PHILADELPHIA ― A team going through a season full of lessons learned a valuable one in the Blue Jackets ' 3-2 shootout win Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The main takeaway?
More: Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner earns first NHL All-Star selection
Even when the puck's existence seems largely theoretical, NHL teams who are getting dominated can still win if they've got a hot goalie and enough fortitude. Those two things are ultimately what pushed the Jackets past the Philadelphia Flyers in a game they were outshot 41-28 and 40-26 in regulation.
Daniil Tarasov led the way with 39 saves plus three in the shootout, which Johnny Gaudreau helped decide with a goal in the first round on a backhand-forehand deke while getting booed by fans of his favorite team growing up in nearby Salem, New Jersey.
"That is definitely a lesson, just the belief," defenseman Jake Bean said. "It's an 82-game season and we're learning every night about ourselves. We talk a lot about experience, and that's one of the experiences. There's a lot of things that go into that word, but that's one of them and it's good for everyone in here to have that under their belt ... one time at least."
Bean's goal at 10:20 of the third tied it 2-2 to complete a comeback from a 2-0 deficit that began with Damon Severson 's goal five minutes earlier to get the Blue Jackets (13-19-8) on the scoreboard. Tarasov made sure the Flyers (19-13-6) never retook the lead, making six more saves in regulation and one in OT before stopping shootout attempts by Sean Couturier , Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster .
Here are the takeaways:
Want to know why the Blue Jackets are still rolling with three goalies?
Look no further than the towering 6-foot-5 picture of calm who stood in front of their net against the Flyers.
Tarasov was outstanding the entire game, especially while under duress during the game's first 40 minutes. He was the lone reason the Blue Jackets were even remotely in the game to start the third, allowing just one goal while his team was outshot by a combined 27-14 in the first two periods.
Tarasov was razor sharp again, building off an impressive outing last week in Buffalo during an overtime loss in which he was the biggest reason the Jackets earned a point. Tarasov was supposed to be Elvis Merzlikins ' backup option to start this season until a summer knee injury erased him from training camp, the preseason and first 31 games — and therein lies the reason he's one of three goalies on the roster.
The Blue Jackets couldn't afford to risk losing him on waivers, even had they wanted to get him more time with the Cleveland Monsters, and the Jackets also can't risk losing Spencer Martin yet in the same way. Martin, who backed up Tarasov, is essentially an insurance policy until Tarasov shows enough durability to make it through the remainder of the season without a new or recurring injury.
Merzlikins, a healthy scratch against the Flyers, remains the Blue Jackets' top goalie despite leaving multiple starts this season due to undisclosed illnesses that are starting to look like a chronic issue. Rotating three goalies isn't ideal, but that's the Blue Jackets' current hand.
Meanwhile, Tarasov is starting to make it work and the coaching staff now has some interesting choices in net each game.
"This is the weird part," Vincent said. "We spend a lot of time talking about who's going to back up. Usually that takes a minute and a half. We know who's going to play. The plan can always change, but we have a plan in mind ... but we spend an awful lot of time on, 'Who's going to back up?' That's the situation that we're in, and that's fine."
It's not difficult to tell when Tarasov is on top of his game.
Every move he makes is calculated, smooth and predictable while he tracks pucks and anticipates plays made in front of him.
Despite being pelted with 81 shots in his past two outings, Tarasov has stood in against the barrage calmly and allowed just five goals for a .938 save percentage. He's starting to resemble the goalie who made his NHL debut two seasons ago, before a torn hip ligament ended his rookie season early and required surgery.
"I'm not a guy who's big and loud in the locker room before the game and during the game," Tarasov said. "It's just more like trying to be more focused and trying to play this game ... and try not to let other things get into your head. It's just trying to be simple."
It's a contrasting style to Merzlikins, who usually excels at the position when he plays like his hair is on fire.
"Being a goalie and being calm is huge," Severson said. "It's kind of funny because we have a couple opposite ends of the spectrum with Elvis, who's fiery in the net, but to each their own, right? Elvis is fiery, Tarry is calm and Marty's pretty calm in there too. You just feed off how (Tarasov's) playing and you've got to use that to your advantage."
Going into the game, the Jackets' forwards lines were tweaked for Jack Roslovic to get a promotion to the top line.
He moved from the fourth line to the first line at right wing and Justin Danforth moved from that spot down to the center role on the fourth line. It lasted two periods before the coaching staff juggled the forward lines and defensive pairings in the third – after the Flyers dominated puck possession in the first 40 minutes.
Roslovic shifted to center on a line with Kent Johnson and Emil Bemstrom . Danforth went back to the top line with Gaudreau and rookie center Adam Fantilli . Rookie Dmitri Voronkov slid down to the fourth line to center Alexandre Texier and Mathieu Olivier . The new second line became Yegor Chinakhov at left wing, Cole Sillinger in the middle and Kirill Marchenko on the right.
On the blue line, pairings rotated throughout the third period and OT.
"We had to change the lines," Vincent said. "We weren't creating much. I didn't like the way we managed the puck, so we had to make some changes in the third. But I liked our third period. I don't know if it was about the line changes that we made or ... I think it was mainly the compete level."
Following his return from a fractured ankle, Roslovic got a promotion from Vincent going into the game.
The speedy forward went back to right wing on the top line, playing opposite Gaudreau and to Fantilli's right. None of the Jackets' lines had much success in the first two periods, so Roslovic shifted to center in the third and it paid off. He got the primary assist on Bean's tying goal midway through the period, taking a drop pass from Bean and firing a quick shot that Bean deflected past Ersson on the short side.
That tied it 2-2 with 9:40 left in regulation and paved the way to an improbable comeback win. Roslovic played 18:38 on 22 shifts and finished with that assist on one shot. He also won 50% of his face-offs by going 6 for 6.
Roslovic has been enigmatic since the Blue Jackets acquired him in the deal to land Patrik Laine in January 2021. The lows tend to run deep and the highs arc skyward at a steep trajectory. Prior to his ankle fracture in New York, Roslovic started to contribute positively with more consistency and his absence was felt.
Cam Atkinson is slumping for the Flyers, but the former Blue Jackets star didn't get a chance to end those struggles Thursday with Columbus in town. He was a healthy scratch after former Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella opted for that move as a means to spark a fire under him.
Tortorella did the same thing once with the Blue Jackets and it helped Atkinson pull out of a funk. It will be interesting to see if works this time for the Flyers, who came into the game reeling off a 1-2-2 road trip to Detroit and Western Canada. Losing to the Blue Jackets pushed their winless skid to four straight games (0-2-2).
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets get gritty win over Philadelphia Flyers: 5 takeaways
