John Tortorella Stays Positive After Jackets Loss

The 50th win in this record setting Blue Jackets season is proving to be elusive. In their regular season home finale, the Jackets fell to Winnipeg 5-4. While they didn't get the result they wanted, there was some good news for the Jackets, as the struggling offense showed some signs of life. Brandon Saad, who had two goals in his previous 16 games, scored two in the second period and Nick Foligno--with just one goal over the last nine games, scored as well.

"I thought we funneled pucks to the blue (line) pretty good tonight, It's another game--two games in a row--that we've had 70 plus directions as far as putting the puck towards the net and that's good," Coach John Tortorella said. "No time to get down. We just have to keep banging away and hopefully get results here the next couple of games and get going with the real stuff."

The real stuff is the playoffs and the Jackets we now know will play Pittsburgh in the first round and will not have home ice advantage. The Penguins clinched that with their win in New Jersey Thursday. The playoff schedule is not out yet but the Jackets will open in Pittsburgh for games one and two.

"Quite honestly, and I'm not saying it because we're kind of at that spot right now--I like going on the road," Tortorella said. "I think there's a lot of pressure on the home team those first couple of games and I like starting on the road, but there is an advantage to home ice if  you get to game seven."

More from last night's Jackets game below including all of Coach Tortorella's comments, as well as the thoughts of team captain Nick Foligno.


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