In a mostly boring affair, the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Flames 2-1 and finished their western Canadian road trip on a high note.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good: Joonas Korpisalo
Another game and another win for Korpisalo. He once again saved the Jackets by playing his absolute butt off. He had 31 total saves on the evening, which seems to be par for the course as he seems to always face a barrage of shots. The most interesting part of the evening is the high amount of low danger shots that Korpisalo faced. He stopped and faced 23 of those shots. I wonder what the next step will be for him, it looks like McElhinney is going to be returning soon and if his hot streak continues, how do you take him out?
The Bad: Player Usage
The team was absolutely destroyed tonight on all fronts. The Flames had 31 shots on the evening to the Jackets 18 and the player usage was all mixed up. Other than the regular fourth liners Bourque and Campbell, the player with the least amount of time was Brandon Saad. I don’t understand how you just leave a player of his caliber out of the game altogether. Funny enough, Saad actually led the team in CF +/-, that may be more of a product of him finding time on the bench for large portions of the game. The lines need to stick together so the players can get a sense of chemistry.
The Ugly: Pretty much everything else
While William Karlsson played very well, the team didn’t play well at all. The Jackets cannot sustain this type of play and expect to keep winning. Maybe that is a good thing. This team has suffered the whole year and for a few more games if they do so, they may find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Finishing strong isn’t going to do anything for the team, it puts the team in a very precarious spot. Where they won’t get a high draft pick and will be fed false confidence once again.
Tweet of the Game:
The first time I can't get to my phone for #Jackets50 and he does it. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/kKMeGau9GD
— This tweet is 6 ft away. (@RadiantRG) February 6, 2016
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