There are times when things don’t make a whole lot of sense in the National Hockey League. A team will get badly outplayed but win. A puck shot from an impossible angle will trickle into the net. A fourth-liner will rattle off an offensive bender, then hunch his shoulders and roll with it because he’s just as baffled as everybody else.
Stuff such as that happens every season, and each case is unique among the NHL’s massive vault of “X Files” occurrences. The Blue Jackets have certainly logged their fair amount of them in 19 seasons, including the past two weeks of this season – which may wind up being looked on as one of the most historic stands they’ve ever taken, or just a really odd blip in the middle of an otherwise tough slog.
“We’re underwater,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said Dec. 13 in Pittsburgh, a day after a lethargic-looking 1-0 overtime loss to the injury-depleted Penguins dropped his team 10 points back of the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“We’re underwater, so I’m anxious to see how people respond, how coaches respond. Our whole team in that locker room – from coaches all the way down – how we’re going to have to respond to it.”
The Jackets had actually earned three out of four points in a two-game stretch against the Washington Capitals and Penguins at that point, but flew to Ottawa for the next game with an ominous feeling. And that’s when things started to get weird.
Another overtime loss ensued, not to mention a stinging hat trick and OT winner by former teammate Anthony Duclair, but injuries were the bigger news.
Sonny Milano (upper body) and Josh Anderson (shoulder) went out in the first period, defenseman Ryan Murray (lower body) left in the second and the Jackets were already missing defenseman Zach Werenski (shoulder), rookie forward Emil Bemstrom (ribs) and forward Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), a cagey, faceoff winning forward who hasn’t played a single game yet. Six players were out, the Jackets’ odds to join the playoff race seemed all but over and the next game on the docket was a rematch with a Capitals bunch looking for a little payback.
Logically, that probably should have been a death knell to this season. Instead, it was the start of an extraordinary sequence that took the Jackets into their holiday break Monday on a stunning high note.
Despite adding Cam Atkinson, Oliver Bjorkstrand and rookie Andrew Peeke to their mountain of injuries, the Blue Jackets have collected points in eight straight games (6-0-2) and rattled off a season-high winning streak of five games – including a 3-2 victory Monday at the New York Islanders, one of the NHL’s top teams. They had five players in the lineup for that game who’ve played for the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League this season, including four recalled in the past week as emergency fill-ins.
Those fill-ins are contributing. Kevin Stenlund has two power-play goals in five games since being recalled. Nathan Gerbe put the Jackets up 2-1 in the second period against the Islanders. Ryan MacInnis and Jakob Lilja have added good minutes on the fourth line. Gabriel Carlsson played two solid defensive games while David Savard was sick. That’s not to mention Joonas Korpisalo’s ongoing excellence in net or rookie defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who has scored goals in back-to-back games, including the winner in New York.
All of the above have combined to give the Blue Jackets a pulse again. They’re not out of the woods, but they’re also not underwater anymore at 17-14-6.
“We did talk a few weeks ago about using these couple of weeks before Christmas, as far as where it could put us – in a good spot, at least trying to get back in it, or are we in trouble?” Tortorella said. “I think they’ve handled themselves very well here the last two or three weeks.”
It might not make a whole lot of sense, but that’s how the NHL rolls sometimes. Christmas has arrived in Columbus, where a happy bunch of banged-up Blue Jackets are ready for more.