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Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips August 19, 2020 Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets are fighting fatigue PAGE 04: The Athletic: Fact or fiction? Digging into the Blue Jackets-Lightning playoff rematch PAGE 07: ABC 6: Columbus Blue Jackets facing elimination in game five against Tampa Bay Lightning PAGE 08: The Hockey Writers: Lightning Giving Blue Jackets Dose of Own Defensive Medicine Cleveland Monsters/Prospects NHL/Websites PAGE 11: The Athletic: What should a player do when he breaks his stick in the D-zone? PAGE 15: Sportsnet.ca: Six thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs halfway through Round 1 PAGE 19: Sportsnet.ca: NHL's top 16 RFAs of 2020: Latest rumours, reports PAGE 28: TSN.CA: Hard-working 'gnats' line helping Lightning turn tables on Jackets PAGE 31: TSN.CA: Humble Dale Hawerchuk remembered as a resilient competitor PAGE 34: USA Today: Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk dies of cancer at 57 1 Columbus Dispatch / Blue Jackets are fighting fatigue By Brian Hedger – August 19, 2020 It was bound to happen that the Blue Jackets, at some point, were going to smash directly into an invisible wall constructed of physical exhaustion, mental fatigue or some combination of both. There was no avoiding it, because human minds and bodies — even those belonging to highly trained NHL players — have limits. The Jackets reached theirs, collectively, about 12 minutes into a Game 3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night in Toronto, and the looming question now is a little unsettling. How much do they have left? "I’m not a doctor," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said, after canceling a scheduled practice Sunday to prioritize recovery before Game 4 on Monday afternoon. "But I do know at certain times, even when you go through the regular season … you look at some of the games, you look at some of the minutes (played) and sooner or later it catches up with the body." It’s a fair point with the Jackets, whose game Monday was their ninth in 15 days, which includes two overtime finishes against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the qualifying round, then a five-overtime loss to open the series against Tampa Bay. "I can’t really think of a time when we’ve played this much hockey (before), but I think we all feel pretty good," defenseman Seth Jones said. "We’re involved in a series where you can’t take games or periods or shifts off, and everyone’s played the same exact amount of hockey, so there’s no excuses. … We’re professional athletes and we have to find a way to be the best we can be every time we hit the ice." While true, what Jones said is not entirely accurate. Columbus and Tampa Bay may have played the "same exact" amount in this particular series, but the minutes gap is far wider when viewed through the whole picture of the NHL’s 24-team playoff format. The Lightning, one of the Eastern Conference’s top four teams in points percentage during the pandemic-shortened regular season, played in three round-robin games to determine seeding last week while the Jackets and Maple Leafs were locked in a heated series that lasted the full five games. Tampa Bay did need a shootout to win its first game, Aug. 4 against Washington, but overtime followed the regular-season format — a 3-on-3 that lasted only five minutes. In all, the Lightning has played seven-plus games in the past 14 days, which includes the five OTs in Game 1 against Columbus. That’s the physical equivalent of nearly nine games, or roughly two fewer in one fewer day than the Jackets, who had logged more than two full games worth of overtime periods alone going into Monday’s game. Start times also need to be considered, since three of the first four games in the Tampa series were 3 p.m. starts, including the first two. Monday’s game was another 3 p.m. start, after a 7:30 p.m. puck-drop two days earlier. Game 5 will begin at promptly noon Wednesday. In a number of ways, the Jackets are now skating into uncharted territory. 2 While they don’t have to deal with flights in this postseason, which is being conducted within NHL quarantine "bubbles" in Toronto and Edmonton, they also haven’t had more than a day off between games yet. There just isn’t a precedent for how to handle this much hockey with little rest. "I don’t have the equations or the analytics and all that stuff," Tortorella said. "I just judge by the athlete. And that’s why what I said (Saturday) night after the game, I meant." Some saw those "hitting the wall" comments as an excuse, but Tortorella detests excuses. In his mind, it’s just facing reality in order to move ahead. "We’re always honest with the players," Tortorella said. "And it’s not giving them an out. That’s not what we’re trying to do. As hard as we push and as honest as we are in certain areas … we also need to be honest with them." Disciplined approach One area of the Blue Jackets’ game that wasn’t affected by fatigue in the first three games against the Lightning was their ability to stay out of the penalty box. The Lightning racked up 12 penalties in the first three games, all resulting in power plays, but the Jackets didn’t return the favor in full. In fact, after committing four penalties in the marathon overtime game, they were only called for three more combined in the second and third games. It was a continuation of the regular season for Columbus, which was the NHL’s least-penalized team. It also was key against the Lightning, which finished fifth on power-play success in the regular season (23.1%) and led all postseason teams with a 40% success rate entering the Columbus series (2 for 5). "It gives us a chance," Tortorella said of the Jackets’ ability to check without taking stick infractions. "Our power play has been inconsistent for a little while. The neutralizer is not putting them on the power play, especially this group here that we’re playing against. It’s a point of emphasis each and every game." 3 The Athletic / Fact or fiction? Digging into the Blue Jackets-Lightning playoff rematch By Aaron Portzline and Joe Smith – August 19, 2020 The Tampa Bay Lightning have waited 15 months for this moment. Last spring, the Blue Jackets swept the Lightning out of the first round, one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The loss embarrassed the Lightning, followed them around from NHL city to NHL city, and forced them to make significant changes to a roster that was full of skill but lacking grit and toughness. Now, the Lightning are on the cusp of answering for last spring. They lead the Blue Jackets 3-1 heading into Wednesday’s noon start in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. A win and the Lightning move on to the second round and two more weeks in the bubble. A loss and the Blue Jackets get to burst their bubble and end a season in which they vastly overachieved. A Blue Jackets win and the series has a new life, with Game 6 set for Friday. The Athletic’s Joe Smith, who covers the Lightning, and Aaron Portzline, who covers the Blue Jackets, gathered for a conversation, just as they did before the start of this series. Only this time, they posed sharp, pointed questions in a fact-or-fiction format. Yeah, it got interesting. Here’s the conversation: Joe Smith: OK, I’ll get us started. Fact or fiction: This series is over. Aaron Portzline: Fiction! Now, let me explain before the boo-birds and accusations of blatant homerism get started. I’m not saying the Blue Jackets will win the series; I’m just saying the Lightning haven’t won it yet. I’ve been around long enough to know that sports are wildly unpredictable, that the biggest act of foolishness you can express is acting like you know what’s going to happen. Can the Blue Jackets win Game 5? Absolutely. It’s not as if they can’t hang with the Lightning, as if they’ve been totally overwhelmed. No, every game has been competitive. Even in Game 3, the Blue Jackets’ worst performance of the series, they lost by one goal. The Blue Jackets were fractions of an inch from taking a 1-0 lead in each of the previous two games: Emil Bemstrom muffing the five-on-three shot, Alexandre Texier skating offside ahead of Oliver Bjorkstrand’s disallowed goal. Who knows what happens if either or both of those go in? Now, that’s not to say they should have won those games — not at all. They got the result they deserved in each of them. But it is a compelling argument that they could have won those games. For the series to be “over,” I’d have to believe that they can’t win Game 5. And I’m not there. My turn … AP: Fact or fiction: The single biggest difference between last spring’s Columbus sweep and this series so far is the Lightning’s third line: Barclay Goodrow, Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman. JS: Fact. Well, not just that line, which has been terrific, but what it symbolizes. At the deadline, the Lightning felt they needed to be harder to play against, tougher for the playoffs.

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