It's Halloween, so let's talk scary.
The bloody scream mask, you say? Please. You want scary? How about two guys dressed up like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin bearing down on you? Now that's scary. And that's exactly what the Blue Jackets defensemen will be facing in the home-and-home series that begins in Pittsburgh Friday.
Columbus blue-liner Jack Johnson agrees the key to stopping the Penguins is to try to slow down Pittsburgh's dynamic duo up front.
"It's really Crosby and Malkin they make that team go," he said. "Arguably you have the two best players in the world on one team, or at least the two best forwards in the world. I don't know if you're going to stop them, but you're going to have to be smart and be aware of when they're on the ice.
"I think the best thing you can do is try to deprive them of the puck," Johnson added. "You know, you don't necessarily have to shut them down. If you can keep their teammates from giving them the puck, that should upgrade your chances. You try to play the percentages and make someone else beat you. If you let them beat you, then you deserve to lose."
There you have it: The key to beating the Penguins is to keep the candy (puck) away from Crosby and Malkin. Call that the trick. The treat, of course, would be the four points up for grabs this weekend.
Now, let's move to the subject of high hits in the NHL. They're certainly making headlines in the league, often overshadowing some of the more uplifting and compelling hockey stories. Jack Johnson was the victim of a high hit earlier this season, in Buffalo, and it cost Patrick Kaleta a 10-game suspension.
Johnson is a big body on the blue line and has been known to play the game physically. Has he changed his own game with the spotlight so bright on high hits?
"I think it's definitely changed my game," he noted. "I don't really look for open-ice hits anymore at all, mainly because I just don't need the suspension or loss of money or anything like that, so to play it safe I'd rather not take that chance. I think for a lot of guys it's changed their games a lot.
"In some ways, I think that's how the whole world is going in general, trying to make sure nobody gets hurt. At the end of the day, I signed up to play this game I know the risks involved. I know there's a good chance I could get hit in the head, and that comes along with playing a contact sport, so I have no complaints about it."
Johnson denies the deliberate choice to avoid the open-ice hit makes him less effective as an NHL defenseman.
"No, you just have to change your game," he explained. "I have a younger brother playing youth hockey, and every time he's had an open-ice hit – if it's a hard hit – he gets called for a checking to the head penalty. It's just kind of the way hockey's going, weeding out those open-ice hits, because players are afraid to take that penalty or get that suspension. So you just have to kind of adapt and change your game."
