Last night, the Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the New Jersey Devils in their home opener.
Unfortunately, they weren't able to win the game, as they fell 3-2. As my colleague Jason Newland pointed out in his piece earlier today: "The Blue Jackets' special teams have been absolutely awful this season."
With the loss, the Blue Jackets fall to 1-2-0 on the season. Obviously, there is still plenty of time before panic needs to set in. But, things will need to be fixed if they want to turn around a slow start to the season.
But, before we look any further into the future. Let's take a look at some of the key takeaways from both clubs post-game press conferences.
Columbus Blue Jackets:
Dean Evason: Head Coach
- Felt the team was off to go start, but couldn't find the back of the net
- Mentioned that although it's frustrating but they are doing a lot of good things
- PK has had trouble in the dying seconds of the man advantage; Evason said the PP should pick you up in that situation. But, they struggled tonight.
- Team has to stay the course and not hit the panic button.
- Marchenko has come into the season with a lot of confidence, does the right thing and is in good shape.
- Suggested that the team may want to take a few risks to get odd-man rushes
Jet Greaves: 25/27 shots, .926 SV%
- Felt team had a great start and the crowd was great.
- Feels team did a good job, but the Devils goalies played very well
- Team takes pride in their special teams; need to find a way to kill those penalties off.
- He's enjoying the experience of being a starter. Wants to continue to take steps for the team.
Kirill Marchenko: 1 goal, 5 shots, 24:24 TOI
- Felt the team played good, had 33 shots on net thought they could have scored at least three.
- Team was in a good place mentally, despite loss.
- Regrets the move on his final breakaway.
- Needs to execute more on the PP.
- Likes the potential he sees out of his teammates through three games.
- Feels the team needs to think about what they can do better; but needs to keep cool heads.
Charlie Coyle: -1, 1 shot, 9/4 FO, 19:08 TOI
- Really liked the start of the team, he felt they were "flying."
- As the game went on, felt the team started to "force things."
- It isn't all on the club, pointed out that the Devils upped their play throughout the game.
- They need to take care of their special teams; mentioned it's crucial to help win a game.
- Feels it's a sign of a good team to overcome going down early despite starting good.
New Jersey Devils:
Sheldon Keefe: Head Coach
- Feels the team has been more resilient over the last two games.
- He felt his played with a ton of urgency.
- Mentioned that the Devils played well even though they had three fames in five nights
- Acknowledges Columbus is one of the best home teams in the NHL, so it was a big win to get.
- Felt that the Blue Jackets started early, and gave the Devils a lot to deal with, praised Jake Allen for his start. However, did mention that he didn't think the team gave up a ton of quality chances.
- The team's PP helped get them the lead, even after being outplayed in the beginning of the game.
Nico Hischier: 1 assist, +1, 1 shot 11/9 FO, 19:27 TOI
- Proud of his team for how they responded to the Blue Jackets start.
- Praised both Allen and Jakob Markstrom for their play.
- Felt the special teams was a big part of the reason why the Devils won.
Dawson Mercer: 2 goals, +1, 4 shots, 1/1 FO, 16:35 TOI
- Felt it was a full team effort.
- Credit to the special teams, who helped keep them in the game.
- Felt the PK gave the rest of the team momentum to go on to win the game.
- Praised the effort of the goalies, who kept them in the game, especially early.
Brenden Dillon: 1 assist, 4 hits, 18:28 TOI
- Felt the team faced a lot of adversity, but feels the group is resilient and that helped them weather the storm early.
- Praised the PK, but noted that the team had a lot of penalty trouble.
- Mentioned that the Blue Jackets have a very good power play
- Made sure to mention how great Allen was to start the game.
- Thinks that the team is finding ways to win games, which is important.
- Feels everyone is contributing up and down the lineup, and that in order to win games like this that is needed.
Let us know what you think below.
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