Johnny Gaudreau on Columbus Blue Jackets benching: 'Not my first time'
SUNRISE, Fla. — Johnny Gaudreau has a different take on what led to Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent benching him for most of the third period Saturday in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, but the two have talked it over.
After letting Gaudreau enjoy a day off Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Vincent spoke to the star forward at the Jackets’ morning skate before playing the Florida Panthers.
“We had a good chat,” Vincent said. “He was honest with me, and that’s what I like. That’s what I expect. … So, we had a conversation. He's honest, I’m honest and then we move forward, and that’s it. We learn from it. So, I have to believe Johnny’s going to be good tonight.”
Gaudreau played two shifts in the third period against the Capitals and then sat for the final 16:07, a span that included two Blue Jackets power plays. They came close to scoring a tying goal on a couple of chance, but couldn’t solve goalie Charlie Lindgren.
Gaudreau wasn't thrilled watching from the bench.
“Obviously, I wanted to be on the ice,” he said. “One-goal game, had two or three power plays in there, against a divisional team? I mean, that sucks. You put your team down a little bit, but they played well in the third and gave us a chance to almost tie the game up, and that’s all you can ask for from the guys. I’ll just try to be better tonight and go from there.”
Gaudreau is now ready to move forward after stating his feelings on the matter to Vincent.
"(The coaches) have their point and I have my point,” Gaudreau said. “I talked to ‘Pazzy.’ Obviously, he’s the coach. He saw something different and that’s all you can do. Hash it out and move onto the next day. It’s too long of a season to dread one game. I know I’ll be better … I need to be better. Go from there.”
Gaudreau’s benching was the latest of Vincent’s early coaching decisions that either led to a lineup regular being benched or scratched. Veteren defenseman Damon Severson sat for an entire third period in a 4-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Kent Johnson was scratched two games and then assigned to the AHL, Jack Roslovic was scratched for one game and Kirill Marchenko was scratched for two games amid a slow start.
Gaudreau’s benching was in line with Vincent’s other decisions.
“Not my first time, won’t be my last,” Gaudreau said. “Or … hopefully it’s my last. ‘Pazzy’ saw it different. He’s trying to help the team win games, so he thought I wasn’t playing my best and that’s that, so move on, go from there.”
If only it were that simple. Gaudreau said he hasn’t fully erased the sting of what happened and plans to use it as motivation against the Panthers.
“It’s still in the back of my mind,” he said. “I need to play better, you know? You can’t think it’s a new day when you didn’t have your best game, you know? I need to have a good game tonight and play hard for my teammates.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Gaudreau, Vincent hash out benching in Blue Jackets' loss to Capitals
