So, here are the Jackets, struggling to score and benching a $6 million, top-line left wing while trailing in the third period. Here they are, facing a dynamic offensive team and countering with back-line inexperience. (“The young helps,” said Tortorella, who said his lineup decisions were based on establishing a more mobile defense.) Here they are, down 1-0 to the Penguins, looking chaotic.

Tortorella may not love the appearance, but he doesn’t mind it. Game 1 is just one game. There is merit to this thinking.

If you are a Blue Jackets fan, it is natural to wonder who is going to put the puck in the net, and whether it will be Saad — who is being pressed to do so (as is Cam Atkinson). It’s natural to wonder whether Sergei Bobrovsky is going to steal a game (he will have to). It is incumbent upon you to Google Gabriel Carlsson to find out how he was issued a sweater.

To this point, though, all that has happened is the defending Cup champions have defended their home ice for 60 minutes of a series that could last another six hours.

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