Calvert pumped for Pens playoff battle

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This article was published 07/04/2017 (3401 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Matt Calvert likes the way things are set up this spring for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Now, the Brandon product and his teammates just need to start finding the back of the net if they plan on knocking off Sidney Crosby and the boys from Steel City.

Columbus is returning to the NHL post-season for the first time in three years and is already anticipating a heated battle with its divisional rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in a best-of-seven, first-round series.

All that’s left to determine is the home-ice advantage. The defending Stanley Cup-champion Penguins held a three-point edge over the Blue Jackets for second spot in the Metropolitan Division prior to Thursday’s action.

Calvert, 27, a left-winger on the Blue Jackets’ fourth line, said the stage is set for a dynamite series.

“I love playing Pittsburgh. There’s such a rivalry there. We’ve got so many battles within the game going on,” he said. “I think we’re all getting excited to get started.”

The clash will be a repeat of a 2013-14 opening-round series, the last time Columbus qualified for the playoffs. Pittsburgh won that best-of-seven 4-2. Calvert, listed generously at five-foot-11, 192 pounds, had a pair of goals and two assists during that short playoff stay.

The former Brandon Wheat Kings sniper, who was drafted in the fifth round (127th overall) of the 2008 NHL Draft, said he has a skill set built for playoff hockey.

“This is my time of year,” said Calvert, who has nine goals and four assists in 62 games this season.

“It’s hard hockey, it’s fast-paced and it’s competitive, and I think that kind of sums up my game. I’m excited for it. We learned a lot a few years ago in the series against them. I think we’re a much different and a much better team now.”

But the longest-tenured veteran on the team had gone nine games without a point prior to the Blue Jackets’ meeting with the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. It’s his second extended drought of the 2016-17 campaign, after getting blanked in 10 straight from Dec. 29 to Jan. 22.

Calvert watched from the press box Tuesday as the Blue Jackets fell 4-1 in Pittsburgh, the second time he’s been a healthy scratch this season, but he returned to the lineup against the Jets Thursday night. He also missed five games in late November with an upper-body injury, a game in January due to illness and then nine more during a stretch from Feb. 25 to March 11 because of a strained abdominal muscle.

A big-time scorer in the Western Hockey League, his touch has not translated to monster numbers at the NHL level — he has 62 goals and 61 assists in 344 career games — althougth he’s a valuable contributor as a physical, energy guy and key penalty killer.

Still, he said the lack of production stings, particularly on a team that had just five goals during a four-game winless steak prior to Thursday and just 12 goals in its past eight contests, relying heavily on goaltenders Sergie Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo to keep them in games lately.

“The thing with our team is we score by committee and I know we have a lot of guys that help out here. That’s how we won a lot of games at the start of the year, from the first line to the fourth line we were scoring,” Calvert said. “A lot of guys are in slumps. We’re just going to keep having fun and not grip the stick too tight and just keep going.”

Twenty-year-old forward Sonny Milano was recalled from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters on Tuesday and took Calvert’s spot in the lineup. Head coach John Tortorella said he hasn’t lost faith in Calvert, who regularly partners with centre William Karlsson up front on the first penalty-killing unit.

“Calvy gets sat out not for any particular reason as far as a flaw in his game,” he said.

“I had to take a player out and Calvy was it. I don’t want it misconstrued that he’s out because there’s been struggles.

“The thing I like about him is he gives me a lot of different looks in a lot of different situations that I can count on him, certainly defensively,” he said. “He leads our team in short-handed goals (with three), him and Bill have done a pretty good job of that. When you get to the playoffs and we get through our decisions, that flexibility is pretty important.”

Columbus was fourth from the bottom of the NHL standings a year ago and has morphed into one of the league’s heavyweights heading into the playoffs. Earlier this season, the team came just one victory shy of the longest streak in NHL history after losing to Washington in early January, snapping a 16-game win streak.

Calvert said a second season with Tortorella behind the bench has made a world of difference.

“The biggest thing is setting the bar a little higher, expecting more from yourself, not losing by one goal and being happy with it. It’s expecting to win every night, and it started right from training camp with us,” said Calvert, who splits the off-season between Brandon and a cabin near Clear Lake.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell