That's Why You Play Best of Seven in the Playoffs

Werenski and Bjorkstrand, just like in the Calder Cup Finals

Tonight the Nashville Predators defeated the Blue Jackets 4-3, in a game that the CBJ clawed back to a tie, but lost in the end.  Coach Tortorella ascribes that to a bad line change; perhaps so.  But all night long, it struck me that no matter what the CBJ did, the puck ended up on the tape for Nashville.  Not in the skates, but on the tape.  Perhaps that's what they did, but I didn't think our guys played that poorly.  That's hockey, to be sure.  Sometimes the bounces go your way, sometimes they don't.  It would be hard for a team that won 16 straight to say they never got a bounce, so you swallow a night like tonight.

In many ways, that's why all hockey playoffs are best of seven.  The bounces go both ways, but in the end, they equal out, and you find out who is better.  It would be hard to say the Jackets were 'better' than Nashville this year, the Preds won both games.  They also got to play the CBJ as the last game before a significant break in both tries.  That's the schedule.  The Preds took advantage of it, and props to them.  But that's why you play seven in the playoffs.

Now the Jackets take a 5 day vacation, which I think they well deserve.  If it has taken awhile to get back to our game after The Streak, it will also take us awhile to get back to that after this break.  So it goes.  An easy opportunity for the Jackets would be to handle the break better than other teams.  That can only be measured after the break.

Time to take a breath, as a fan.  I know the grind is starting to tell on our group of season ticket holders.  This is uncharted territory for us, and we need to get ourselves ready to power through to the playoffs.  Likewise, the team must as well.  There is a lot of hockey yet to be played.

Hockey is a game of bounces.  The other guy got the bounces tonight, and they capitalized on our mistakes.  That's why you play seven in the playoffs.  As much as I think we have played the Penguins tough this year, that's why it's not a given you beat them in best of seven.  But I look forward to the chance!

GO JACKETS!!
GO MONSTERS!!