There won't be any complaining about lack of PP chances for the Jackets after last night's contest against Chicago. The Jackets had 10 opportunities with the man advantage but were only able to convert on 1.
The peppered the 'hawks goaltender Huet with 51 shots but only managed to score 3 goals.
Ultimately the Jackets fell in a shootout 4-3.
Its a shame too as the Jackets played a fantastic game. They just got outgoaltended and out special team'd. You hate to see two points slip away after such a great effort.
GAME STOPLIGHT REVIEW
GREEN
* Solid all around effort from everybody. I can't think of one player that played horrible last night.
* Derick Brassard continues to shine. He collected two more assists and is not doubt the Jackets best offensive player right now. His ice time continues to increase because of it as he logged over 16 minutes last night. How about he control of the puck not once but twice with his feet at high speed and subsequent pass to for Juice for his goal... and that chance he had in OT!? This guy is creating high speed offense all over the ice... he's real fun to watch!!
* Umberger and Tyutin getting their first goals. Even if they didn't score I thought both played one of, if not their, strongest games of the season. Tyutin is really starting to come around, especially with his outlet passes.
* A big plus is that the Jackets drew 10 penalties which means everyone was skating hard. Of course will get to the minus in a bit.
* I thought Torres looked great in his Jacket debut. That dude is a rock and as Howson has stated, even if he doesn't score you can see he can change a game with his physical play.
* ...and down goes Fraser! That was all I could think of after Tollefsen's beat down on him.
* Huselius looked great with the kids... there were a few times where there was some mis-communication but overall this line shined and it was a great to see Juice get that game tying goal.
* Game ops is doing a much better job with replays this season and it makes a big difference. Same with the tunes.
* I hope the 'hawk they dropped off the Dispatch Ice Hause is okay...not really.
* I really liked the fact that the Jackets battled back from being down twice in the game to tie it up and take it to OT.
* You've got to take your hat off to Huet....he was excellent last night.
YELLOW
* For the most part I thought Norrena played a solid game. I think he could have had Seabrook's goal but not a whole lot he could do on the others. He (and the team) got really unlucky on that bounce Sharp got off the boards.
* Nash played better. He made a great play to Tyutin for that shorthanded tally. He didn't look as gassed to me.....right now he really just needs one to drop for him to get him really going.
* I would have liked to have seen Brass and Voracek used in OT...especially on the PP. Those two are the ones creating the majority of offense right now...ride those horses.
* PK gave up two more PP goals.
RED
* The powerplay...ooooh this powerplay. Do you even wonder how Detroit wins all of those games? Sure they have talent but they make you pay consistently with the man advantage. If the Jackets want to become a playoff team they have to do a better job executing with the man advantage. They did a great job entering the zone and moving the puck but they just can't find the back of the net. They need better shots from the point which leads me to....
* Christian Backman. He had over 10 minutes with the man advantage with no registered shots on goal......unacceptable. Nobody can blame Russell certainly for the PP problems.
* Crowd announced at just over 14k on a Saturday night. Those who were there got real loud as the game progressed though which actually turned to be a fun atmosphere in the building - especially in the 3rd.
* With the way Brass is playing I would have had him shoot over Voracek.
* The Jackets are also not doing a good job of setting up for one timers....a big reason for that is the only guy on the roster that is really any good at that is Modin and he's out of the lineup.
* This team has to step up this year and score in the shootout....they can't afford to give those points away.
3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Derick Brassard had another great performance.
2. Umberger and Tyutin get their first goals.
3. Team generally played fantastic but ran into a hot goaltender and PP sputtered.
Ultimately the Jackets failed to gain any ground in the central and are last with 9 points - 1 point behind St. Louis. On one hand I'm glad they got a point out of it but on the other I'm disappointed because they certainly outplayed the 'hawks but the special teams failed to deliver.
Up next is the Islanders on the road on Monday.
-LTL
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Powerplay comes up short in hard fought effort
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9 comments:
Great recap, I agree with everything. I made this statement in the Puck Rakers blog but I'll ask it here: Why are the "top 5" defensemen locked into the lineup? Why did Methot have to sit? I'm sure there's SOMEBODY who hasn't been pulling his weight...
That being said, Tollefsen played a solid, solid game. He looked very good out there to me. He totally owned Frasier.
How about Raffi Torres? The hit he laid on Byfuglein (sp?) was sick. I can't wait to get him on the special teams.
Why Nash in the shootout? My lineup was Juice, Brass, and Voracek. I thought Norrena looked kind of weak in the shootout.
Good grief. Yes the PP needs improved. However Montreal, SJ, Rangers, Jersey are all sitting at 18% or under.
Mean they are on page to score 3 (or less) extra goals every 100 chances. Or about 1 goal every 6 games or so.
Which leads me to... You list one timers (?!), PP, and yet no red for the PK? Or PK concerns me far more. It's not sitting at under 80%.
Why are you still hung up on Russell? No one "blamed" him for the issues with the PP. Actually at the time he went down we were stilling closer to 30% and he had 1 PP point.
Goalie wasn't so hot as we didn't finish and we were shoot from everywhere. 40 of those 51 weren't very difficult stops. We had him beat multiple times and we hit iron, shot it wide, or missed.
Just a thought, assume attendence is red (and so will we) so you don't have to waste the time to write it in every home game. Surprise us with a green what Nationwide is packed.
did anyone else think the shootout attempts from nash and huselius were weak last night?
and on a side note how many shots went off the post last night for both teams?
I'm hung on up Russell b/c I think he could actually help our PP problems. Backman certainly hasn't been the answer and Russell was actually getting pucks on the net when he was out there. No shots on goal with over 10 minutes of PP from our PP QB -- that is a problem.
Yes the PK has stunk but not as bad as the PP IMO. It could have been red but I thought they got some unlucky bounces last night (think Sharp) and it hasn't been nearly as bad as the PP.
Speaking of, so your point is that teams can be good and have bad PPs?
That could easily be said for the PK as well....just ask Detroit/Boston/Edmoton/New Jersey. Why was that not mentioned?
You need to have good special teams and we've seen where this team ends up with only a good PK -- 80 points and out of the playoffs.
..and I will continue to list attendace as red when its bad and green when its good. Its a big problem that I am not going to overlook even if you choose to.
-LTL
Anyonmous #2 -- yeah, I also thought they were weak. I was expecting more from Hueselius -- we need him to be clutch at that moment for us.
I believe both teams clanked shots off the posts 3 times a piece. The one Keith had with less than a minute to go almost put me into congestive heart failure :)
-LTL
On attendance: Might a comparison of Columbus' attendance v. other teams home attendance be in order? Word has it that the economy is taking its toll, and that attendance is down drastically all over the league.
Hello Tom,
According to ESPN.com Columbus ranks 27th in the league attendance.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance
Now I will say that with MacLean out of the picture and Preist in charge the Jackets have been reporting "actual" attendance where many arenas throughout the NHL - espeically in the US - like to inflate those numbers with comp'd tickets/etc.
-LTL
I thought Chimera looked strong, even if he wasn't on the "Goat Line". He seemed to be the one getting physical on that top line. Speaking of physical, that line of umberger, peca and torres was all over the place, especially in the third perios. Laid out some monstrous hits and Umberger seems to be getting some confidence back after that goal (which btw that move in tight kicking the puck to his stick and shooting nearly immediatly was sweet).I agree our defense as a whole looks better now. Commodore had a pretty good open ice hit earlier in the game. On the sour side of things, did anybody notice how tired our PP looked after about the third one in a row? I swear the same group of five was out there for the entire time (mainly I noticed huselius was out there for a couple 1-2 minute shifts). I also wish Hitch would use Voracek more during OT. I think he's shown he can be responsible and explosive (especially now with the added time on the power play as point man).
One thing that has really been irritating me is how often a guy can just streak right down the center on goal with no one noticing?
On the lighter side, my "Word Verification" for this post is BLIND. Coincidence?
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