Caps get "Mased" in front of packed house!

Two game losing streak... 3 game losing streak at home.. one of the game's best players in this house for only the second time ever... a top Eastern conference team... a packed house.... how the Jackets would respond was anyone's guess...

So what do they do? Mason pitches his 2nd shutout... their captain scores 2 big time goals and the Jackets grab a huge two points in standings and end their 3 game home losing streak.

All in a night's work!

STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW

GREEN

* First off... AWESOME crowd last night. Looked like a damn near sell out and at 17,400+ it almost was. I love it went that place is packed and you can bet the players feed off that energy and the fans were rewarded. Well done Cbus!

* Steve Mason was fantastic. He got his second shutout and some game saving stops.. I really love that early save on Backstrom in the 1st of a scoreless game when he was in alone... Backstrom scores there and who knows where this game turns.. just key goaltending and no doubt you have to keep playing this kid.....he's giving the Jackets a chance to win every time he's in the net. He tracks the puck so well and LOVE that glove on Ovechkin in the 2nd... sweet.

* The Monster Nash was indeed a monster. A couple of big time goals including the back breaking short handed goal in 3rd...on a breakaway (finally!)... it just wasn't his scoring either.. his line was dangerous all night.. he drew penalties and was big on the kill.

* He's not getting rewarded enough but Huselius is playing outstanding hockey.. he's creating... he's backchecking..he's skating hard and well... he's just been snake bitten but the key, like Nash when he was slumping, is that he's getting chances... an how many posts has this dude hit?

* Commodore and Hejda... what a game by this duo.. held the Ovechkin line scoreless... were a combined plus +5... They each threw 3 hits.. .Hejda had 4 blocked shots.. and both played over 24 minutes.

* PK was great... always helps when your goaltender is our best killer which Mason was.

* Was great to see Torres pot one and get rewarded for his solid play the past few games. In fact that line of Modin-Peca-Torres did a solid job themselves shutting down Ovechkin's line. Also liked Modin's work in front of the net on the PP and he was driving the net well last night -- would like to see more games from him like last nights.

* That sounds of the game segment on FSN during the 2nd intermission was slick.

* Cool to see two former Ohio State first round picks in RJ Umberger and David Steckel going at it in the NHL level. Umberger got on the board with a nice drop to Nash on his first goal... Steckel is a maniac in the circle winning 71% of his draws (12 of 17)... and to top it off the hockey Buckeyes also won last night in a come from behind 3rd period win over 14th ranked Omaha-Nebraska.

* Great promotion with the youth hockey sticks. Would love to see more of that.

* Tyutin seems to get more and more confident by the game... I really like him paired with Methot. He had 4 shots and logged over 23 minutes.

* Had a couple of new young hockey fans with me last night ages 12 and 13.... they now love #61... hope you had a good time guys.

* Russell was a solid again... move well, got some pucks through.. took hits to make plays.

* Man is Ovechkin fun to watch...

YELLOW

* Much better in the circle last night winning 51%. Peca showed the importance of winning an offensive zone faceoff on Torres' goal...and then Methot showed what happen when you get shots through from the point which created chaos in front of the cage. Manny was king of the dot winning 13 of 16 for 81%.

* There line wasn't bad but it seemed like a quiet night for the "goat" line. Chimera worked hard, especially defensively. Brass seems to be fighting the puck a bit lately...perhaps going through bit of a rookie slump which will happen. I liked the confidence Hitch showed in Brass and Voracek throwing them out there in the dying seconds with a shutout on the line.

* Another decent game for Backman... I think it helps to keep this guy's minutes limited which Hitch is doing.. he only played 11+.

RED

* PP came up empty handed again and we took a lot of penalties but hard to critique much when you win a game 3-0 so I'll just sit back and enjoy this win!

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT

1. Attendance. Aaahhhh...love a full barn!

2. Mason. Shutout #2....this kid is rolling.

3. Nasher. Timely goals to help lift this team to a much needed win.

HM: Torres for his first goal of the season and as a Jacket.

If you recall last year when we played the Caps Nash had a 5 on 3 shorthanded goal however the Jackets ultimately lost in OT off a Ovechkin shot from the circle. Fast forward to tonight and its Nash on the board again with a shorthanded tally but its the Jackets as a team that kept Ovechkin off the board for the win.

This victory moves Columbus to 10-10-3 on the season. They will look to get on a roll against a Luongo-less Vancouver team at home on Monday.

Enjoy your Sunday!

-LTL