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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Zherdev haunts Jackets

Its not that the Jackets played horrible, but the Rangers were certainly the better team last night.

You knew one of the traded players would make a difference but the question was who? Well Z certainly had his night and answered that question with a goal and 2 helpers. Figures right? Meanwhile both Tyutin and Backman were okay. I would say Tyutin has been a pretty big dissapointment thus far early in the season - the turnovers he commits have been killer.

STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW

GREEN
* Got to tip your hat to Z, he was the difference the last night.

* The games of "New York" segment was a pretty creative and well received.

* I really like the opening video this season. I didn't get to see it on opening night. Very well done.

YELLOW
* Pascal Leclaire played well. Would have been nice to stop that first shot from the point but he made a lot of quality saves last night and certainly wasn't the reason for the loss.

* The kids continue to deliver. Voracek had some early turnovers but also created a goal out of thin air. What was funny was that goal was scored with a line of Filatov-Brassard-Voracek which Hitch trotted out just that one time. He's got to find a way to play Voracek more as he only got 11 minutes of ice time.

* I thought Rusty Klesla made one of the best plays I've ever seen him make as a Jacket when he took a head first hit into the boards but recovered to hustle back and break up a real good scoring chance. The rest of his game was typical Rusty.

* I thought Peca had a pretty good night. He was awesome in the faceoff cirlce winning 71% of his draws and made a lot of strong defensive plays. He had some bad luck at the end there with that 4 minute high sticking penalty but by that point this game was well in hand by the Rangers.

* Backman for me has been much better than I thought he'd be. Methot played decent again last night as well.

RED
* Nash 0-6 on breakaways. At some point the law of averages has to catch up with him.....right?

* Where are the replays at? During the review of Dubinsky's goal why not show the crowd the replay?

* Although a competitive game, the Jackets were just outplayed by the Rangers and didn't deserve the win. I can't think of one aspect of the game where the Jackets outplayed them. They were outhit, outshot, out goaltended, allowed a PP goal... the did come out on top in the face off cirlce winning 55% of the draws.

* Huselius was real quite last night as was that entire line. As Puck-rakers hinted in their blog, look for a shakeup on that line -- which probably means Manny Malhotra on the top line (ugh).

* Get Filatov to Syracuse. He's gains nothing by playing 2 minutes a night. The Jackets and Howson are smarter than this. Pure speculation on my part but one must think there is something going on behind the scenes as for the reason he's up (flight risk?).

* I'm not a fan but I don't really get the booing of Z. He didn't choose to leave, the Jackets traded him.

* Jackets top two defensive pairs are not clicking. Time for a shakeup.

* That's a real big grey area in terms of re-directing and kicking. I could see that Dubinsky goal being waived off many a night throughout the NHL. No such luck for the Jackets.

* Nash Umberger Huselius each a -2. Giving up way to many chances when they are out there.

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Voracek gets another.
2. Leclaire did what he could.
3. New York New York segment.


That was a tough 2 points to let slip away, especially when the Jackets have to go into Minnesota tonight to face an undefeated Wild team. It doesn't get any easier and the Jackets will certainly have to play a whole lot better than what they've done on previous back to backs to have any kind of shot.

-LTL

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks LTL for the always spectacular coverage. All of us Jacket faithful appreciate it. but one question. what do you mean by a flight risk with Filatov?

Anonymous said...

a few things.. mike commodore is not good.. at all. ive seen him play 3 or 4 times now and he just cant keep up. hes a stiff and hes not a good skater. im really starting to realize why everyone said that was the worst off-season signing. he sucks. and why not play russell. he cant be any worse then commodore, tyutin, etc. defensively i was really only impressed with methot. and send down filatov. hes not ready for the nhl i just dont want the cbj to make him into the next gilbert brule by trying to rush him

Anonymous said...

I loved the games of "New York" segment. It was pretty creative and very well received. HOWEVER, it was also received by the Rangers. This should have ran in the 3rd period with 5 minutes left and Jackets up 4 - 1. This was motivation for the Rangers big time. Blue Jackets dominated until that segment ran. Klesla looked lethargic in the 3rd period.. like he had been hit in the head. Umberger was slow and not getting back on defense. Filatov was great when he was out there.. a +1 if anyone noticed. Outhit again.. where is the typical Hitch team that outworks and checks opponents to death? Have not seen that once this year yet. Booing of Z was dumb.. didn't hear too much of it from the upper bowl though. Maybe the guys were saving energy for tonight's game (I sure hope so).. that or they've got the cold/flu going around. Very unhappy after the game. My money would have been much better spent somewhere else than at that stinker of a game.

Anonymous said...

Filatov made a comment a while ago about either not wanting to get "stuck" in the minors or in the juniors, I can't remember which. I think he'd be ok with going to Syracuse for awhile. But one has to wonder if Hitch is still evaluating current talent and trying to decide if he's (Filatov) going to make the team? The line shuffling might suggest he could still fit on a permanent basis as nothing seems truly set yet.

As far as Klesla, I thought you were going to mention whacking their coach in the head with his stick. Seems like that was the turning point. Less than a minute later, NYR score.

I was pretty impressed with the Jackets though. I think they played better than they have in awhile... Not too many game changing blunders, nor complete breakdowns we've become accustomed to. 1st period was ours, but sadly, the rest of the game was all NYR.

LTL said...

Poppa... by "flight risk" I am just speculating that Russia is always out there as an option for him and perhaps the Jackets want to keep a close eye on him -- hence why he's up.

Yeah I haven't been impressed with Commodore or Tyutin thus far either. Backman is better than I thought he'd be but my expectation were very low for him.

The Jackets could have certainly used Russell last night. I hope he's back in the lineup tonight.

Good point about the New York segment Duff.. and I really thought this team would be "tougher" to play against but I also have yet to see it... perhaps when Torres and Boll get back? Thats just an excuse though.. this team needs to play tough regardless of who is in the lineup..

-LTL

Anonymous said...

Sudbury has filed an appeal with the IIHF regarding Filatov's transfer. Maybe they are waiting to see if they can send him there.

I was embarrassed for him last night. 4 shifts in a game that your team is losing and you were a #1 is disgusting.

Anonymous said...

Wrong symbol, supposed to be a +1.

And another thing.....

Filatov gave an interview last week to a Russian reporter and said that playihg for Russia in the World Juniors is still very important to him, even more so now because of Cherepanov and he told Howson up front that the wanted to play. Howson told him that if he was in the AHL, he could guarantee him 100% he could go, but if he was in the NHL at that time it would depend on his role with the team.

Filatov is not a "flight risk" this season, but if they screw him over after next year he might be. Remember, his impatience is the reason he is over here in the first place.

DJ Davy B said...

I gotta say it was pretty Bush league to boo Zherdev. We are most definitely Detroit. Pretty much assured that he would give 100%. Commodore is not what we needed. I can't get that pic out of my mind now. Filatov should be playing. Voracek should be playing more and Nash less. These guys are looking like the season is 2/3rds done. I am not impressed so far.