COLUMBUS, Ohio — When the Pittsburgh Penguins come to town, the Columbus Blue Jackets have come to expect a high-energy game at Nationwide Arena.
“These are always tight games,” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said after the game. “It felt like a playoff game in there.”
With fans from both sides battling for the loudest cheers, the intensity filled the entire arena from the rafters down onto the ice. It was an atmosphere Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray took notice of.
“It was an intense game, and it’s the kind you want to play with a playoff type of atmosphere,” Murray said. “It gives everyone an extra gear when the building’s full and everyone is screaming and yelling all game. [The Penguins] obviously had a lot on the line too, and we want to play hard every night for our pride in front of our fans.”
The Blue Jackets came out playing hard at the start of the first period, winning 82 percent of the faceoffs through the first half of the first period. Fourth-line forward Gregory Campbell broke a 46-game scoring drought thanks to a nice set-up from heavy-hitter Jared Boll, who had his first point of the season on that play, five minutes in.
In fact, the fourth line was one of the better lines through the first half of the game. Campbell said that he was happy with the way his line played tonight.
“We work hard as a unit and we try to contribute in any way that we can, and a lot of times it’s not on the score sheet,” Campbell said. “When it is on the score sheet, we have to enjoy it. We have some guys who play big minutes and do the bulk of the scoring. When we can chip in here and there, it helps. It goes a long way for our team.”
The Penguins battled back and tied the game at the end of the first period. They came out of the intermission strong, taking the lead on a Chris Kunitz power play goal and controlling play for the majority of the second period. By the time the Blue Jackets put on the pressure in the third, it was too little too late and the Penguins won 3-2.
Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella thought that a big part of the Penguins’ success in the second and third periods were a lack of defense on the Jackets’ end.
“We didn’t defend well and they capitalized on it,” Tortorella said. “They had the puck in our zone too much and we let them play. When goals are scored, we as coaches look 10 to 15 seconds ahead of them, and we had chances to defend and stop plays in the corner and they played out of the corner too much. We allowed them to make too many plays in front of the net, pucks were bouncing all over the place and they capitalized.”
Those pucks were bouncing all over for Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who had not played since Jan. 21 because of a groin injury. He allowed three goals on 14 shots and is still searching for his first win since Dec. 5.
Tortorella said that he knew the first outing would be tough, but thought he played well in his return.
“There’s some rust there, but for his first game, I thought he played very well,” Tortorella said. “I think he would like to have that first goal back, but he’s been out for awhile. I’m encouraged by how he played that game. I don’t think we played that well in front of him, so with it being his first game back, I’m happy about it.”
Foligno also thought Bobrovsky played well.
“It was so good to see him back there and I think he’s going to get more and more comfortable as he gets more minutes behind him,” Foligno said. “For missing that much time, the way he stepped in and played for us, I thought he was outstanding.”
Bobrovsky also had to deal with several post-whistle scrums in and around his crease, something Foligno said they expected but did not let get to them.
“For us, it was never about that [physicality],” Foligno said. “Tonight was about trying to get two points against a good team that we’re looking up at in the standings. You draw emotion from playing against a rival like them. It was just about trying to beat a good team and unfortunately we didn’t.”
Tortorella thought the physicality and overall energy became overwhelming at times for his younger players.
“It was a good experience for some young kids that I thought were nervous in certain situations in the game,” Tortorella said. “It’s a bigger crowd and it’s a team that’s coming at you. I’m anxious to see how we play when we play pressure games.”
The Blue Jackets will play their next game Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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