A crazy Game 1 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets as they needed 5 overtimes to determine a winner. Here are three takeaways.
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning started their game in the afternoon and needed seven periods to determine the winner. Joonas Korpisalo set a new NHL record for most saves in a game (85) and Seth Jones played 65:06 minutes of ice time.
Here are three takeaways from the ridiculous first game of the series.
1. Columbus breaks through
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The Blue Jackets were unable to score on the powerplay in the play-in round, going 0-for-14. Finally, in Game 1 against the Lightning, they were able to get a goal on the man advantage from Pierre-Luc Dubois. Tampa Bay was careless throughout the game, taking two too-many-men penalties and Columbus needs to make sure that they are able to capitalize when given the opportunity.
Another breakthrough for the Blue Jackets came when Oliver Bjorkstrand finally scored his first goal of the playoffs. It came from an unlikely angle and completely shocked Andrei Vasilevskiy. Bjorkstrand is a key offensive player for Columbus as he was the only player on the team to score over 20 goals (21) and getting the monkey off his back is a huge game-changer.
2. Injured stars look good
Heading into this game, it was unsure whether Victor Hedman was going to play in this game. In the round-robin game against the Philadelphia Flyers, he had to leave early with what looked like an ankle injury. He ended up dressing for this afternoon’s game and did not seem to miss a beat. He was skating smoothly and ended up playing 57:38 minutes, leading his team in ice time.
On the other side, the Blue Jackets also have an injured star defenceman in Zach Werenski. He missed the end of Game 4 in the play-in round with an unknown injury and had to get an MRI. However, he played in Game 5 and looked great in this series’ first game, playing a whopping 61:14.
3. Ugly goals will be key
With Andrei Vasilevskiy and Joonas Korpisalo playing the way they are, it will take some ugly goals to get pucks in net. In this game, two goals came off deflections, one was a scrum that ended with Korpisalo kicking the puck in his own net, and Brayden Point‘s game-winning goal came after Nikita Kucherov‘s two shots were blocked consecutively.
Getting into the goalie’s eyes, deflections and tip-ins will be the only way these teams score goals. Both Korpisalo and Vasilevskiy stood tall through the fourth-longest game in the history of the NHL and definitely deserve a drink after their efforts.
Fun little tidbits
– This was the 4th longest game in NHL history, 150:27 minutes long.
– According to Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Blue Jackets ate just one meal before playing Game 1.
– Vasilevskiy’s 61 saves sets a new franchise record for saves in a single game.
– How does Jones feel after setting a new league record with 65:06 minutes of ice time? He says: “I feel fine”.
– Despite playing 39:49 minutes, Cam Atkinson was the only skater to not register a single shot on net in that game.
– David Savard blocked a total of 11 shots and is the first player to do so since Patrick Nemeth (Colorado Avalanche) did back in 2017.
Game 1 was an absolutely wild ride. Both teams are ready to fight to the death for this series and we have only seen their first match-up. I can’t wait to see what these teams have in store for Game 2.