CBJ Today: Laine already making an impact with his big shot

Each weekday this season, BlueJackets.com will post CBJ Today, a look at news, notes, analysis and fun stuff from around the Blue Jackets world. It’s everything you need to know if you’re a fan going into the day.  

The Daily Buzz 

The whirlwind that is the 2021 season continues tonight as the Blue Jackets again take on Carolina at Nationwide Arena. It’s the last of a stretch in which eight of 10 games were at home, and after this, the Blue Jackets hit the road for two more in Chicago — the last two games of the year in the Second City — and another in Carolina before returning to Columbus for a Feb. 18 game vs. Nashville. 

Laine Bombs 

The scary thing is that Patrik Laine still said he doesn’t feel 100 percent comfortable on the ice. 

He’s played just four games this year — one in mid-January and then three with the Blue Jackets since his debut Tuesday – and is still getting to know his Columbus teammates.  

Yet if this is Laine at less than his best, we can’t wait to see what it will look like once he’s firing on all cylinders.  

Both goals the Finnish sniper — aka the “Tesoman Tykki,” or Tesoma Cannon, as he’s called after his place of birth in Tampere, Finland — put in the net Sunday were things of beauty, the absolutely awe-inspiring one-timers Blue Jackets fans were promised when Laine was acquired from Winnipeg.  

Video: CAR@CBJ: Laine hammers home heavy slap shot for PPG

You don’t have to do too much to hit it in his wheelhouse, and Seth Jones did just that twice on Sunday, once with the team on the power play in the first period and again in the third with an extra attacker on the ice. And from there, Laine did it all, unleashing the kind of lasers that have allowed him to score almost a goal every other game in his NHL career. 

“Great job by Jonesy giving me great passes so I didn’t have to settle it down, just was able to do my things and shoot the puck,” he said. 

Yet, again, Laine says he’s not quite yet at his best with the puck on his stick. You could fool us, considering his hands have been exquisite carrying the puck through tight areas and his passing has already opened some eyes. 

“I’ve never had issues shooting the puck,” he deadpanned after the game, a true statement if there ever was one. “It’s just the other parts — playing with the puck, trying to bring it in the zone, power play, just winning my own puck battles. I feel like that was better today, but it’s still not my best. I’m sure it’s coming.” 

If the best is yet to come, yes, that will be fine. 

“It’s as advertised, you know?” captain Nick Foligno said. “It’s nice to see him feeling good and contributing in that way. That’s what we’re going to need from him. That’s why we brought him in, and he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do so far.” 

The Controversy 

Well, I’ve never seen that before. 

When a referee and a linesman skated across the Nationwide Arena ice to the CBJ locker room between the second and third periods, you had the sense something was brewing. And when the third period started, we knew what it was — the penalty the Blue Jackets had been assessed for an unsuccessful offside challenge of Carolina’s fourth goal was being taken off the board. 

The tacit implication was that the league had gotten the call wrong, and after the game, the NHL Situation Room admitted as much, saying Carolina’s goal should have been disallowed. 

The reaction, as one might expect, from the Blue Jackets fanbase was one of outrage. From the players, reaction ranged from “weird” from David Savard to Patrik Laine’s declaration that the situation was “a joke.” Head coach John Tortorella, meanwhile, pled the fifth. 

Nick Foligno had perhaps the most interesting response.  

“It’s not why we lost the game,” he said. “Maybe you can say it is because we lost by a goal, but it was a weird game tonight.” 

A lot of things were true there. Yes, it was a weird game. Yes, considering the Blue Jackets lost by one, counting a goal for Carolina that should have been disallowed means the screwup did unfortunately play a big part in the result. And yes, honestly, it wasn’t necessarily why Columbus lost the game.

Even with all the weirdness taken into account, it was another game where the Jackets struggled in their defensive zone. At some point, you expect water to reach its level and what was one of the most structured defensive teams in the NHL a year ago will find its game. But with each successive performance, the runway is getting a little shorter to get there. 

Also, one final thought, which I’m stealing from another press box wag because I find it so fascinating and true. If the NHL hadn’t admitted its mistake, there likely wouldn’t have been a furor at all. Yes, the call would have been wrong, and a few CBJ fans probably would have been upset upon seeing the replay, but the whole thing probably would have faded away pretty quickly. 

Instead, the NHL acknowledged its error in-game and tried to a certain extent to make it right to Columbus, thus creating quite a firestorm. After getting it wrong, I’m not exactly sure if the league could have done anything differently — taking the penalty off the board to start the third was an extraordinary step to begin with, and I don’t believe any mechanism exists in the NHL rulebook to take a goal off the board in that situation. 

It’s just unfortunate all around, and you hope it doesn’t make an impact in the final standings.