The Blue Jackets might not be panicking after starting the season 1-2-0, but they’re also not waiting around for their problems to fix themselves.
The Jackets’ practice Oct. 15 at the Ice Haus featured a lineup with new forward lines, new combinations for power plays and further work on penalty killing after an ugly 7-for-14 (50%) short-handed start. Yegor Chinakhov is also set to make his season debut Oct. 16 against the Colorado Avalanche as a replacement for Miles Wood (facial injury) on the fourth line.
Wood was hit near his eye with a high stick and sustained a laceration that will keep him out at least a week. Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said, even without Wood’s injury, changes might have been made to his forward lines.
“We’ve debated long on what to do, but we’re not pushing any panic buttons,” Evason said. “(At) 5-on-5, we’ve been good. I think it’s more a situation of trying to get some different looks and combinations and maybe get some people going a little bit.”
Part of the coaching staff’s effort to “get some people going” was a reordering of all four forward lines at practice. That included Dmitri Voronkov being moved off left wing on the first line for Kent Johnson.
Voronkov skated with center Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger on the second line, Johnson skated with center Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko on the top line, and captain Boone Jenner moved from the second line to left wing on the third. He’s now with center Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier on what could become a hard-nosed, straight-ahead group that makes life difficult on opposing defensemen with a relentless forecheck.
Chinakhov draws into the lineup to make his debut at right wing on the fourth line, where he’ll replace Wood.
“We debated a bunch,” Evason said of his staff, “We’ve had some different combinations, and hopefully we’ve made the right choice on putting the lines together.”
Evason continues to emphasize that things aren’t quite as bad as the numbers suggest for the Blue Jackets’ penalty-kill groups, but the NHL is results-oriented.
The results of the Jackets’ first 14 attempts to kill penalties weren’t pretty. Half of those situations ended with opposing power-play goals that either won games or significantly altered momentum.
“I know 5-on-5 we’re (eight goals for, one against), and on special teams we’re still +1 overall, but clearly our penalty kill has to get better, as far as keeping it out of the net,” Evason said. “Systematically, and I know this probably sounds silly … it’s not a tactical thing. It’s because we’ve made some mistakes and it’s ended up in our net because of it.”
The Jackets have also stumbled at the other end of the ice, where they’re 1-for-9 (11.1%) on power plays. The biggest issues are regaining the offensive zone after the puck is cleared and winning possession battles inside the zone.
Three significant changes were made to the first power-play group, starting with power forward Dmitri Voronkov replacing Jenner in front of the net and Coyle, a veteran center, replacing Kent Johnson. Coyle’s promotion also bumped Sean Monahan from the bumper spot in the middle of their 1-3-1 setup, where he’s previously excelled, to Johnson’s former spot along the right wall.
Jenner and Johnson skated with the second power-play group at the same spots they played with the top unit. It’s not a look that’s going to make most fans happy, but Evason and assistant Mike Haviland appear ready to try it out.
Adding Coyle and Voronkov to the top group might help the Blue Jackets win more possession on power plays, but it’ll come at the cost of subtracting Jenner’s fearlessness in front of the net and Johnson’s elite offensive ability.
“The thought process is obviously to get better in an area that you don’t feel you’re doing well in, and the power play has struggled,” Evason said. “If it doesn’t score, you can’t just continually do the same thing and hope that it pulls out of it, unlike our 5-on-5 game, where we’ve done a lot of really good things (and) we’re not flipping around too much there.”
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social