Filatov impresses in sloppy loss

Painful.

That is really the only way to describe the 5-2 loss to Buffalo last night. There were a couple of bright spots but unfortunately they were few and far between.

STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW


GREEN
* Jiri Novotny was the best player on the ice last night. He created, he hit, he tied with Nash for the team lead in shots with 5 and he notched a goal. He was also really good in the faceoff circle winning 73% of them.

* Its no coincidence that his line, the 4th line, was also the most effective. Both Alex Picard and Derek Dorsett played strong games in an energy line role. The line added a goal and generally created havoc all night. Picard led the team in hits with 6. Dorsett had a helper and a couple of shots along with an ill-advised fight against a seasoned enforcer in Andrew Peters.

* Taking everything into consideration I thought Filatov had a fantastic debut. Hitch got him in for 14 shifts for just over 12 minutes. He displayed everything I was hoping for -- he was really quick, showed good hockey smarts, very good with the puck, made some fantastic plays (how about that pass to Clitsome that he rang off the post?), played defense and generally kept his head up and avoided any big hits.... I didn't think he looked that small either... think Michael Peca or Derick Brassard... Still plenty of work ahead for him to improve but this kid has world class skills. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him possibly tonight.

* The Jackets were excellent in the face off circle. Novonty won 73% of his draws, Manny with 71%, Umberger with 67% and Peca with 60%.

YELLOW
* Grant Clitsome played the most minutes of any d-man last night with over 24 minutes. Although he was a -1 and made a couple of mistakes like giving Johan Hecht was to much room to shoot on that first goal (which Norrena should still have stopped) I thought he looked real good. Much better than any other d-man out there last night. This guy is so calm and cool with the puck and moves it out of the zone well. IMO he's seperated himself from the Methot/Rome/Tollefsen/Wilson pack by a good margin. What does that mean for him? We'll find out soon.

* While Kristian Huselius didn't do a whole lot offensively last night the one thing that really stood out to me about his game was his defense. On many occasions he was the first forward back on his line. Now I don't know if that's b/c he was playing the high man or if Manny and Nash were doggin it... but whenever that puck started heading the other way Huselius busted his butt to get back which is always good to see from a high skill guy.

* Nash was okay last night and involved. I thought Murray was his usual self. Other than those two and the players I've already mentioned I don't think anyone else had a game worth noting.

* We have replays!!! The game ops folks did a MUCH better job with replays last night and boy does it make a difference. Still some work to do (like showing the penalty calls to get the crowd into it) but they appear to be on the right track. Now if they would just kill those stupid video clips we may be onto something here.

RED
* Freddy Norrena was just brutal. He gave up 5 goals on 23 shots and I count one maybe two decent goals out of Buffalo's 5. I hope for the Jackets sake that game was just a bump in the road.

* Did Jakub Voracek play last night?

* After a great home debut on Monday RJ Umberger hasn't done much.

* I really really missed Brassard last night. Manny didn't do anything of note (besides face off wins).

* Breakouts were a wreck last night. We couldn't get up the ice with any kind of purpose or technique. Now hopefully that's because 4 out of our 6 starting d-men were out of the lineup.

* The Jackets gave up two PP goals and scored zero. That pretty much sums up the special teams last night.

* I like Derek Dorsett's game and admire his courage out there but he just can't be taking on a guy like Andrew Peters... that is a complete mismatch and quite frankly that's how you really get hurt (just ask Torres). Stick to the middle weights Dorsett and let guys like Peters ride the pine.

* Marc Methot was terrible. Clay Wilson tried to do way to much. Tollefsen can't make a breakout pass to save his life. Commodore and Klelsa didn't really do anything of note. There was our defense last night.

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Jiri Novotny came to play again last night. Can he keep it going all season this year?
2. For an 18 year old kid making his North American debut in the NHL -- yeah, he did just fine!
3. REPLAYS!!

Honoable mention goes to a reader who hooked me up with some great seats last night. We really enjoyed them so thank you thank you thank you!

The Jackets drop to 2-4 on the pre-season. From the sounds of the paper this morning I think Hitch knows his roster so expect this team to trim the remaining fat over the next day or two.

They are right back at it tonight for the final home pre-season game against the Wild. No word yet on the roster but my guess is they'll go with a regular-heavy lineup.

-LTL