COLUMBUS, Ohio — Those who have watched the Columbus Blue Jackets closely in recent seasons probably came out of weekend losses to the Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals with a pointed question rattling around their noggins.
Were those ugly losses — the Jets buried the Jackets 6-2 at home on Friday, the Capitals routed them 7-2 in Washington, D.C., only 24 hours later — a hiccup or a harbinger?
It was no surprise coach Dean Evason took a different tone Monday, raising his voice repeatedly during a high-paced, 45-minute practice before the Blue Jackets boarded a plane and flew to northern California for the start of four games out west.
Evason was even more disappointed after watching film of the two losses than he was having witnessed them from the bench, especially the loss in Washington. The Jackets were down 5-0 after one period and allowed their work ethic to sag.
“We made structural mistakes, and then we compounded it with a lack of effort,” Evason said. “You saw today’s practice. We try to home in on both of those.
“There are going to be mistakes. But we could have corrected it or helped alleviate that scoring chance by working, and we didn’t. That’s not who we’ve been and that’s not who we’re going to be moving forward. So we had to have a little adjustment today.”
The Blue Jackets are 5-5-1. They were 4-4-2 last season when a November freefall — they were 0-7-2 from Nov. 4-19 — effectively sapped the season of all competitive interest.
If there is one topic universally despised in the dressing room, it’s the past two seasons. On Monday, Blue Jackets players insisted they know how the wheels came off against Winnipeg and Washington and that they know how to reattach them.
The Blue Jackets play the San Jose Sharks at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday in SAP Center.
“We played two good teams, but there’s no excuse for how we played in those games,” Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski said. “It kind of exposed what happens when we’re not playing our game and when we’re not playing hard enough. We’re a team that prides ourselves on work ethic, and if we’re not going to do that, we’re not going to win games. Now we know what happens when we play that way.”
added an extra point because why not pic.twitter.com/gzDPposNlA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 2, 2024
Monday was not an easy day at the rink, but it felt productive.
Before the Blue Jackets practiced, they held a team meeting and a video review session. Evason seems to approach film review much like former Jackets coach John Tortorella did — nothing personal, but no feelings spared, either.
You don’t want to be the star of that movie.
“The guys know that with our coaching staff, there’s no gray,” Evason said. There’s black and white, this is what happened. We watched every goal this morning, and it’s not calling guys out. We’ve established right away that it’s teaching, it’s learning and it’s being accountable.
“If you’re on six of those clips, so be it. You’re the one who’s going to teach us how not to do the things that were done that allowed a team to score on us.”
It’s important to remember the Blue Jackets’ veteran players had a hand in Evason landing in Columbus this summer. Not directly, of course. GM Don Waddell handled those duties. But he spoke with players about what had gone on in years past, and what they felt they needed from the new coach.
Almost unanimously it was made clear they wanted a veteran coach who would push them and demand more of them, even when it made them, at times, uncomfortable. Yes, some of the players who have been around long enough actually came to miss Tortorella.
Werenski would have been one of those players consulted.
“I actually enjoyed (the film review),” Werenski said. “If you don’t enjoy that, if you don’t enjoy learning and watching the mistakes you made that hurt the team, you’re in the wrong business. I think that’s what every team needs, and it was great today.
“The practice had a lot of pace, a lot of battles. It was probably the most intense we’ve had (under Evason).”
The Blue Jackets should not be overwhelmed playing against the San Jose Sharks (3-8-2), who are one or two seasons behind Columbus in deciding to rebuild their roster. Then, after a three-day break from games, they’ll play Los Angeles, Anaheim and Seattle in a four-day span to end the trip.
Obviously, the Blue Jackets are in no position to look past anybody. But mostly they’re looking inward, hoping to stem the tide quickly. They’ve allowed 13 goals the past two games.
“They’ve said all the right things and now the execution has to happen,” Evason said. “I know that with our group, up to this point … the accountability factor is there.
“They do realize that when we do not play with good structure, and when we don’t make up for our mistakes with our effort or work, we’re going to give up the goals we’ve given up.”
Evason wasn’t here last season, and he doesn’t have much sense for the Blue Jackets’ recent struggles. They’ve missed the playoffs the past four seasons, and in the past two they’ve been out of it before U.S. Thanksgiving.
That’s why last weekend was unnerving.
“The biggest thing is, we know why,” Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger said. “We know why it went that way. We know what we have to do to stop that and not get in that trend of a downward spiral.”
(Photo: Russell LaBounty / Imagn Images)
