Blue Jackets Get A Tough Taste Of Playoff-stretch Hockey In Humbling 3-0 Loss
Blue Jackets Get A Tough Taste Of Playoff-stretch Hockey In Humbling 3-0 Loss
Blog Article
SUNRISE, Fla. — Half of the players in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ lineup Thursday have never competed down the stretch of the regular season for a chance to play in the NHL postseason, much less played in a Stanley Cup playoffs game.
No way they can anticipate the dialed-up physical play. No way they can prepare for how difficult it is to simply advance the puck past the red line when every inch of ice is contested.
The Florida Panthers, who have been in the last two Stanley Cup Finals and lifted the cherished chalice last spring, simply overwhelmed the Blue Jackets in a 3-0 win before an announced crowd of 19,402 in Amerant Bank Arena.
In the process, they may have done the Jackets a favor by showing them what’s coming and what level they need to reach.
This two-game swing through Florida has actually been full of painful lessons. The Jackets were drubbed 6-2 in Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
“You have to fight for every inch down the stretch and into the playoffs,” said Blue Jackets veteran forward James van Riemsdyk, who, during a 16-year career, has played in 1,066 regular-season games and 82 playoff games — the equivalent of another entire season.
“(Tampa Bay and Florida) are teams that have been successful the last 5-10 years; Tampa, for sure, and Florida in recent years. Learning from that a little, just knowing the style of play that’s going to be successful … we’ve responded a lot of times this year, and I’d expect a good response from us in our next game.”
The Blue Jackets play next Sunday against the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden, another stern test. Before the puck drops on that game, the Blue Jackets — and the rest of the league — will get through Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
GM Don Waddell is not expected to be overly active, but he’s continuing to try to add a forward who can play in the Blue Jackets’ top nine. Thursday, the Blue Jackets claimed winger Christian Fischer off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings, but he’s seen as a fourth-line player.
Later in the day Thursday, Waddell was still hoping the price would drop on a forward, likely a winger, with remaining term on his contract. But those deals might not happen until close to the 3 p.M. ET deadline Friday, if they happen at all.
Waddell has said he doesn’t want to trade away any players — notably pending unrestricted free agent Ivan Provorov, who has garnered significant interest — because this Blue Jackets club has overachieved such that they deserve to take a run at it, he said.
But you have to wonder if Waddell would view this deadline differently if these last three games had occurred a week earlier in the season.