Jackets bumble, stumble and fumble their way to OT loss

Well it was a nice 3 period comeback while it lasted -- unfortunately the game was capped off by some very poor defensive coverage by the forwards (Nash & Huselius) that led to the OT winner by the Islanders' Campoli.

The PP was once again ineffective tallying 1 goal in the 3rd period on 7 tries and of course giving up the standard short-handed tally. The PK managed to not allow a goal (on only 2 attempts) which is a step from previous outings.

The bright side is that RJ Umberger is getting it going notching 2 goals and has scored 3 in his past 2 games. Marc Methot was also a flat out stud last night and was clearly the Jackets best d-man and arguably their best player. Absolutely no way this guy can sit in a press box with the way he's playing.


STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW


GREEN
* They did come back from being 3 goals down. Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that locker room. Problem is *if* Hitch did lay into them he can't do that every game to get this team going as they'll eventually tune him out. This team has to find a way to get for games themselves.

* Was nice to see Umberger get a few more to fall for him. They both were the type of hard working goals I expected to get from him when he was acquired. Hopefully he can sustain it.

* Although Methot did have two give-aways he played "wreckless" hockey... he got a much eeded goal to erase the donut, took pucks to the net and played a physical brand of hockey. Our other d-men need to take note. He also played over a 21 minutes of hockey.

* Hey, the team only took two penalties.... and killed em both..

* Jackets played a really good first period.... they were also good in the 3rd until Umberger scored and then either 1. they stopped skating or 2. the Islanders picked up the pace.. .probably a combo of both.

* They did grab a point after trailing by 3 entering the 3rd.

YELLOW
* I liked the Modin-Peca-Torres line.... it certainly showed potential and combined for 10 shots.. unfortunately they couldn't find the back of the net.

* Chimera-Manny-Voracek line was real quiet most of the night... think they missed Brass? I know I did. Manny was real solid at the dot winning 8 of 10. Chimera a -3 -- ouch.

* I like how Tyutin is starting to carry the puck more and look to make some plays... he did get caught up ice pretty bad one time but I see a lot of improvement in his game. That said, he was a -3...double ouch.

* The Jackets were outhit 19 to 13. The only players with more than 1 hit were Commodore with 4 and Methot with 2. Commodore also had 4 blocked shots - decent night of work for him.

RED
* A wide open missed net by Modin... Backman with two horrible plays that resulted in goals and no shots...gave up another shorty (what is that 5 now in 12 games?).... inconsistent goaltending and a PP that just stinks...

* Somebody put an APV out on Nash because at this point I'm not sure who is in that 61 sweater.
* 2nd period was about as bad of hockey as I've seen this team play this year.

* OT overall was bad enough but Nash & Huselius have to be smarter out there... they were clearly out of gas and had the chance to dump the puck and get a change -- instead they tried to make a play, turned over the puck and lollygagged back to their zone...meanwhile Campoli scored not 1 but 2 OT goals.

* Another point sacraficed in OT. Remember this team was tied with the 3rd most losses of any team in OT/SO last season in 12. Those points are extremely valuable. Right now the Jackets are 1-2 in those games.

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Marc Methot. Remember he's a rookie d-man and he outplayed all the veterans back there.
2. RJ. Notched a couple of key goals to enable the Jackets to at least get a point out of it.
3. Comeback in the 3rd.

Apologies to my Islander friend but this is the exact type of game the Jackets have to have this year if they have hopes at competing for a playoff spot. No excuses, they have to have it.

For me I've seen enough of Norrena...seriously what was that on the Guerin break-away? I give LaCosta a shot. I've also seen enough of Backman. He's not generating any offense and last night he was horrendous defensively -- he takes a seat in the press box and I go with 6 defensive defensemen if I have to. I think Nash needs his minutes reduced because he's really fighting something be it exhaustion, confidence, flu, etc.

The Jackets are 1-3-2 over their past six and 1-0-2 over their past 3. They are currently tied for 10th in the West and 3 points out of the 8th playoff spot. The 8th place team is Edmonton who the Jackets play tomorrow night.

Thanks for the comments in the previous thread everyone..and Pub, I'll make use of that great headline soon as I'm sure there will be ample opportunity this season!

-LTL