Ryan, Zibanejad, Karlsson key Senators past Blue Jackets 7-3

“No excuse. Every team in this league is a good team, but there’s no excuse to come out with an effort like that, to go off the rails, so far from the way we’re supposed to be playing”. With 78 games left in the season, improvements will happen. Blue Jackets bench boss on the hot seat? The Senators can’t look at the Penguins as a club that they can just show up and beat, because they are no doubt going to be hungry for their first win so that they don’t fall too far behind the playoff chase this early on in what should be a tough Metropolitan Division. The fact that this is happening in the first four games makes it appear much worse than it actually is. He was also able to collect two assists on the night, and he was second on the team in corsi at 60.71%. However, all it took was one missed opportunity to turn the game around once again.

#CBJ G Sergei Bobrovsky: “I have zero confidence right now”. Ottawa scored the next two goals of the period.

Ottawa answered a few minutes later, but it wasn’t so pretty. There was a lot to like about that period. Brandon Saad and Boone Jenner both scored a goal.

Seven different players scored goals while defenseman Erik Karlsson had four assists as the Ottawa Senators came back from three early deficits to pull away from the winless Columbus Blue Jackets 7-3 at Nationwide Arena. It was nice to see him finally score, as he has played like a man on a mission to get $5 million (Hey Murray, get on that contract). Plays like this have defined the early season for Columbus. This moment turned the momentum of the game.

Ottawa Senators’ Cody Ceci, right, works for the puck against Columbus Blue Jackets’ Cam Atkinson during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, October 14, 2015. You still got the sense though that Ottawa had the momentum. He caught Bobrovsky completely off-guard, and it made for a fascinating goal. If you can keep generating more scoring chances than the other team does, eventually the results will adjust to reflect that.

At this point, anything is on the table now in Columbus.

Rather, “disappointed is the right word”, Richards said, “because there are certain expectations … that we have as an organization, that I have as a coach and that we have in that (dressing) room”.

Lacking trust? Uh oh. This quote suggests that it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Is it fair to question the job security of Coach Richards? The Bruins and Blue Jackets are finding out the hard way with these poor spells to start the year. What could possibly be the reason for such a slow start? They have never passed the eye test either, so I don’t get why Chris Wideman hasn’t gotten a shot yet. He was third on the team in CF% at 60.42%, and predictably had the highest corsi relative at an wonderful +30.73%. That’s something to build upon.

The actual number of shots does matter, shot quality isn’t almost as important as most people like to think.

Richards has done so in the past, though it has taken longer than hoped.

Obviously the 0-4 record has you anxious, it has me anxious too. Lose Friday, and face the possibility of going 0-6 after Saturday night’s visit to Chicago. The team has talent.