Blue Jackets Win Their 16th Straight Game
The Columbus Blue Jackets won their 16th consecutive game, knocking off the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 at home. With the win, the Jackets are just one game away from tying the NHL record of 17 consecutive victories, set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins. The Jackets got goals from Cam Atkinson, William Karlsson, and Nick Foligno. Oscar Klefbom notched the lone Oiler goal.
Sergei Bobrovsky won again after recently being named the league’s #1 star in December. Bobrovsky leads the league in wins, and is second in save percentage. The Jackets went undefeated in December and have continued their winning ways into January. With the win, Columbus improved to 27-5-4, good for 58 points and the top record in all of hockey.
The Blue Jackets dizzying win streak has been the talk of hockey while also being one of the biggest surprises in the NHL. Bench boss John Tortorella, once believed to be one of the first coaches fired this season, tops the list as a candidate for the Jack Adams Award.
The Blue Jackets have a chance to tie the NHL record on Thursday against Washington.
Snapshots: Blue Jackets Win 15th Straight, Jagr, Subban
Not even the Minnesota Wild could defeat the red-hot Columbus Blue Jackets. The Wild, winners of 12 straight heading into Saturday’s contest, lost 4-2 to Columbus. The Jackets ran their winning streak to 15 games. Yahoo’s Jen Neale called it the “Unsustainabowl” as both teams went into the game with franchise record winning streaks. With the win, the Jackets now hold the second longest winning streak in NHL history while also wrapping up an undefeated December. Aaron Portzline reports that the Jackets tied the 1981-82 New York Islanders and the 2012-13 Pittsburgh Penguins with their 15th consecutive win. The 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins hold the all-time record, winning 17 straight. That team was coming off back to back Stanley Cup wins. Portzline writes that after yesterday’s triumph, several Blue Jackets players finally acknowledged that they want to usurp the NHL record. Portzline quoted Brandon Saad as saying:
“It’s pretty hard to fathom actually,” said wing Brandon Saad, a Pittsburgh native. “What a team that was and we all know what it (the streak) is at and we’re looking to take over. We’re continuing one game at a time and we have some tough tests coming, but this has been fun to be a part of.”
- A member of that 92-93 Penguins squad continues to rack up accomplishments of his own. Jaromir Jagr tied Paul Coffey for fifth all time on the assist list when he set up Vincent Trocheck‘s goal Saturday night. Jagr also scored his 756th goal in the Panthers’ 3-1 victory over Dallas. The accomplishments for the 44-year-old winger continue as in addition to moving up on the career assists list, Jagr is second all time in points (1,891) and third all time in goals.
- After a report that P.K. Subban may have a herniated disc, the Tennessean’s Adam Vingan writes that the loss of Subban for an extended amount of time would be “problematic” for a team that hasn’t lived up to the preseason expectations of being a Stanley Cup contender. Vingan adds that the Predators’ defensive depth should be able to absorb such a loss.
Blue Jackets vs. Wild: History In The Making
At this time last year, a match-up between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild would have gone largely unnoticed. Columbus was underachieving, setting themselves up for their eventual place near the bottom of the 2015-16 NHL standings. Minnesota was cemented as the fifth best team in the tough Central Division and was simply holding out hope that they could lock up the eighth and final spot in the conference. The NHL Expansion Class of 2000 was still trying to figure things out. Jump to December 31st, 2016 and this game is a whole different story. Tonight’s Jackets-Wild game is a historic battle, not just in hockey, but in North American pro sports altogether.
When the puck drops in Minnesota tonight, it will be the first ever game between two pro teams on winning streaks of 12 or more games. The Blue Jackets have been the surprise of the season, leading the league with 54 points and currently on a 14-game winning streak. The stretch is tied for third longest in NHL history and has catapulted the team ahead of their rival, and defending Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Meanwhile, it was the Wild who led the league early on this season, and still sit comfortably out West with 50 points, due to their 12-game winning streak.
However, one team will end their streak tonight. It took the Blue Jackets into March last season to win their 26th game, so they have that intrinsic benchmark on the line, as well as keeping their slim lead over the Penguins in the cutthroat Metropolitan Division. The Wild have been waiting years to claim the Central from the perennial favorite Chicago Blackhawks and, with four games in hand, can take the division lead back from Chicago with a win tonight. So who comes out the victor in one of the biggest regular season games in recent league history? Both teams have been stout defensively behind stellar goaltending. Minnesota and Devan Dubnyk lead the league with just 2.00 goals allowed per game, but Columbus and Sergei Bobrovsky are right on their tail in second with 2.06 goals allowed per game. Bobrovsky leads the NHL with 23 wins, but Dubnyk tops the list at goals against average and save percentage with a 1.67 GAA and .944 SV%. As a whole, the Wild are a superior defensive team, and Ryan Suter, Jason Zucker, and Jared Spurgeon as 1-2-3 in NHL +/- is evidence of such. But this game will come down to offense. In addition to being solid in their own end, Columbus leads the league with 3.44 goals for per game. Minnesota sits in fourth with 3.14 goals per game. Both teams have received scoring from throughout their lineup, with unlikely candidates like Wild free agent import Eric Staal and Blue Jackets gamble Sam Gagner leading the charge. Whichever team is able to put together a more complete, balanced offensive effort tonight will likely hold on to their impressive winning streak.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Markus Hannikainen
Amid a 14-game win streak and prior to taking on another streaking team in the Minnesota Wild, the Columbus Blue Jackets have decided to bring a rookie back up. Markus Hannikainen has been recalled by the team Saturday morning ahead of their New Year’s Eve faceoff with the Wild. The two teams have combined to win 26 games in a row, a streak that will end for one of them tonight.
Hannikainen has been up with the team earlier this season, suiting up for five games at the end of November. Undrafted, the Finnish winger burst onto the professional hockey scene in 2014-15 as a 21-year old in Finland’s highest league. After bouncing between the junior and senior circuits in years prior, he played 60 games for JyP Jyvaskyla and recorded 46 points.
The Blue Jackets signed him to a two-year entry level contract that summer, and he spent most of last season with the Lake Erie Monsters, eventually winning a Calder Cup. His 20-point regular season showed some growing pains with the North American game, but he put it all together in the playoffs, tallying 10 points in 16 games.
It’s not clear where exactly he fits into this lineup as they continue to roll, but is a solid depth option for coach John Tortorella.
Injuries And Recalls: December 29
Injury Updates:
- 4:20pm: The Kings have activated defenseman Brayden McNabb off IR, Elliott Teaford of the Southern California News Group relays. He last played on October 29th before suffering a collarbone injury.
- 1:20pm: The Devils announced that center Jacob Josefson has been activated off of injured reserve. He had missed the last five games with a concussion and has two assists in 14 games this year.
- 11:17am: The Lightning announce that rookie forward Brayden Point will miss the next four-to-six weeks with an upper-body injury. Point has 15 points in 36 games so far this season.
- 10:28am: After leaving last night’s game, Florida Panthers center Sasha Barkov will undergo an MRI. This is according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, who says Barkov’s injury does not appear to be serious at this time. Barkov has been one of the Panthers’ few bright spots in an otherwise difficult year, with 27 points in 36 games. He will not be in the lineup on Thursday night when the Panthers host the Montreal Canadiens.
- According to Bill Hoppe of the Buffalo Times-Herald, Sabres defenseman Dmitry Kulikov will be out of the lineup on Thursday night. Kulikov aggravated a prior back injury and will be replaced by Cody Franson, who is returning from a mid-to-lower-body injury. Kulikov was one of the Sabres’ bigger additions this past summer, but only has one assist in 20 games, and that came on Tuesday night.
- Also via Hoppe, Tyler Ennis is once again skating with the team seven weeks after undergoing surgery. His initial timeline was around six weeks. There is no timetable for his return.
- Oilers winger Iiro Pakarinen is skating, according to Mark Spector. Pakarinen has yet to play a game this season after suffering an ugly knee injury in a pre-season game versus the Kings on October 2. He has 16 points in 80 games over the past two seasons with the Oilers.
Recalls:
- 5:20pm: The Minnesota Wild announced that they have demoted forward Kurtis Gabriel to the AHL’s Iowa Wild. The 2013 third-round pick recorded his first NHL point while on recall, an assist in an early December win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, but has failed to build on that. He has just the one point in 13 games with Minnesota over the past two seasons. The fourth liner was averaging just under six minutes of ice time so far this season. Not known for his offensive ability, the 23-year-old Gabriel will have to prove in the AHL that he is an NHL-caliber checker to earn another shot.
- In light of Point’s injury, the Lightning have recalled Erik Condra and Yanni Gourde from Syracuse. Condra has played seven games for the Bolts so far this season, but has been held pointless. He does have 19 points in 21 AHL games. Gourde has just two NHL games under his belt, both last season. He has 26 points in 29 AHL games so far.
- Columbus has recalled left winger Markus Hannikainen as they look to win their fourteenth straight game. He’s not expected to be in the lineup on Thursday night versus the Jets. Hannikainen has no points in five NHL appearances this season, but has 13 points in 23 AHL games in Cleveland.
- The Panthers have recalled Michael Sgarbossa to fill Barkov’s roster spot, according to NBC Sports. The Panthers originally acquired Sgarbossa last month from the Ducks. He has 12 points in 14 games for the Panthers’ AHL affiliate.
The Impressive Rise Of The Columbus Blue Jackets
Raise your hand if you had the Columbus Blue Jackets ripping off 12 straight wins and rocketing to the top of the NHL as the league’s best team.
You’re not alone.
Outside of those who built the team or are currently playing for them, few had the Blue Jackets “making any noise” in the East. Coming off a poor showing in the World Cup of Hockey, bench boss John Tortorella was the odds on favorite to be fired first this season. What a difference a couple of months make.
The “first fired” honor would end up going to Gerard Gallant, who was let go by Florida. Tortorella, meanwhile, is guiding the Blue Jackets to one of their best runs in franchise history.
But there were a couple victories that stood out along the way:
- Thumping Montreal 10-0 in Columbus back on November 4th. It was significant for two reasons: first, they blew out a Habs team on an eight game winning streak. Second, it signaled the turnaround for the Jackets was underway. Though at the time it was their third consecutive victory, Columbus recovered from an 0-2 start and were then 5-3-2 after its first 10 games. Since then, the Jackets are a staggering 18-2-2.
- In the battle of the Metropolitan Division this past week, the Jackets slapped the defending champ Penguins in the face with a 7-1 romp that gave them sole possession of first place.
Columbus is undefeated in the month of December, and with only three games remaining before the calendar turns over to 2017, they have the possibility of running the table in the final month of 2016. The Jackets have rightfully received a lot of press for their performance.
Puck Daddy’s Sean Leahy writes that the cunning signing of Sam Gagner has paid dividends for the Jackets. Currently, Gagner has 26 points (14-12) and has been one of the better value based signings in years (one-year, $650K).
Eric Seeds from Blue Jackets blog The Cannon argues that the Jackets are for real, no matter what pundits say. Seeds points out a number of the catalysts for the teams rise. First, netminder Sergei Bobrovsky has been healthy and dominant. Back in August, it was reported that the Jackets had sunk significant resources into ensuring Bobrovsky’s training was top notch. So far, so good. His numbers (21-5-2, .935 save percentage) should remain strong should he remain healthy and not run into the bumps of the past–which usually centered around getting injured.
One other point: the emergence of 19-year-old Zach Werenski. Much has been written about the dynamic defenseman from the University of Michigan who stands as one of the better bets to win the Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie. Werenski has helped the power play tremendously, and has shored up a blue line with other young talents like Seth Jones.
Fans and other teams are taking notice, but it doesn’t concern Tortorella, who has been vigilant in keeping attention off of his streaking team, especially since there are some who think the Jackets might not be as strong as they look.
Regardless of how it turns out, the Jackets’ rise in the Eastern Conference has been a treat for the hockey world to watch–and rewarding for a fan base that has only seen two playoff appearances in the organization’s sixteen seasons.
Mobile users vote here
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Sixth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Bobby Ryan (Chicago Blackhawks)
8th Overall: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks)
9th Overall: Ben Bishop (Ottawa Senators)
10th Overall: James Neal (Vancouver Canucks)
11th Overall: T.J. Oshie (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Keith Yandle (New York Rangers)
13th Overall: Paul Stastny (Buffalo Sabres)
14th Overall: Marc Staal (Washington Capitals)
15th Overall: Patric Hornqvist (New York Islanders)
16th Overall: Niklas Hjalmarsson (Atlanta Thrashers)
17th Overall: Anton Stralman (Phoenix Coyotes)
18th Overall: Jack Johnson (Nashville Predators)
19th Overall: Matt Niskanen (Detroit Red Wings)
20th Overall: Justin Abdelkader (Florida Panthers)
21st Overall: Martin Hanzal (Toronto Maple Leafs)
22nd Overall: Andrew Cogliano (Boston Bruins)
23rd Overall: Kris Russell (New Jersey Devils)
24th Overall: Darren Helm (St. Louis Blues)
25th Overall: Cody Franson (Edmonton Oilers)
Now we move forward to the 26th pick, which was held by the Calgary Flames.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, the Flames took defenseman Matt Pelech from the Sarnia Sting. Since being drafted, Pelech played a total of 13 games in the NHL, tallying four points (1-3). Of those 13 games, Pelech spent five with the Flames and the other eight with San Jose. During the 2013-14 season, Pelech spent time in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies after playing for both San Jose and its AHL affiliate Worcester. A season later, Pelech recorded 39 games with the Rochester Americans. Last season, Pelech appeared in 49 games for the Schwenningen Wild Wings in the DEL (Germany) and has played the current season with Graz EC in the Austrian league.
With the 26th pick of the 2005 NHL Redraft, who should the Flames select? Cast your vote below! Mobile users, you can vote here!
Sam Gagner Wants To Stay With Columbus Beyond This Season
Columbus center/right winger Sam Gagner has been the bargain of the season so far. With 22 points (13-9-22) through 28 games, he has already surpassed last season’s point total of 16 in 53 games and he realistically has a chance of setting a new career high in scoring (49 points back in his rookie season in 2007-08) if he can maintain his current price. The Blue Jackets are getting all that production for the very low price of $650K, or $75K above the league minimum salary.
Not surprisingly, given the success he has had so far, Gagner has already indicated that he would like to stay with the team beyond his current contract which expires in July, he told Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch:
“Obviously you want to find a place that’s a good fit, where you get a chance to play important minutes. That’s the main thing. You never want to look too far ahead, but I’ve enjoyed it here so far and want to keep going here.”
While his minute total isn’t particularly high at 13:35 per night, more than three minutes below his career average, he is among the team leaders in ice time per game with the man advantage and he has thrived with that ice time with five goals and five assists on the power play.
Going into the season, head coach John Tortorella called this season Gagner’s “last kick at the can”. While on the surface that might sound odd for a 27 year old, this is his fourth different team in as many seasons and he had to wait a full month in free agency before he landed this contract. The bench boss has been quite pleased with how Gagner has fit in so far:
“I know he’s not the big name player in the league and all that, but I think it’s a great story, him coming to the ‘lowly’ Columbus Blue Jackets and trying to find his way back into the National Hockey League. I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s kind of a utility guy for us right now, but in these first (29 games), he’s given us some really good minutes.”
As things stand, the Blue Jackets already have over $67MM committed to their payroll for next season according to CapFriendly. With a salary cap that’s likely to be similar to the $73MM that it is this year, that doesn’t necessarily leave a lot of wiggle room to get Gagner signed, especially since center Alexander Wennberg is a restricted free agent. There is still plenty of time to make room for Gagner if the team wants to bring him back though; he can’t even sign an extension until January 1st at the earliest.
Evening Snapshots: Campbell, Tortorella, Panarin
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- Gregory Campbell passed through unconditional waivers today and the Columbus Blue Jackets immediately terminated his contract, reports the Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline. Campbell is now an unrestricted free agent able to sign with any team that expresses interest. Campbell initially refused to accept reassignment earlier in the season so the Blue Jackets suspended him without pay. It is thought that a team has finally expressed interest in Campbell, prompting Campbell’s agent to ask the team to place him on waivers.
- Staying with Columbus, the Blue Jackets’ Head Coach John Tortorella won his 500th career game behind the bench today when his team beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in overtime. He becomes the first American-born coach to reach the 500-win milestone. Tortorella must be relishing this moment after having a tumultuous start to the season. He joined the Blue Jackets after leading the U.S team to a disappointing 0-3 record in the World Cup of Hockey, before losing his first two games with Columbus. Despite that, however, Tortorella has turned the Blue Jackets into a team that has won nine straight. The team sits 3rd in the Metropolitan Division, but only one point away from league-leading Pittsburgh with three games in hand.
- Artemi Panarin moves closer to unlocking his Schedule B bonus and costing the Chicago Blackhawks an additional $1.75MM. Panarin’s ELC outlines that the Blackhawks will pay him an additional $1.75MM if he finishes in the top-10 for goals, assists, points, or points-per-game—or wins a major NHL award. He scored two points tonight (1G and 1A) to put him comfortable within the top-10 in both goals and assists. Should he reach his bonus target, the Blackhawks will have to shoulder any salary cap overage next season.
Weekend Milestones: Meier, Zaitsev, Lundqvist
It’s finally #TimoTime. After fans have been calling for him since the start of the season, the San Jose Sharks finally brought up prized prospect Timo Meier to the NHL after Logan Couture suffered an injury. The former top-ten pick showed his physical play early on, scoring a goal on his first NHL shot, a loose puck in front of Carey Price midway through the first period. Meier basically caught a shot from David Schlemko with his stick inches from the blue paint, then tucked it around the Montreal netminder on his backhand.
Though the 20-year old winger played just 10 minutes, he recorded three shots and two hits and flew around the ice. His power-forward style is a perfect fit for a Sharks team that loves to forecheck and possess the puck as much as possible down low. If Meier can continue to put up points in limited minutes, perhaps he’ll move up the lineup as the season progresses. For now, he’ll just soak in every second of being in the NHL – even if it is coming easy to him thus far.
- In Toronto on Saturday night, another player recorded his first NHL goal, though it is by no means his first professional one. Nikita Zaitsev, a Maple Leafs rookie who has played seven seasons in the KHL, notched his first in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Zaitsev only turned 25 a month ago, having played in the Russian professional league since he was 17. Skating alongside Morgan Rielly for the majority of his icetime, Zaitsev has 11 points in 30 games and has garnered high praise from head coach Mike Babcock. His best season in Russia was in 2014-15 when the Moscow native scored 32 points in 57 games for his hometown team. Logging 22 minutes a night, he’ll look to provide that kind of impact for the Maple Leafs this season. He’s a restricted free agent at the end of the year.
- For one of the most well-respected goaltenders in the history of the game, Saturday night was just another win. In reality it put Henrik Lundqvist needs just one win away from tying Dominik Hasek as the leader all-time among European-born goaltenders. As Dan Rosen reports, Lundvist now has 388 wins in 708 games, while it took Hasek 735 to amass his 389. Passsing Hasek would put Lundqvist 12th all-time, and within striking distance of the top 10. The play of Antti Raanta may have caused some to question who the best goaltender in New York is currently, but if you ask people about the best in Rangers history, you’ll be sure to get a lot of ‘King Henrik’ answers.
- One of the most polarizing figures in hockey for his entire career has been John Tortorella. Always in the headlines for something he’s said or a new coaching method, he often wears out his welcome in cities sooner than later. You can’t exactly argue with his resume though, with a Stanley Cup victory and Jack Adams award with his name on it. Not only does he have the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets in a playoff spot currently (and way ahead of their pace from last year) he’ll go for his 500th career win Sunday against Vancouver, the team that fired him in 2014 after just a single (disastrous) season. Only 23 other coaches have ever reached the mark, and at 58 he still has many years left. While he’ll never reach the all-time mark set by Scotty Bowman (1244 wins is still more than 400 more than second place, Joel Quenneville), he’ll likely end up somewhere in the top-20. If Columbus continues their current pace and development of young players, maybe he’ll go down as the first coach to take the franchise past the first round.