3 Keys to the Blue Jackets Beating the Penguins

His play will be a big determining factor on how the Blue Jackets can implement their game tonight. Severson also spoke on letting Werenski be himself on ice; Severson is not trying to force the play but just be as fluid and patient as he can be.

Bowness also felt the anticipation for Severson to get back on the ice, and talked the importance of their top defensemen not playing 30 minutes a night.

“I think it is a big ask of Sevo (Severson) right now, because he hasn’t played a game since last season. Now again, we have had one line that has played together, for a long time, and you can see the chemistry that line has,” said Bowness. “We haven’t had that luxury of having our defensive pairings together until tonight, and you’re going to have to be a little patient to see…but we don’t want Z (Werenski) playing 31 minutes a night, I will tell you that.”

A rarely-mentioned fact that plays a factor here is that they can play Denton Mateychuk on the second pairing. This gives them that offensive threat from multiple defensive pairings and allows them thhe depth in scoring they hoped to have this season.

Talbot Has to Stay Engaged

He joked about wanting to see shots from far outside early in the game, but the reality is he has to be able to stay engaged and be involved in the pace of the play tonight. That doesn’t mean Columbus needs to employ a defensive-minded game style — they trust the veteran in net — but they will want him to consistently see pucks to stay hot.

Talbot also mentioned having one of the first three games on schedule circled as one he believed he would get a shot in.

“I’ve had one of these three games kind of circled on the calendar once the regular season started, and hoped I could get one of them, and it turned out to be tonight,” said Talbot.

He will also set the record tonight for most franchises played for by an NHL goaltender with nine. He joked the record wasn’t necessarily something he was going for, but he is happy to be in Columbus.

“It is not the record that you want, but I am still here. So, that is all that really matters, and I am proud that I am still in the league at this age. Like I said, that is probably not the one that you want to have your name on, so it just speaks to longevity and still putting myself in a position to compete,” said Talbot.

He will need to be a steady backup this season and will be important when he draws in, specifically on back-to-backs like tonight before the team flies to St. Louis. He has to at least keep them in the game and give them a chance to make a push offensively.

If Talbot can be a viable option, especially in high-pressure divisional games like tonight, the tandem the Blue Jackets will sport will have the opportunity to be a big reason they stay in games.

Power Play Has to Be Special

One of the biggest reasons the Blue Jackets were able to win their opening game of the season against the Buffalo Sabres was because the special teams units played a huge role. Bowness even spoke about how much of a factor they were, saying “the specialty teams were the reason we won tonight, no question”.

Matthew Knies has been the biggest addition to the power play this season. He plays that net-front presence role better than anyone the Blue Jackets have had available to them in the past, and he has the skill to create on his own in and around the crease if he has to.

The Blue Jackets currently own the league’s top power play as they are scoring on 40% of their power-play attempts. Granted, that is through only five attempts, but they need to keep giving that unit a chance to succeed if they want to control the pace of games like tonight’s.

Look for both the power play and penalty kill to be a huge factor. On the penalty kill, they will have to work to limit a highly dangerous Penguins power play that has many different ways of beating teams. The obvious threat of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang are there, but beyond that, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson are as dangerous as anyone from the outside, or the blue line.

If the Blue Jackets can limit the Penguins’ chances on the man advantage, they will set themselves up well with a chance to win this early-season divisional game. These are the types of games that matter much more to a team like Columbus who was reeling early last season and also couldn’t find an answer to end the season as well.

Game three’s two points matter just as much as game 84’s two points, and the Blue Jackets have to take advantage of the home cooking they get to start the season. These are games they have to win.

Puck drop tonight is at 7:00 EDT at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.