The final 10. The Columbus Blue Jackets have just 10 games in their 2023-24 season. On Thursday night, they hope to exorcise a demon at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
Welcome back to Blue Jackets News & Notes, gameday edition. The Blue Jackets start a back-to-back set against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It will feature one noticeable change to the lines. That’s where we’ll begin today.
Voronkov Promoted
When the Blue Jackets did their line rushes at the morning skate, Dmitri Voronkov was on the right wing with Boone Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau. In the game against the Arizona Coyotes, it was Alex Texier who was in that spot.
Head coach Pascal Vincent elaborated as to why they made this change now. He says multiple factors were involved.
“The last game on the wing, I thought he was moving well,” Vincent said of Voronkov. “Maybe (some) less responsibilities than being in the middle. His wall play was good. He drove the net. He was good on the forecheck. Part of it is, I feel Johnny (Gaudreau) and Boone (Jenner) might need some help winning pucks back and knowing there’s gonna be the big man at the net in the offensive zone. He’s also reliable defensively and truthfully, Alex Texier was playing really well with those two.”
“But we also know that Texier, Sillinger and Marchenko was a good line for us in the past. So by trying Voronkov on that line and see what it’s gonna look like, we know we have a line with Sillinger that we know can work or has been working in the past.”
Also if Jenner gets kicked out of the dot, Voronkov can come in as he has some center experience. It’s an interesting adjustment to see if they can get some more balance in the lineup.
Costly Mistakes
The Blue Jackets have had a rough road trip going 0-3-1 before Thursday’s game in Pittsburgh. While each game had some decent play in them, they had no answer when they started making mistakes against teams that make them pay.
The final score in Arizona was 6-2. But it was 2-2 in the third before mistakes flipped the game over. Sillinger and Zach Werenski stopped by and spoke about these mistakes and the need to close out games.
“Their pushback,” Sillinger said. “From us, it’s just realizing that it’s gonna happen and (we) have to pushback as well. And then to not fold over and pack the cards in and keep playing.”
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“Every game is different. Every mistake’s different,” Werenski said. “It seems like when there’s one mistake that happens, it usually compounds into more mistakes and we can’t really get our game going. I feel like for us it’s a mindset as a group to get back on the attack and keep playing our game.”
“I think it’s a challenge for a lot of us right now, even the last couple of years, how young we are with injuries. We’re out of the playoffs, so we trade guys. So our rosters, especially this time of year, look a lot different than they did at the start. I feel like this year, early on especially, it was more so guys that should be closing out games that weren’t and that’s unfortunate. Where I feel now it’s kind of a learning process for our group to close out games at this level. Obviously the Cleveland guys, they know how to do it in Cleveland. Really good hockey team down there. It’s a little bit different in the NHL. I think it’s good for everyone to go through it at some point, not losing like this, but facing some adversity and learning from it. Hopefully in these situations next year, we will know how to react and respond to that stuff.”
Side Dishes
- Alex Nylander skated in the morning skate but will not play Thursday night in Pittsburgh. According to Vincent, he could return on Saturday.
- Vincent also with some praise on Mikael Pyyhtia: “Really smart player, very impressed with the young man. So we’re putting him on that line that we think fits his role with Gaunce and Olivier.
- Vincent on the AHL callups: “They’ve done well. They played well in Arizona. So we’ll see how it’s gonna go (for the lines.)”
- Didn’t ask Werenski or Jenner about the Penguins curse. But if they can finally get one, it will be meaningful.
- Daniil Tarasov starts in net and will oppose the Penguins’ Alex Nedeljkovic.