Johansen, Predators best Jones and Blue Jackets

Tonight’s game was circled on the calendar for both Nashville Predators forward Ryan Johansen and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones. Both players talked about their nerves heading into the first period. Both players’ teammates talked about how much they wanted to win for them.

Both Johansen and Jones were facing their former teams for the first time since their January 6 “blockbuster” trade — their first ever trade in their young (and promising) careers.

Johansen and the Predators backed up their pre-game talk with a dominant 5-1 win over the Blue Jackets. After the game, Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella spoke to the media for 18 seconds.

“We were totally overwhelmed,” Tortorella said. “It won’t do anybody any good for me to go any further than we were overwhelmed from the start of the game to the end.”

Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky also had a few choice words and phrases after the loss.

“We weren’t even close,” Dubinsky said. “We just got our ass kicked tonight. They won every battle all over the ice all night long. We didn’t have answers. It wasn’t even close…it was just so (expletive) bad. We were just so bad.”

How bad were the Blue Jackets? For starters, they gave up 27 shots on goal in the first period and only put 19 shots on goal through the full 60 minutes themselves. By the end of the night, Blue Jackets rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo faced 48 shots.

Dubinsky credited Korpisalo’s play as the central reason why the game’s score did not get more out of hand.

“It could’ve looked like a minor [league hockey] game,” Dubinsky said. “It could have been 7-0 or 8-0. [Korpisalo] was the guy that stepped up.”

Dubinsky also praised Boone Jenner, who had the Blue Jackets’ lone goal in the first period and his team-leading 28th tally this season.

“We have to take a page out of his book, and look at the way he competes each shift and his intensity level,” Dubinsky said. “We have to find a way to get to that level, especially for the last seven games here.”

But even Jenner said that he and his teammates need to be better.

“We need to be a lot better,” Jenner said. “We know they start fast here. I don’t know if it is preparation or what, but we should be ready to go.”

The one area the Blue Jackets did dominate in (that Johansen and the Predators normally do well in) was the faceoff circle. Dubinsky led the way with a 71 percent success rate (12-of-17), including 9-of 12 (75 percent) in the defensive zone. Jenner, who has split time this season along the wing and at center, was 70 percent (14-of-20) and won all eight of his draws in the D-zone. Even William Karlsson saw success on the dot–an area he has struggled to find consistency with all season–with a 62 percent success rate. Faceoff wins for the Blue Jackets were key in keeping the score as “close” as it was, as 32 of the game’s 50 faceoffs took place in the Blue Jackets’ defensive zone.

Johansen himself lost the game’s first faceoff to Dubinsky, something his former teammates jawed with him about in the first period.

But again, Johansen and his Predators had the last laugh. Despite his horrible faceoff numbers, Johansen had an assist, was plus-1 and had four shots on goal. He also picked up penalty minutes when he put former teammate Jenner in a headlock in the second period.

So, round one went to Johansen and the Predators. Maybe next time around, Jones (who was pretty quiet tonight) and the Blue Jackets will avenge their embarrassing loss.

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