Blue Jackets’ First 10 Games Show Real Progress

The other noticeable change is better goaltending. The Blue Jackets have allowed 14 goals in their five road games, an average of 2.80 goals against per game. Elvis Merzlikins is a perfect 3-0 on the road so far including wins in Dallas and in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, Jet Greaves won the game in Buffalo making 35 saves. Playing .800 road hockey will eventually come down to earth some. But showing better in this area will drastically improve their playoff chances. Depth Delivering This aspect has really shown itself in the last couple of games. On consecutive nights, the Blue Jackets bottom-six delivered in a big way. In Buffalo, it was the fourth line who dominated the game. Yegor Chinakhov scored his first of the season. Miles Wood scored in the third period to tie the game. Then in a rare overtime shift, he won the game. The next night against the Maple Leafs, it was the third line’s turn to respond. The line of Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier combined for 11 points. It’s not often you see the Three Stars of the Game be one entire line. This trio accomplished that on Wednesday. This gives the Blue Jackets a different look and feel. The top line of Dmitri Voronkov, Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko is still clicking in many aspects. That’s even despite Monahan not scoring a goal yet this season. The second line might not have the numbers at this point you’d expect to see, they each have the ability to break out. The Blue Jackets have four lines that can hurt teams. This is where the acquisitions of Coyle and Wood are showing some early payoff. The same thing can be said about Isac Lundestrom. The Blue Jackets are winning games with different players contributing to their wins. That is another strong sign that they can make the playoffs. That is also real progress. Side Dishes Here are some quick side dishes that have caught my eye during these first 10 games. The goalie rotation is benefiting everyone involved. It’s keeping both Greaves and Merzlikins sharp. It’s also allowing them to maintain high energy levels. That becomes a big deal as the season wears on to have two goalies that can win on any given night. Denton Mateychuk ascending to the top pair on the offside has been a big factor. In over 108 minutes at 5-on-5, Mateychuk and Werenski have outscored the opposition 5-3 when together and are expected to score just under 56% of goals. That’ll work. (Per Nat Stat Trick.) Marchenko and Voronkov are each 5-5-10 in the first 10 games leading the way in scoring. Voronkov is only beginning to realize how much of a menace he will be. Coyle does so many things well that don’t make the scoresheet. There’s a reason he’s never missed the playoffs in his career to date. Just a solid hockey player. One thing I would like to see. This should be the top power-play unit. Load up the skill. Werenski, Johnson, Fantilli, Marchenko, Monahan. Interesting that they have yet to score a power-play goal on home ice. We’ll see soon enough how the units develop over time. Overall, the Blue Jackets should be happy with a 6-4-0 start given the difficulty of the schedule. They have shown real progress in key areas but also have plenty of room to improve too. See you in November.