Kings crown Jackets

Even strength play couldn't even keep the Jackets in this one tonight as the Jackets suffered their first shutout loss to the LA Kings.... and it was ugly boy, real ugly.


STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW


GREEN
* Credit to the Kings.. they capitalized on their chances and shut the Jackets down. They kept them on the perimeter all night and they looked the best I've seen them in years defensively.

YELLOW
* I liked Methot quite a bit. He carried the puck... was physical.. showed some emotion out there.
* I give Boll credit for trying to get his team into this one by taking on a true heavy in Ivanans..

* Commodore and Hejda played okay I thought even though Commodore took the hook on O'Sullivan which resulted in a penalty shot and Hejda redirected the 2nd goal.

* Well the PK didn't allow goal (yeah, I"m reaching here).

RED
* Exactly what I was afraid of happening happened... no energy....although they didn't get snowballed as bad as I thought they would. No excuses as the Kings played Friday night and the Jackets had it off. This team's competitive inconsistency is entirely to consistant.

* Absolutely no flow. Everyone was out of sync. They couldn't break out of their own zone.. they couldn't break into the oppositions.. when they did get in it always seemed to be off some broken play when the only player gaining the zone with any kind of speed was the puck carrier which eventually led to a dump in right to a Kings' player.

* A combined 5 shots in the first period....if anyone was having trouble staying awake for the start of this one they were surely sound a sleep by the end of the first 20... that was some brutal boring hockey.

* PP is an embarrassment at this point. No shots on the first two PPs...one chance on the 3rd one. Again it fails to take advantage early in a game. What exactly were Backman and Brassard doing on the play that resulted in a turnover and subsequent penalty shot? Playing keystone cops? I am serious when I say Hitch should just role the even strength lines as is with a man up..why not?

* Russell is playing like he is afraid of making mistakes and getting sent down. He's had some opportunities to pop up in plays but he playing is very safe which will get him sent back down.

* Jackets couldn't seem to win a faceoff when it mattered most.

* Mason has to stop that 1st goal.. Backman set one hell of a screen and I think he even tipped it. I wish he'd just scratch himself.

* Kings win a faceoff and their point man gets shot on net...a deflection later off of Hejda and its in the net. Again offense starts from the points..

* Goat line invisible. Nash line ineffective. Jackets offense as a whole a no-show.

* Speaking of the goat line.. I think its safe to say the rookies have officially hit a wall... Brass with 11 minutes.. Jake with 13.. and the way they have been playing lately its hard to disagree with the reduced minutes. The problem is we need them being productive to be successful consistently.

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
None

The loss drops the Jackets to 11-12-3 on the season and 0-2 so far on this trip. They take on the Anaheim Ducks tonight at 8 EST.

This is shaping up to be one brutal trip and I'm not holding my breath that the Jackets can salvage a win against the Ducks tonight.

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts: Don't underestimate Kings

This Kings team is no push over and that is the message the Jackets have to take into the Staple Center tonight. They site 10-11-4 with 24 points which is one less than the Jackets at 25. The Kings could easily leap frog the Jackets in the Western Conference standings with two regulation points tonight.

The Kings have also lost 3 in a row coming off a 5-4 shoot out loss to Edmonton last night. They are certainly viewing this game as a much needed remedy to their losing ways.

The Jackets are coming off a hard fought 1 goal loss against the NHL's best squad in San Jose. They cannot afford to take the night off against LA and lose even more traction in the standings.

KEYS TO LIGHTING THEM UP
* Bring the same energy level you brought against San Jose. If you play at that level you can win this game. Its that word consistency. Its easier said than done to bring that kind of game every night but that is what its going to take to be a playoff team.

* They have got to do a better job at converting on their chances. There have been long stretches of solid play this season but they haven't gotten as rewarded as they should in the goal scoring department.

* The Kings are a young squad with a decent amount of firepower. Guys like Kopitar (aah what could have been!) Frolov, Brown and Quincey lead this team in scoring with young guns like Moller, O'Sullivan and Doughty contributing. These guys have energy and talent but also make mistakes -- Jackets have to capitalize on those mistakes.

* I haven't watched the Kings much this season but if they are anything like last season they play a run and gun style and like to pot goals off the rush. Jackets have to be smart in the neutral and pick their spots to jump into the play. Form there use turnovers for counter-attacks and use their size and quickness to cycle down low to wear out their opponents.

* Special teams... yeah.. broken record.

* Looks like Jason LaBarbera gets the pipes tonight for the Kings. He's got 4W 6L 2.79GAA and .894 Save%. Jackets need to do their best to not make this guy look like a Vezina winner.

* On the flip side Mason needs to continue to play the way he has and make the big saves to keep his team in it.

* This is a game I expect the Jackets young guns to shine. Why? The Kings are a young team like the Jackets with a Calder candidate of their own in Drew Doughty... Its kind of a game within a game? Can the likes of Brass/Voracek/Mason out perform the likes of Kopitar/Doughty/Moller? That could be your game.

GAME SPOTLIGHT
I'll be watching the Jackets energy level early. Can they sustain the level of play they brought in San Jose?

Also will be fun to watch the battle of Calder candidates. Drew Doughty is right up there with Brass in terms of Calder discussions. Steve Mason is also starting to creep into those conversations. Who has the better game?

This game strikes me as one of those that I can see a blow out on either side. I think the first goal is huge, especially for Columbus, and I could see things snowballing if they come out underestimating these Kings.

Puck drops at 10:30.

GO JACKETS!

-LTL

Lost opportunity

The Jackets squandered another game at home to the West's worst team losing 3-2 in an OT shootout to the LA Kings.

Its the 9th loss in OT/Shootout this season.

With the point the Jackets move to 10th in the overall standing still 3 points out of the 8th playoff position as both Nashville and Vancouver won last night.

Lit it up
Chimera - Peca - Zherdev. That line has been our strongest lately including last night. Peca picked up a couple of assists (although it sure looked like he tipped that Hainsey goal) and that line created most of what offense there was for the Jackets. Zherdev also collected an asisst.

Powerplay. Jackets got two PP goals.

Dim the light

Dick Tarnstrom looked as advertised last night. He collected his first point as a Jacket on the PP, moved the puck well and was positionally solid. He basically made the play when he kept it in the zone on the Nash goal. My biggest fear with Tarnstrom coming in is that he would we be Bryan Berard reincarnated -- thankfully he looks far more defensively sound that Berard ever was.

Leclaire played well in his first start back since the injury. He did give up some pretty juicy rebounds a couple of times but overall he stopped 32 of 34 Kings' shots. Once again he didn't get much in terms of the goal support deparetment.

Decent crowd last night ringing in at 15,800+ -- slowly but surely the fans are starting to believe again.

Ron Hainsey 6 shots and got most of his attempts through. Good game for him.

Overall effort was okay. Team really fell off in the second period but recovered in the 3rd. I know they just came off a long West coast trip but still though, this team has to dig and win a game like this.

Busted bulbs

Jackets let another point slip away at home no less. They have lost their last four at home going 0-2-2. That absolutely cannot happen to stay in this thing. The Jackets have got to start taking the 2 points at home. Believe it or not, they've actually looked better on the road.

Scoring, scoring, scoring. This team just cannot put the pucks in the net. They've only got 13 goals over their past 8 going 2-3-3 in that stretch. When you are only averaging 1.625 goals a game then its no surprise to see that record. The Jackets have got to find a way to score more.

David Vyborny. He's just been horrendous out there. I don't even notice him anymore. I think this guy can use a couple of good scratches.

He's not alone though. When is the last time Gilbert Brule, Jiri Novotny or Manny Malhotra score?

Shootouts. Let me play captain obvious there -- boy do we suck at them.

Cloutier. I have no idea how the Jackets do it but they tend to make every goaltender look like a Vezina trophy winner.

PK coverage on the second King's PP goal was bad. Big rebound by Leclaire and nobody decided to take Kopitar -- 4 Jackets just sitting there watching.

3 bright lights on the night

1. Powerplay - two goals tonight

2. Chimera - Peca - Z line --- has been the best line for the Jackets for a the past few games as was again tonight

3. Tarnstrom - nice solid debut, collected and assist and you can see the good vision and decision making with the pucks

Jackets are back at home against the fading Chicago Blackhawks. Its a team that the Jackets should have a good shot at beating but as LA showed last night, nothings given to you in this league. The Blackhawks will be ready to play no doubt about it.

On unrelated note. How scary was the slice to the Fliorda Panther's Richard Zednik's throat? That was a very scary moment but thankfully TSN.ca reported that Zednik had successful surgery and is resting comfortably.

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts: Jackets could move into a tie for 8th tonight with win

Now I do stress could.

The Jackets take on the struggling LA Kings. The Kings are 23-31-3 which is good for last place in the Western Conference.

The Jackets are coming off a game in which they played oustanding but ultimately came up short of the two points in OT. With a win tonight they could leapfrog two teams to tie Nashville for that 8th and final playoff spot in the West.

The Jackets are 3-0 thus far versus the Kings and 9-4-0 all time in Nationwide Arena. Sounds pretty good eh? Remember though that the Jackets have been known to struggle against teams below them in the standings so in no way/shape/form would I pencil this one in as two points. In fact, I worry about this game.

Keys to lighting em up

Don't be overconfident. The Jackets took 3 of 4 on the road but have struggled at home losing their last 3 games. For once they actually need to come home and play the same way they have on the road. They've been way to loose at home in that 3 game stretch.

More offense. The Jackets continue to walk that fine line and if they don't get the great goaltending and defensive play they lose -- why? -- because they just haven't gotten the offense. Guys like Nash, Z and even Chimera of late are getting lots of chances -- but they need to bury them especially breakaways (Chimera -- just pick a corner next time!).

Watch the King's powerplay. Its ranked 7th and is very dangerous. What's interesting though is that as I was watching the King's game last night, they said the King's PP is actually ranked 29th on the road which obviously plays in our favor. The Kings do a great job controlling the puck on their PPs though.

Kopitar, Frovol, Brown. The Kings 3 leading scoreres -- all with 40 points or more. These guys can put up the points. Jackets need to contain them.

SCORE FIRST!

The Kings may score a lot but they also give up a butt load as well. They are dead last in the league in goals against - they've given up a whopping 188. If there was ever a team to get the Jackets' offense back on track, this is it.

Take advantage of LA's goaltending. Labarabra has been okay lately but got shelled by Pittsburgh last night. Cloutier probably gets the call today. Either way, Jackets need to pound the pucks on these guys.

Game spotlight

Dick Tarnstrom, the puck moving defensemen acquired in a trade with Edmoton a week ago, makes his Blue Jacket debut tonight. He's expected to QB the #1 PP unit and hopefully give it a much needed spark.

****************************

A big two points up for grabs tonight against an opponent that's had a down year thus far. LA though is 5-4-1 in their past 10 so this is no cake walk.

As I mentioned earlier I'm defintiely worried about this one. I can easily see an egg being hatched by the good guys tonight at home.

Early start tongiht at 6 p.m. See you all at the RBar!

GO JACKETS!

-LTL

Jackets walk away dissapointed

At one point the Jackets outshot the San Jose Sharks 22-5 -- and that was after two period. Yet the scoreboard read 1-0 Sharks.

That was the kind of night it was for the Jackets. Jason Chimera two breakaways but nothin. Rick Nash a penalty shot, losing control of the puck and nothin. Nik Zherdev a point blank shot - nothin.

Finally...in the 3rd period the Jackets broke through as Jason Chimera tipped one home off a great cross ice feed from Michael Peca.

Unfortunately it wasn't enough as the Sharks converted on PP in OT to steal the the other point.

Nabokov. Argurably had the best performance by an opposing goaltender this season against the Jackets. This guy was a brick wall. Damn him.

Lit it up

Seriously. I don't think the Jackets could play a better game other than score more. They absolutely dominated the first two periods. Possibly the best two road periods I've ever seen this team play. The Sharks turned the heat up a bit, especially the last 5 minutes, but overall it was a well played road game but the good guys.

Jason Chimera. Man has this guy losened up out there. He was a force again last night. Still he needs a new breakaway move -- just pick a corner next time Chimera. When he's got to much time to think it hurts him. He made up for his lack of breakaway finish but tipping the Michael Peca pass home. Chimera also had a fight (although he didn't fare well in it but he gets points for trying to spark the team).

Jody Shelley. Wouldn't you know it. Shelley collects his first assist of the year on his first shift against the Jackets and it wasn't flukey either. So weird seeing him out there in another sweater though. Looked like he gave Nik Zherdev an earfull a time or two as well. He played well though -- looked better than I've ever seen him this year go figure.

Dim the light

I thought Nash had another good game. He was physical again, driving the net, excellent on the PK. Maybe it was the bronchitis that was slowing him down. If only he could have scored on that penalty shot...if only.

Big four. Foote, Hejda, Klesla, Hainsey. All logged huge minutes and shutdown the Sharks key players for 60 minutes. Unfortunately if you take a penalty in OT that opens up a whole lot of space for guys like Joe Thornton and he made them pay. Still this group played excellent.

Jackets solid in the face off circle again winning 56% of their faceoffs.

Norrena played well - especially late in the 3rd when the Sharks turned up the heat and the Jackets again took a late penalty.

Busted bulbs

The Jackets have got to figure out how to score more. I know Nabokov was hot...but 3 breakaways and no goals? Can't happen. This game was the Jackets...they dominated but their offense stalled once again. I can only hope Tarnstrom can help in this area.

Penalties. They Jackets are shooting themselves in this area. The second game in a row they took a late penalty...and then Manny Malhotra with a bad shift change put Dan Fritsche in a bad position and was forced to take a penalty in OT.

Derrick Brassard only 4 minutes of ice time? I know they want him to get experience but wouldn't it be more beneficial to let him get tons of minutes in Syracuse other than ride the pine for 4 minutes a game?

3 bright lights on the night

1. Jackets road play - they dominated 2 out of 3 periods only to come up short offensively

2. Jason Chimera - 3rd goal in as many games, was flying out there and also had a fight

3. Jody Shelley - played really well and had an assist - strange though seeing him in a different uni

As Hitch said, the Jackets let this one get away plain and simple. The did collect 3 out of 4 points on the road but to me this was one of the more dissapointing losses of the season. To see them play this well and not win, well it sucks and the players have to frustrated.

Time to put this behind them though and focus on LA tomorrow. The Jackets have lost their past 3 at home. To stay in this race they must find that winning forumla in their own barn again. Can't lay an egg against one of the worst teams in LA.

-LTL

Jackets secondary scoring steps up

No shutouts from Leclaire. No hat tricks from Nash. No razzle dazzle from Zherdev. No problem.

Why?

2 goals from Mike Peca. 1g, 1a from Sergei Fedorov. 1g, 1a from Joakim Lindstrom. 2a from Jared Boll. 2a from Jan Hejda. 2a from Jason Chimera.

That's why.

Yes its true, the Jackets finally got some production from their secondary scorers last night and were able to hang on (just barely) to beat the LA Kings for their 6th road win of the season.

Things certainly didn't come easy though as it was a ping pong game back and forth that took some crazy bounces, some of which got past Norrena, but in the end the Jackets got some timely scoring from guys who haven't scored enough this season to win really a "must win" game against the league's worst team.

Lit it up

Secondary scoring. Peca, Feds, Lindstrom, Boll, Hejda, Chimera. They didn't all have great games but they scored....finally. Nash and Z can't do it every game and to have this group of guys step up on the score sheet to grab this two points was huge.

Lets break some of these scorers down a bit:

Lindstrom. How bout this kid? He scored a beauty of a goal and also found Fedorov in the slot to get the Jackets that all important first goal. In just 7 games this kid has 4 points (2g, 2a). Gilbert Brule had 4 points in 31 total games this season to put that in perspective. Keep this kid up -- he's finally looking like an NHLer out there and we need his offense, especially on the PP.

Boll. Finally notched his first assist and then added another. Both were fantastic plays as well -- not the gimmes that players get sometimes. His pass to Peca in the goal crease was no fluke, this kid can play as well as drop the mitts and he proves it more and more by the game.

Peca. Got two re-direction goals. I don't think he's played that well his past group of games but the guy was in the right place at the right time tonight and that was in front of the net getting sticks on pucks. He also played well on the PK.

Jackets PK. They were facing the 4th best PP in the league and league best at home and they killed off all 5 penalties and that was on the 2nd night of a back to back on the road. Very impressive. Norrena was very strong on the PK.

Dim the light

Not sure if it was the score keepers or what but LA out hit the Jackets 39 to 26 according to the score sheet. That's a lot of hitting. Dustin Brown and Raitis Ivanans had some biggies on the CBJ.
Freddy Norrena. Has some bad bounces turn into goals but he stopped enough and the team finally scored enough to get him a win. He's played much better this season but they ended up losses. Such is the ebb and flow of NHL hockey.

Watching the LA feed since there was no local broadcast I thought the Kings TV guys did an excellent job.

Busted bulbs

The Nash-Novonty-Zherdev line went a collective -8 on the night and really struggled in terms of scoring chances, defensive play and turnovers. They need to forget this one quickly.

Thank you Jason Labarbra. I watch the Kings and I think how in the heck can these guys be the worse squad in the NHL b/c they can flat out fly and move the puck? Well, I'll tell ya - they have horrendous goaltending and it showed tonight when Labarbra let in some extremely questionable goals. I'm no goaltending expert but even I could tell he was playing way to low in his crease.

Uggh... have I said how much I hate the West Coast games? Need. Sleep.

3 bright lights on the night

1. Secondary scoring - guys like Feds, Peca and Chimera chipped in on the score sheet in a big way for this one
2. PK - killed 5 of 5 against the league's 4th best PK. In a game that could have went either way this was huge
3. Found way to win on road - I actually thought the team looked much better against Anaheim but they found a win to eeek out 2 points for a big road win

This a game that could have easily went to LA but the Jackets have lost quite a few they deserved to win so its nice to see the tables turned a bit.

The Jackets move into 2nd in the Central with the win and now sit with 44 points at the half way mark of the season for them. They do have 3 games at hand on St. Louis who only sits one point back in 3rd and 2 games at hand over Chicago who is two points back and Nashville who is 4 points back. So in other words, we need those teams to lose!

From a Conference standpoint they are 9th just 1 point out of 7th spot.

They battle the San Jose Sharks in San Jose Saturday night. The Sharks haven't won at home in 3 weeks and lost to Calgary in OT last night. Boys are in a for a fight but if they play like they did against Anaheim they can definitely get out of there with a win.

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts: Jackets look to grab 2 points from LA

The Kings are up next for the Jackets. The second stop on their four game road trip and 2nd game in as many nights.

The Kings possess the worst record in the NHL with a 15-24-2 record. They have however won their past 3 games and are on a roll. This game will certainly not be a cake walk for the Jackets...what games are right?

Keys to lighting em up

Just let me get this out of the way right away. S-C-O-R-E * F-I-R-S-T.....that's it...don't ask me why that is but if we score first we win...if they score first we might as well turn off the tube.

Jackets 3rd ranked PK versus Kings 4th ranked PP. Whomever wins this game within the game will win the game.

Jackets need to limit their penalties for obvious reasons.

Of course it also wouldn't hurt if the Jackets could score more than 1 goal and get one or two off their PP as well.

Norrena in nets tonight. He'll have to be sharp and our best PKer. I like Hitch's decision to start him tonight. I'm not a big fan of playing goalies on back to backs and given the time change and the amount of shots PL faced last night, its a good move.

Watch Kopitar and Brown. Kopitar leads the Kings' with points (a guy taken after Brule - ouch) and Brown leads them in goals with 19. These guys are dangerous, especially on the PP.

Come out with same energy as Anaheim. Its the tail end of a back to back and after a strong gritty performance against the Ducks that didn't yield any results the Jackets have to dig down deep and come out with that same energy tonight...only this time, figure out how to score.

Take advantage of weak LA defense. They have given up the most goals in the Western Conference with 133 -- no excuse to only score 1 or 2 tonight. Need to bury a bunch tonight.

**************************

Another late start tonight, this time at 10:30. Will be interesting to see how this team responds after the Anaheim loss. The Jackets are 2-0 against LA so far this season so they'll be looking to build on that while the Kings will most certainly be using that as motivation to stretch their streak to 4.

A win could go a long way towards making this 4 game road trip successfull.

GO JACKETS!

-LTL

Jackets deserved better fate

The Columbus Blue Jackets lost last night 2-1. It was a game in which I thought they deserved a better fate. The Ducks scored both of their goals of flukey lucky bounces.

The first was a pass by former Jacket Francios Beauchemin that took a lucky deflection off of a Jacket defender, past Foote and Hejda and hopped right onto Ryan Getzlaf's stick for a mini breakaway-- he wasted no time getting Leclaire down and roofing it on the back hand.

The second was equally as flukey as with seconds remaining on the clock in the 2nd period Chris Pronger lobbed a shot from the point on net that was screened twice and which Ron Hainsey tried to block, instead it re-directed off his hand and into the goal....as anyone can tell you, re-directions are a goalie's nightmare and are the most common type of goals scored in the NHL. That was bad break #2.

The Jackets did get on the board w/ rookie Andrew Murray collecting his 1st of his career. They played very well in long stretches and has some really good looks on the PP. Alas, their offense once again failed them and they dropped another 1 goal game.

Lit it up

I thought Leclaire played very well. He only allowed 2 goals off of 34 shots and made some fantastic saves. Team has got to help this guy out with potting some b/c if you only allow two goals the team has got to at least get a point out of the night.

Andrew Murray. Not only did he score his first NHL goal but this dude was flying all night -- had some great energy. He played over 12 minutes, had a couple of hits, a couple of shots and was a +1.

Nice call by Hitch to dress Murray over Glencross.

Dim the light

Manny. Boy did he ever look re-energized out there. Played a very solid game for his first game back. He only went 3 for 8 in the face off circle though so there is definitely room for improvement but generally speaking I really noticed his game last night.

Boys went hit for hit with the Ducks last night. Each team was credited with 16 hits a piece. Jackets overall I thought had some really good energy -- especially after weathering the early Anaheim onslaught in the first.

PK killed 5 of 6 including a brief 5 on 3. They would have been perfect if not for that late 2nd period fluke goal by Pronger.

Jiri Novotny once again led all forwards in ice time. In fact he led all players including defensemen with over 23 minutes in ice time. This guy is really becoming a main piece of this team. Looked solid again last night. I think Hitch may have found his "Handzus" type guy on this squad.

Busted bulbs

Offense. Once again failed to score more than a goal. This is the 5th one goal loss of the year and that's not including all the over time and shoot out losses. Lots of points have been lost because of this offense's inability to generate key goals.

Nash. Shut down last night by Pronger. Nash has got to find a way to fight through and score against these top defensive units. Easier said that done I know but all the great scorers do it...Iginla, Crosby, Heatley, Ovechkin, Lecavalier, etc..

I hate late night West coast games during the work week...uggh.

3 bight lights on the night

1. Andrew Murray - first NHL goal
2. Pascal Leclaire - made 32 of 34 stops on the road
3. Good energy - match Anaheim blow for blow in this game

As Portzline mentioned in the Dispatch blog CBJ fans shouldn't feel terrible about this one. The team showed up and competed hard. Unfortunately they did not get the bounces last night and with the way this team plays and its lack of scoring, all it takes is for once bounce to end up in the loss column. That said, this team has got to figure out how to score more than a goal a game consistantly. Its been their achillies heal all year long.

They really should have gotten at least a point out of this one but its over now, time to focus on LA tonight and puts some points back on the board tonight.

-LTL

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

Pre-game thoughts: Jackets find themselves 13th in conference, must win game tonight against LA

The struggling Jackets take on the worst team in the NHL tonight in the LA Kings. Its a chance for the Jackets to end their two game skid and climb back in the playoff hunt.

Currently the Jackets, after such a great start in October, find themselves 13th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference. They are five points out of the final playoff position.

Keys to lighting em up

Score first. The Jackets stand a much better chance at winning any game they play if they score first.

Play a full 60 minutes. Need a complete effort from everyone tonight. No passengers.

No overconfidence. Sure the Kings are the worst team in the league and are on a 5 game losing streak but we've been here before and seen the Jackets come out flat and lose to a team they should technically beat.

Powerplay. At this point I'll take just one goal on the PP. If I had to look at one area of the Jackets' game that is single handily to blame for they average play over the past month its the PP's lack of scoring timely goals.

Take advantage of Dustin Brown being out. The Kings' leading scorer, Dustin Brown, who has 16 goals is out and the Jackets need to take advantage of this break.

Find chemistry. Lots of new line combos tonight as the Jackets try to jump start their offense. Would be real nice to get 61 going again.

Goaltending. The Kings have given up the most goals in the league and the Jackets must exploit this. If ever there was a time for the Jackets offense to get back on track, tonight it is. Norrena must also continue to play the way he's been all season -- this is not a night the Jackets can afford a bad performance between the pipes.

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This is about as must win of a game as the Jackets are going to get. This is two points they must absolutely have. They have 5 of 6 home games left in December and if they want to salvage something from this month it must start tonight.

Not to get overly dramatic but a loss tonight could really derail this season as it could snowball in a bad way.

Hopefully you all make it out to the RBar tonight and to the game. I'll be playing in the RBar 3 on 3 tourney for part of the game but hope to pop in for at least a period (thank gawd for DVR!).

Go Jackets!!

-LTL

Jackets make it 4 in a row!

The Jackets bent a little but did not break as they beat the LA Kings 4-1. This marks the 4th straight victory for the Jackets and 3rd straight on the road. The Jackets now are 4 games above .500 with a record of 7-4-1.

These times certainly are uncharted waters for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Lit it up

Got to hand it to the "speed line" of Chimera-Manny-Fritsche as they came up big tonight not only scoring (Chimera had two) but also doing a great job of changing momentum a number of times in the game by playing their speed game and cycle game in the corners. This has been the Jackets best line since its been re-united.

Pascal Leclaire - what else can you say about this guy? He's one locked in athlete at this point. He stopped 32 of 33 shots - many quality - as was absolutely stellar during a 1:40+ 5 on 3 two man advantage for LA. Tonight I think was his best game yet this season, including the 4 shutouts he's pitched.

Penalty kill still stellar. They did let in a PP goal tonight (only the 4th of the year) but they killed that 5 on 3 and and 5 of 6 total. Leclaire has been the key but guys are laying it on the line blocking shots, winning battles in the corners, clearing rebounds, winning faceoffs..you name it.

Russell and Klesla. I thought tonight was also Russell's best game of the year. Boy was this kid poised...he hit a post...kept numerous pucks in the zone on the PP....made quick smart plays both at even strength and on the PP....had an assist and was a +2....he was fantastic. Klesla was another guy that I don't think I've given enough credit to this season...he's been a rock on defense....and he's always taking hits to make plays and getting his nose dirty in front of the net, in the corners, along the walls....he's been a horse back there and that was very evident tonight with his 24+ minutes.

It was good to see the Jackets come out with a lot of jump after their layoff - that was one area I was particularly worried about.

Dim the light

Gilbert Brule finally got on the board tonight with a goal. He only played a little over 5 minutes but that had to be a huge confidence boost for this kid. Frankly I'd like to see him get more playing time but its hard to argue with anything that the coaching staff is doing at this point (See record!)...

Even though the Jackets won 4-1 tonight really the score didn't tell the whole tale. The Kings had a lot of quality scoring chances and really grabbed some momentum about half way through the goal. The Jackets had some uncharacteristic turnovers and really sat back in the 3rd as Hitch said in his post game news conference......can't do that regularly b/c teams as talented as the Kings will eventually capitalize.
Rick Nash had a goal and assist tonight. The Rick Nash engine just keeps on chuggin. He really could have buried a few others as well. Good to see him keep getting his chances and piling up the pionts (16 now in 11 games).

Busted Bulbs

Really did not like that Zherdev-Novotny-Vyborny line tonight. They didn't create a whole lot. That said lets see if they can pick things up tomorrow in Anaheim. I'm really not impressed at all with Vyborny this season - he was probably the most invisible forward on the ice tonight for the Jackets and he has a history of not showing up on the road.

OK Tollefsen really didn't have a strong game either on defense. He made some boneheaded turnovers and seemed to have a whole in his stick tonight. Need better play by OKT.

At the end of the day the Jackets won a game I think LA could have easily won as well. I think our goaltender played better than theirs and that was the difference. One thing I always keep in mind with Hitch is that have a system and structure can win you games on nights when maybe the guys didn't have the jump they should have --- in other words, the boys can rely on the system on down nights. I think this game was a good example of that.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy (hockey) Halloween. Its damn fun to win isn't it! We are right back at it with Anaheim tomorrow night at 10 p.m.

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts: Jackets @ LA

Two streaking teams collide in LA tonight. The Jackets, who have a 3 game winning streak, will take on the LA Kings tonight who themselves have a 4 game winning streak of their own.

Keys to lighting em up

The Jackets must shut down the Cammalleri-Kopitar-Brown line. Cammalleri leads the league with 10 goals and combined that line has a total of 34 points - wow!!

Special teams must come up big. LA has the 6th best PP we have the #1 PK. LA has the 19th best PK we have the 15th best PP. Whom ever wins the special teams will most likely win this game.

Both goaltenders are red hot right now in Leclaire and LaBarbera. The Jackets need to score early and rattle him and get him off his streak.

Nash on the road will see the other team's best checkers all night. We need some secondary scoring to step up. The good thing is that Modin is back tonight so it will be Modin-Peca-Nash on a line and even against the other team's best checkers these guys should be able to create some chances. Still though the Chimera-Manny-Fritsche line will need to continue doing what they do and bury a one or two....and it would be good to see a guy like Brule or a d-man come up with one tonight.

The Kings can be scored on... they've already given up 38 against in 12 games which ranks them tied tied for second worst in the league with Nashville. Edmonton being the worst. In contrast the Jackets have given up the least amount of goals although they do have a game or two in hand with most of that conference. So bottom line, the Jackets really have no excuse not to get the offense churning tonight.

Probably the biggest key for me is how does this team come out after 3 days offs? Not only are they playing in the Western time zone they also don't want to come out flat like they did in Colorado. The Jackets must come out swinging and attacking this LA team and score on their chances.

You hate to say this is another important game but it is....really they all are right now as this team must continue to build off their first 10 games. The Jackets have Anahiem on Friday so while ideally they'd like to take 4 points during these two games I think coming out with two would be a decent short road trip. It starts tonight at 10:30.

-LTL

Pre-season Videos

Here are some great pre-season videos that should definitely get the juices flowing -- unfortunately there isn't one of the Jackets yet but regardless these are fun to watch:

Boston Bruins


LA Kings


Montreal Canadiens


Ottawa Senators


NY Rangers


Oh yeah, you can just feel the buildup when you watch stuff like this!!

Also don't forget to check out the "Blue Light Special" vid on the side of this page for your CBJ fix. Skraut does an amazing job putting these together and throughout the year I will change them to feature different ones he's put together.