Given that tonight was a division matchup late in the season by two teams separated by only a few points, the narrative could have been one of excitement and playoff implications. That was not the case in Nationwide Arena this final chilly evening in February. Both the Jackets and the Devils are at less than 0.3% chance of making the playoffs and for the injury riddled Blue Jackets the hits keep coming. Matt Calvert and Brandon Dubinsky are now each out indefinitely with concussions. For this fan, the story of the night was what would we see out of newly acquired David Clarkson? Did he factor into the three stars of the game? Let’s see below.
3rd Star: Curtis McElhinney
This star is earned. While he didn’t face near as much rubber as his counterpart at the other end of the rink, McElhinney made big saves when necessary and allowed only 1 goal with a 0.944 save percentage. Curtis absolutely gave his team an opportunity to win but the guy can’t be expected to score too. Great game for CMac.
2nd Star: Andy Greene
Here’s the thing, the dude got the GWG and I know I just was praising McElhinney’s performance tonight but damn Greene’s goal was a freebie. It didn’t seem that McElhinney was screened at all and Greene just beat him high glove side, clean. I really wish that the one goal that got by McElhinney had been a good one. That said, a game winning goal is a game winning goal and is worthy of a star.
1st Star: Corey Schneider
This is a no-brainer. Not only did Schneider earn a shutout, but he saw 33 shots, 16 of which in an intense 3rd period where the Jackets really poured it on. Schneider may not be lauded as often as a lot of other goalies but I’ve always loved watching this guy play and on an evening where his team was dramatically outshot and outchanced he stole his team a game.
Game in One Picture
Stud: David Clarkson
When I saw that Clarkson was immediately being inserted into the top line alongside Foligno and Johansen, I was pessimistic. To my surprise, he came out with speed, tenacity and what looked to me to be good ice intelligence. Among CBJ skaters he (and Johansen) trailed only Goloubef in C+/- with a +7 (courtesy of War-On-Ice.com). Was he jaw-dropping? No, but given his past 24 hours I was very impressed with his performance tonight when you consider that you’d be led to believe he’s a walking liability by some analysts.
Dud: Clarkson’s boarding penalty
Dumb. Just dumb.
The good thing is the CBJ have an opportunity to quickly forget this game as they hop a plane to Pittsburgh for another 5pm start tomorrow evening against a team whose number they’ve had so far this year. Let’s hope they can make it 3-0 against the Penguins tomorrow.
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