The Jackets blew another chance to gain some key points against a division and now playoff rival in Nashville. Its not that they played horrible its just that Nashville played better...
Man I hate losing to that team but I digress!
Their goaltending was better.. their skill players were better.. their role players were certainly better and their special teams were better.. it all added up to a 4-2 loss for the Jackets and knocked them from 6th to 7th place in the West.
STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW
GREEN
*Juice's pass to Williams was a rainbow... the finish was the pot of gold at the end. That was some pretty hockey.
* Novotny had a great hit on Weber that created the 2 man advantage.
* Toronto got some calls right... although I'm still not sure what took so long to make the ruling on the Tootoo hand bat.
* Pekka Rinne was good.. real good.. and if he keeps this up he could surpass Mase as the Calder favorite.. even though he is 26 year old (cut off is 27).
* My buddy won a Klesla autographed puck and 4 tix to the Boston game at the R Bar viewing party... I also heard it was great turnout.
YELLOW
* Like the fact the Jackets didn't go quietly at the end of the game.
* Mason was okay... he made some big saves but had some bad luck (i.e. Russell scoring on him)... got beat glove side on a break-away and couldn't find the puck on a point shot on tha 4th goal... Wasn't horrible by any stretch but we've seen him play better however. If the Jackets want to have any shot at all against Detroit they'll need a better game from Mase.
* The Jackets did a good job of staying out of the box with only two penalties... they also killed both of those off.
RED
* The 2-man advantage for a full 2 minutes was an absolute joke. How it takes NHL caliber talent a minute just to set up when your up by two guys is unthinkable?? If the Jackets fail to make the playoffs they can look directly at their 30th ranked PP for the reason why. A goal early on the PP may not have won it for them but who knows what kind of momentum the Jackets could have generated off it?
* Aaron Rome and Kris Russell pair was a problem all night... notably Rome had a terrible turnover that led to I believe was the 2nd goal as as mentioned Russell scored on his own net... both guys were not sharp all game.
* The Jackets as a whole did not respond well to Nashville's high pressure two-man forecheck. The d-men could not move the puck quickly enough to the forwards.. and the forwards didn't do great job adjusting and giving them options. It completely broke down the Jackets trap.
* When is the last time the Jackets allowed a break-away?
* Stunk that the Jackets couldn't get Vermette in the lineup.. will never know if he would have sparked them.. one thing I will say is they could have used him in the faceoff circle at the very least -- the Jackets only won 44%.. and lost a key defensive zone faceoff that led to the 1st goal.
* Their best players were better than our best players. Rinne>Mason; Arnott/Sullivan/Dumont>Nash/Manny/Juice; Weber>entire CBJ defense.
* Nashville was just a generally nastier team... they had bigger hits (31 to the CBJ's 17)... stronger shifts... controlled tempo... they deserved to win this game.
* Modin injured yet again... dude, can't catch a break.
* Jackets got some bounces... Nash's goal comes to mind.. they also got a favorable call from Toronto.. unfortunately they couldn't take advantage of those breaks.
* 2 hits credited to Boll/Murray/Dorsett..... these guys are our sandpaper and were largely invisible all game. You just can't have that and expect to beat the Predators.
3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Williams with a beautiful finish off of a superb feed from Juice.
2. Novonty hit on Weber
3. The fact that it was Jordan Tootoo who got the goal waived off... that is always a good thing.
Right now they are 5-7-1 against the Central. They have a 11 of their 18 games left against their own division.
If the Jackets want in... they are going to have to start beating their own division. Plain and simple. They are going to have to find way to salvage points in games like this and they have to do a better job on the PP.
I said earlier this week that they needed to take 2 of 3 this week... they are 1-1 with their biggest challenge yet to come at Detroit. Another place where they have yet to win at this season.
-LTL
Friday, March 6, 2009
Music city misfire
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2 comments:
It was painfull watching the Jackets get tossed around like peewees last night, and the powerplay was atrocious... but overall I think we had some great chances and the main reason we lost was nashvilles goaltending/our bad scoring luck. Huselius couldn't find the back of the net again and that one chance where Rinne got his stick on the puck, unbelievable.
Good point on the defense too. There was one play where a nashville player was in the slot (can't remember who it was) as he got the pass from the corner and there wasn't one person there covering him. Not a defenseman or a center.
Also, IMO, the play at the point by the defense looked weak last night. Everytime the forwards would play it high we would lose the puck. It was working so much better when just cycling down low with 3 guys.
I saw 3 clear problems...1) players (veterans & rookies alike) reaching for pucks with stick vs skating to the puck. I saw this both along the boards & middle of the ice even with an opposing player going for same puck. If you want the results you have to do the work!!! 2)Head down passes when trying to move the puck out of our zone. Keep your head up & stop watching your stick, show some confidence after all you're pro's!!! 3) Too many passes in offensive zone, as Gretzky said "you miss on 100% of the shots you never take."!!! You can scrum & hit all night but the object of the game remains put the biscuit in the basket!!! Act like you've been there before even if you haven't!!! Play like you want it not like you need it!
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