Jackets defense exposed...lose 10th straight to Preds

Oh my that was ugly. Really no other way to explain it. I think the secret is out, if you pressure the Columbus defense you can beat them and pressure the Columbus 'D' the Preds did last night.

Lit it up

The only ones lighting anything up last night were the Predators. They beat the Jackets to pucks, played with energy, converted on their chances and totally exposed this Columbus lineup. What is it gonna take for Columbus to beat these guys?

Jarred Boll is really the only forward that played with any kind of passion and drive last night. He was the only positive for the Jackets.

Dim the light

At least David Vyborny was able to break his 36 game goal scoring drought by putting one on the board for the Jackets.

At least the Jackets did not get shut out.

At least the PK did its job killing 3 penalties.

Busted bulbs

Really not one defensemen played a decent game last night. Whether it be OK Tollefsen tripping over himself on the ice, Rusty Klesla just getting embarrassed by Martin Erat and his speed, Kris Russell and Ron Hainsey not being able to hit a simple tape to tape passes in their own zone or Adam Foote taking a stupid roughing penalty. The defense was a total wreck last night and that is the single biggest reason they lost the game and quite frankly has been the single biggest reason they've lost the past 4 games.

Paging the offense? 7 goals over the past 4 games certainly isn't going to cut it in this league. That's an average of 1.75 goals per game. With Rick Nash cooling off lately guys like Gilbert Brule, Kris Russell, Dan Fritsche, David Vyborny absolutely must contribute more - they have been ghosts on the scoreboard most nights.

To many penalties and only one PP last night. Speaks for itself.

Attendance was only at 12,500 last night. We are now officially last in the league. Again I look around and see the same sized crowds that we saw this time last year but now they are reported as a couple thousand short. Another case of Doug MacLean strikes again -- its obvious to me that he completely inflated the numbers. You've got to wonder what other teams are doing the same.

So now what? Hitch has certainly got his work cut out for him to get this team back on track. Really they've only been on one of their past four games. I think the lack of talent on the backend in terms of puck movement and transition is definitely starting to show itself and as mentioned, is directly leading to losses. The offense is definitely not capitalizing on its chances they do get which teams like Nashville and Detroit do.

Is there a way to overcome these deficiencies? Is this just a rough patch during a long season that every team eventually goes through? One thing is for certain the Jackets must stop this streak now before it really threatens their season and good start -- they can't afford any extended losing streaks and they are getting dangerously close to that territory now losing 4 in a row.

Chicago tomorrow is a must win - period.

-LTL