Blue Jackets players are probably tired of hearing John Tortorella's “safe is death” mantra, which he's been preaching in Columbus since the start of 2016-17. Tortorella borrowed a new motivational phrase for this season — a “Good is the enemy of great” sign hangs in the dressing room — but “safe is death” will never go away.
It's important that the coach abide by his own words.
In Tuesday's overtime win over Carolina, Tortorella had the Blue Jackets' fourth line on the ice protecting a 1-0 lead in the closing minutes. The lead was lost when rookie Markus Hannikainen failed to clear the puck from his own end, leading to an extra-attacker goal by the Hurricanes that forced overtime.