As my buddy said.. this remarkable streak started and ended with Detroit.
Jackets just didn't have it... On the tail end of 4 games in 6 nights they had no energy.. no decisiveness.. no want... no structure... no discipline. If you play like that against the Wings you will end up with a check in the loss column.
Credit to the Wings... they came out and dominated every facet of this game from the first drop of the puck.
STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW
GREEN
* I didn't see anybody beat Hejda all night long.. that guy truly is the black hole.
* Sold out crowd which is great.. but its unfortunate that is the show they got.
* Big break on the Holmstrom waive off.. and even the biggest homer in me will still admit that was a screw job on the Wings. Jackets couldn't do anything with it however.
* The Huntington green hats were cool.
YELLOW
* Liked how physical we were getting on Holmstrom in front of the cage.... need to continue that.
* Hey, the PK only gave up 1 goal...
* Jackets won 59% of their faceoffs. Vermette was a stud in this area once again winning 15 of 21. Manny won 9 of 15.
* Not a great night for Mase... couple of goals he definitely would like to have back.
RED
* Jackets came out completely flat in the first.. bumbled passes... no legs and did what you cannot do against the Wings and that's take....
* .....penalties, penalties, penalties... those penalties that resulted in the 5 on 3 were from Novotny and Backman.. two guys who were scratched against Chicago... I really have no idea why they continue to play Backman... Rome isn't that great but he's the lesser of the evils..
* Outside of Hejda nobody stood out but there were some that were worse than others.
* Klesla was horrendous.. .I mean really bad.. ... terrible coverage on the Hossa goal.. turned over the puck multiple times in his own end.. can't make a tape to tape pass.. his one timer on the PP missed the net by 5 feet.. what is he doing on the PP anyways?.. I know he's been out but he needs to tighten up his game in a big way.
* Nice embellishment by Zetterberg on Commodore's penalty... that said, Commodore needs to stay disciplined at that stage against the #1 PP in the league.. Off night for Big Red all together.
* Energy line was invisible.
* That 3rd goal was the dagger..
* The Jackets gave away the puck 7 times to the Wings 1.. yeah, it was that kind of night.
* Offense a no show.
* On a night like this the PP needed to keep them in the game and it couldn't.. it fact it couldn't do anything.. nada.. zilch. It was a wreck all evening.. I can't think of one good chance they had on any of them in fact..
* Ohio State music at a Jackets game? It's cool that Tressel came out to support the Jackets but will OSU play "Mother" in the Shoe when Hitch is at a football game?
3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Sold out crowd
2. Green hats
3. Even with the loss the Jackets tied the season series with the Wings for the first time in franchise history.. baby steps.
Lot's of red lights I know...it was an off game anyway you look at it.
Look I hate losing to the Wings as much as anyone but big picture the Jackets went on a helluva of a run there taking 8 of a possible 10 points against the top tier of teams in the NHL. I think all of us would have gladly taken that prior to this stretch.
You can't win em all but as Commodore would say the key is to not let this one loss turn into two or three.
They'll have another challenge on Wednesday as they get Chicago again.. a team that is slumping and certainly looking for a little payback of their own against the Jackets at home.
The Jackets better be ready to play a better game both mentally and physically than this one or it could be another long night at Nat.
The good news is that they have responded well after bad losses this season. With some time off to re-energize they'll need to replicate that.
As one streak ends its time to start another.
GO JACKETS!
-LTL
Monday, March 16, 2009
Reversal of fortune
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4 comments:
Klesla and Backman...OMG!!! What was Hitch thinking playing Backman? It's time to sit his but in the press box the rest of the way and just eat his salary. No way he can play to the level that the CBJ have to play to secure that playoff berth. Klesla looks... well... lost out there. Toots and Russell were having to pick up K & B's slack all game long. That is unacceptable at this point of the season. If a player can't play with the intensity needed, sit their butt down.
End of rant.
As always, great game wrap-up LTL!
Carry The Flag!
Ugh... even though I am a Buckeyes fan, I was embarassed when they started playing their music. Like they really need any more attention? You're right, they would NEVER in any way, shape, or form mention the Jackets at the shoe. All I could think of during that time was "will these g*d d*mn people ever realize that this isn't just a f*****g 'Buckeyes city'"....
It reminded me of the article that was published in the dispatch, I believe last summer, where some jackass said how hockey will never get big here because the drunken football fans (which I am also sometimes) want this to be "buckeye football city"
ugh, so angry... sorry, I'm done.
I'll take Buckeye music over Nacho Man all day. Personally, I liked not giving a damn for the Michigan Red Wings.
Exactly the right way to look at the loss - pretty much how my friends and I hashed it out while we post-mortem'd the game at Boston's afterwards. (You weren't listening in, were you? :>)
I understand that Backman went in because Rome -really- shat the bed in the 3rd against the Hawks on Friday, but man, I do wish Hitch had just worked him a little hard on the Saturday skate and kept Backman and/or Klesla on the bench...
It's been mentioned that we're going to have a bit of a logjam at D next year...you have to wonder if Rusty's recent performances may have him on the way to a new team at the Draft...
Regardless, I think the entire team can take a share of the blame on this game, and they just need to put it behind them and get back at it with the Hawks.
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