On a night that was looked at with much anticipation throughout the preseason, the Blue Jackets extended their losing streak to a season-high five games with a lack of effort that was embarrassing.
With many players from each team facing off against their former club, this was expected to be a highly entertaining matchup between two divisional foes. This was a tilt in which the New York Rangers were playing their third game in four nights. Columbus was in the midst of a four game home stand versus their new Eastern Conference opponents.
"It's just embarrassing", said forward Brandon Dubinsky. "We don't have enough effort and we talk about effort in here, a lot. And we talk about, before the season started, we talked about the games… we just simply didn't have enough effort."
John Davidson's mantra of this club not being outworked rings hollow after this display of hockey. On a night that they should have capitalized on a tired visiting team, they fell flat.
Brandon Dubinsky looked the assembled media squarely in the eyes and pulled no punches. "There just wasn't enough effort. It doesn't matter about shots (on goal), at this point. It doesn't matter about X's and O's and what we need to do systematically. We need to just put our head down, bear down and go out there and work. The work ethic isn't there."
This is mostly the same group of guys from last season. They proved that they have the talent and drive. But in the short attention span world that we live in, the question is asked, "What have you done for me lately?" That was last year. This is a new season in the Eastern Conference. This was supposed to be a good year for the club, as they took the next step in their "brick by brick" process.
When asked how a team changes the path that they're on once the season has begun, Dubinsky said bluntly, "Take a long, hard look in the mirror, as an individual and as a team. Try and find a way to correct it. It should be the easiest thing to correct. It's not a systematic thing, it's not a teaching thing, it's not something that you need to learn."
"We're all in the NHL here. We should be here because of hard work and because of effort, and second efforts and third efforts. So, we know how to do it. We've just got to go out and do it. It's just embarrassing that we choose not to. I don't know why."
"It's flat-out embarrassing for us, for our fans and for the organization. The urgency needs to be now."
For a team with high expectations, the lack of effort and urgency is disconcerting. Columbus head coach Todd Richards was very blunt in his post-game comments, stating before any questions were asked, "That was embarrassing hockey. And, to me, that's losing hockey the way that we played. We got exactly what we deserved. It could have been 7-1 going into the third, our goalie was great."
"Not enough battle, not enough compete. (It's as) simple as that. I'm really disappointed in our group."
Offensive struggles, untimely miscues and a lack of effort have Richards perplexed. Is it time for him to drop the "nice guy" exterior and be the hard-nosed coach with the players? "Things have got to change. I've got to change. It took me, I don't know how much time was left in the second period, to get a little bit upset on the bench, and guys responded."
"So, I guess the gloves have to come off, as far as the things that we do. That's probably the best way to say it. I've got to motivate, I've got to push, I've got to challenge because it's not coming from within. Individuals aren't challenged. They aren't self-motivated. Our group, for whatever reason, comes out in the second period and we can't play."
Second period inconsistency has been the bane of this club through fifteen games. Whether they have the lead or are chasing the lead, the second period has been a flat cycle of going through the motions. For some unknown reason, complacency has crept into their game at this early point of the season. The games are adding up, with only 67 left to play. But with just five wins (10 points) through 15 games, something has to motivate the team to do much better.
Short Shifts:
• Defenseman James Wisniewski reached another milestone last night, notching his 200th point in the NHL. It came on a 2nd period assist on defenseman Ryan Murray's 2nd NHL goal.
• Rookie defenseman Ryan Murray continues to be one of the bright spots for the Blue Jackets this season. He was on the ice for 22 minutes versus the Rangers (fourth highest on the team last night), netting his 2nd NHL goal. He once again saw time on both the power play and penalty kill.
