It's not true that the Penguins occupy space in the Blue Jackets' collective consciousness.
They are that consciousness.
If there was any sorrier scene in recent hockey memory around here than how the Columbus franchise conducted itself on this particular Thursday at PPG Paints Arena, it's currently escaping me. And no, believe it or not, I'm barely referencing the Penguins' 3-0 victory by nightfall, even though that was their eighth in a row over the Jackets.
I'm talking about a head coach telling his Vezina Trophy goaltender, who'd made eight starts in a row and 14 among the previous 15 games, not only that he suddenly wasn't needed to start in a critical game but also that he wouldn't even be on the bench with his teammates!
That really happened. John Tortorella scratched Sergei Bobrovsky entirely. Joonas Korpisalo started for the first time since Feb. 18, and Keith Kinkaid, transparently acquired from the Devils at the trade deadline solely because he's shown he can handle the Penguins, suited up as backup.
I know, I know, it couldn't be more obvious. Bobrovsky's been an abject, career-long disaster when facing Pittsburgh, flying hard in the face of his success against most everyone else. He was abysmal in first-round playoff flops against the Penguins in 2014 and 2017, the first of those with the Flyers. He's got a 3.14 goals-against average against the Penguins, 2.48 overall. He's got an .898 save percentage against the Penguins, .918 overall. And he's lost his past six meetings, scorched for 24 goals in those.
But when pressed at the morning skate on whether Pittsburgh influenced his call, Tortorella coolly replied, "No, no," before adding, "We feel he's played a lot of hockey. This was a game we wanted to give to Korpi and try to get Bob a little bit of rest and kind of work on his game. Bob is a guy that needs some days sometimes to work on certain parts of his game that you can't do when you're playing as much as he has. This a good day for it."
Oh, I'll bet it was.
Imagine, regardless of Tortorella's words, the magnitude of this admission through his actions. Imagine the message it sent to a team already reeling from, ironically, a massively productive trade deadline, after which they'd gone 2-4 with nine combined goals.
From there, imagine the resonance of Tortorella's weird ramblings from the same skate about how he and his coaches were about to ... uh, stop coaching: "We've had a lot of meetings after the deadline. We've done a lot of talking in trying to figure out really what's going on with our club. We have to stop that. We just have to go out and play. If it's the regular season, Game 30, I'd give them seven or eight points that I think we need to improve on. Tonight, I'm giving them two very simple points, and then I'd just like to open the gate, like a bunch of horses, letting them out, and go play."
How'd that work out?
The Blue Jackets lost, 3-0, took four undisciplined penalties, gave up 14 high-danger scoring chances to the Penguins while creating just five of their own, and extended a scoreless streak that's now at two hours, four minutes, eight seconds, if one ignores a shootout goal Tuesday night in Newark.
And it doesn't help, I dare say, that their captain, Nick Foligno, forever has behaved like a headless chicken when facing the Penguins. But some things are better expressed with the spoken word, with pro-wrestling theatrics:
Find today's full Morning Java right here.
There's palpable panic with these guys. It couldn't be more glaring. Or understandable. Because the greatest peril of going 'all-in,' compounded by grasping that a couple of huge pieces -- Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin -- surely will be lost to free agency, is that a team could, you know, go all-out. Of the playoffs.
"I thought our effort was much better tonight," Tortorella spoke calmly afterward. "I thought we did some really good things, but we just didn't win the game. You're not going to win a game if you don't score a goal."
Worse for him, come Saturday night, he'll have to concoct yet another explanation for why Bobrovsky won't start. And dodge the real reason why it'll be Kinkaid.
• The only thing more quintessentially Phil Kessel than his wonderful shared celebration after finally scoring, or the crowd rising and roaring in recognition of the slump-buster, or him chirping at one of the Blue Jackets all night long, or barely putting on the gladiator helmet after having it giddily awarded by Matt Cullen ...
Cullen: "It's a treat to give it to 81!" pic.twitter.com/Ss0n3CnpmZ
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 8, 2019
... or even his hilarious, audible complaint upon being compelled to meet with the media afterward -- "Jesus Christ, it was one goal!" -- was his embracing the city right back.
"The fans and the city have been great to me since I've been here," Kessel said with a slight head-shake. "I love playing here. I have unbelievable memories here. They've been nothing but supportive, and I really appreciate it."
• Kessel and Nick Bjugstad scoring will represent the outcome to most, but Matt Murray's 25-save shutout was again accompanied by sound, sturdy, team-wide defense. That's best exemplified by the Blue Jackets getting only those five high-danger chances but also should spotlight just four chances off rebounds and two off the rush.
The one with the best view definitely noticed.
"We managed the puck well, which is the key," Murray would say. "We got the puck deep when we needed to, and we didn't turn the puck over, didn't give them anything off the rush. That's huge, especially this time of year. We played a smart team game."
• Beginning in Montreal, the Penguins have won three in a row and given up three goals. All without Kris Letang.
• Sullivan had insisted in Montreal he'd be willing to bounce Jared McCann out of the first line, depending on the opponent and situation. He did that in the middle of the second period of this one, dropping McCann to the third with Bjugstad and Patric Hornqvist -- to great effect, I might add -- and bumping up Dominik Simon to the first line.
I asked Sullivan about that:
Still bitter about Simon despite -- or because -- of his outstanding advanced metrics?
Take it up with Taylor Haase because, as she found out after this game, Simon doesn't understand Corsi, either.
• This roster is bigger, stronger, tougher than it's been in a long time. An opponent like this underscores that in a positive way.
• I asked Murray about Erik Gudbranson, who continues to be a surprise ... at least to some presumed cynics in Vancouver, anyway: "He's so big and strong, and he clears out so much space in front of me. It's like he plays with a force field."
• Semi-downer: The five-on-three early in the third period failed to score, this time with 1:55 of ice time and the top unit staying out the whole time, making the Penguins a really weird 0 for 7 in that category for the season.
Not shooting enough?
Eh. There were three shots on this one, plus another attempt that missed, and two of those were deflected by bodies in front. I'd chalk this up more to Tortorella smartly collapsing down low rather than the inverted triangle a lot of teams will use. The lanes down low were taken, so the Penguins worked higher.
Not a big deal. Hardly a trend.
• A football word in closing: A source within the Steelers had informed me Wednesday that the team would make one final pass at retaining Ramon Foster. I'd heard previously that Foster really, really wanted to stay and that Ben Roethlisberger, Maurkice Pouncey and others were pushing hard for that to happen. Reported all of this in yesterday's Grind.
Well, let's hear it for a happy ending.
I'll bet anything Roethlisberger and Pouncey had more than a motivational hand in this, by the way, since both of them are getting extensions, too. We'll strive to find that out.
In the interim, congratulations to all concerned. A deep, talented, experienced line can overcome a lot. These guys are among the best.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Blue Jackets, PPG Paints Arena, March 8, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS