Voronkov are both left handed. In order to get them on a line that fits CBJ’s line construction philosophy they need a right handed player. In order to get a vertical threat to complement their middle-driven east-west tendencies you’d need a very specific player and well….
Jack Roslovic
Jack Roslovic was notably poor. Late in the game Adam Fantilli took two defensemen and gave him all of the time and space a player could ask for. Roslovic promptly put the shot into a boot.
Roslovic’s combination of handling and sublime deceptive skating should make him a valuable player for this roster. Unfortunately he can’t play a consistent 200 ft game when played with other skilled players. He, like Texier, has a tendency to lose some of the admirable qualities to his game when moved up the lineup. He becomes wasteful with opportunities and turns over the puck at the wrong moments.
His development, or lack thereof, may be the biggest indictment on the CBJ development staff.