After a 10-day break in-between the end of the first round and start of the second in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Columbus Blue Jackets struggled to get going offensively in the first period of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Boston Thursday night.
But later in the game, the Blue Jackets found success with the puck in the attack zone, including scoring a pair of goals 13 seconds apart to take a brief 2-1 lead over the Bruins before suffering a 3-2 loss in overtime.
“I think there’s a lot of things to build on,” center Brandon Dubinsky said following Game 1. “Obviously, the first period was not what we wanted it to be and Bob was huge in there, but like I said, now we know we’re in a series.
“Now, it’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to be the way the first round was, you know? I’ve been in the league long enough and played in enough playoff series. The second round’s always much harder, so our guys got to see what the elevated game and elevated pace looks like and we’ll be ready to play Game 2.”
In the first period, the Blue Jackets generated only four shots and gave up 14 looks at goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who turned away 34 of the 37 shots Boston put on net. In order to prevent that kind of pressure on Bobrovsky as the series continues, the Blue Jackets know it starts by controlling the puck with good forechecking.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a problem in believing that we need to do that,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “I just think, especially in the first, we just weren’t sharp thinking at all. It was just too quick for us, but as we got the game going and played a number of good minutes as far as our checking and being above the puck and just being smarter in how we play.
“We’re not going to have a tough time believing in how to play. It’s a matter of executing when the game starts.”
Defenseman Seth Jones felt the Blue Jackets “got back to our game pretty quick there” toward the end of the first period and in the second.
However, both Jones and Dubinsky know accepting the challenges laid out by Boston’s physical style of play will be crucial, especially heading into tonight’s Game 2 matchup against Bruins on the road before returning to Columbus for Games 3 and 4 next week.
“We’ve got to stay even keel,” Jones said. “It’s just one game. We played pretty well. Obviously, we’ve got a lot to improve on if we’re going to have any chance in this series. We’re going to look at some video and get ready for Game 2.”
Dubinsky added, “I think we know what we’re in for right now. Not that we didn’t beforehand, but again, with the long layoff, it was tough being sharp, and I think some of it was self-inflicted.
“We’ve got to make sure we take care of the puck and make sure we get pucks deep all the way, and once we started doing that, we started playing better. I think there’s lessons to be learned every night, and I think that was one to take away: Make sure this team plays 200 feet and make sure we stay on them and impose our game on that.”
