Jackets play Grinch and steal a win

The Columbus Blue Jackets managed to grind out two points against the LA Kings with help from the men in stripes and two game saving stops....one by Ron Hainsey and the other by Kris Russell.

For only the 3rd time this season the Jackets won a game after being scored on first.

Lit it up

Nik Zherdev. Guy was all over the place last night and picked up a goal and assist for his efforts. He bounced back really well after a light game against the Flames.

Jiri Novotny. Another guy I thought played a solid game. The goal was nice but I thought he was solid in all 3 zones and really had some nice chemistry with Z. He also played over 20 minutes and got key minutes in all situations including PP and PK time. A well rounded effort.

Hitch. He shook up the lines and it payed off as Z and Novonty were able to get something going offensively.

RBar Arena 3 on 3 tourney. It was going on during the game and was a great time. You can't underestimate what the RBar does for hockey in the community and when they sponsor a tournament like this its the very definition of "grass roots". We are lucky to have them.

Dim the light

Freddy Norrena. After a very shaky second half to the first period Freddy played strong. He stopped 34 of 35 shots....albeit with the help of his defensemen and a terrible call on Rob Blake call that went in our favor.

PK. Killed 6 of 7 penalties and once again bailed out this team who got into some serious penalty trouble.

14k+ in attendance. Better than usual.

Ron Hainsey. Thought he bounced back okay from his scratch. Created the Z goal and of course saved a goal.

Busted bulbs

How bad was the reffing last night...on both sides? Seven penalties against us...many of the "what the hell" variets.... A waved off Rob Blake goal that 99 out of 100 times counts in the NHL. Non calls..inconsistency.. I've said it before in this space and I'll say it again... I have no clue anymore what consitutes a penalty.

Nash pointless in 6 straight. This guy has to be hurting pretty badly. He takes quite a beating out there.

PP. Not many chances last night but the ones they did have came up empty.

Offense. Fedorov, Brule, Fritsche, Glencross, Beech.....did those guys even play last night? The Kings are the worst team in the league with the worst goals against and we barely scored 2 goals.

3 bright lights on the night

1. Nik Zherdev - 1g, 1a. He's almost doubled his point total from last year at this time.
2. Jiri Novotny - 1g with strong play in all 3 zone and situations
3. Freddy Norrena - stopped 34 of 35 shots

The Jackets were damn lucky to get out of that one with a 'W'. In fact they stole that two points but you know what, there were a lot of games this year where they outplayed the opposition and walked away with nothing to show for it so it was nice to see it happen to the Jackets for once.

Next up is Nashville tomorrow night. We've lost 10 straight against this team. We are due for a win and this team needs to put a win streak together to crawl back into this thing.

-LTL