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Of the many Blue Jackets to struggle in the first two months of the season, none was more disappointing than Max Domi. Domi was acquired because of his ability (and desire) to play center, but had been shifted to wing to get his game going, and then stuck with bottom 6 minutes as his production failed to materialize. To add insult to injury, the player he was traded for, Josh Anderson, got off to a hot start with nine goals in his first 13 games for Montreal.
Fortunately, Domi appears to have found his game in recent weeks, and has found a home on a top line with Jack Roslovic and Cam Atkinson. Here are some stats showing his improvement in the games since the Jackets snapped a seven game losing streak (these stats do not include Monday night’s game against Carolina).
Domi Stats 2021
| Games | Team record | G | A | P | ATOI | 5v5 iCF | 5v5 ixGF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First 23 games | 8-10-5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 14:58 | 32 | 1.4 |
| Last 9 games | 5-2-2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14:40 | 27 | 1.47 |
He’s shooting the puck more, and the quality of his chances has gone up as well. In addition, his on-ice numbers (FF% and xGF%) have been above 50% in six of these last nine games. Pretty nice!
Meanwhile, Josh Anderson has just two goals in his last 15 games.
Bottom line: It’s great to see Max Domi finally get comfortable here, and that renewed confidence can be infectious as this team makes a push for the playoffs. Now we just need Patrik Laine to follow suit.