Weekend in review

I apologize for no updates yesterday but it was just one of those days where it was hard to find the time.

Anyhow lets get to the hockey action from this weekend.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
VS. New York Islanders

The Jackets took care of business in a game where they had to take care of business. They won 3-1 off the strength of solid overall play from everyone in the lineup.

GREEN
* Secondary scoring stepped up. Murray, Chimera and Modin all with goals.

* Overall the Jackets played the kind of game that makes them successfull. Everybody worked hard right through the lineup... They used the cycle well. The goaltending made the saves it should.

* Steve Mason was great again especially in the 3rd period.

* Jakub Voracek looks like a new player out there. He played great and really created the opportunity that resulted in Murray's timely goal to put the game away.

* Actually this game was one of the better officiated games I've seen this season.

* STOP THE PRESSES!!! We got a PP goal!

* The Jackets beat a team they should beat. They also extended their home winning streak to 4.

* The PK did its job killing the two PPs against.

* Group in Section 108 who were singing "Old MacDonald gave a goal" in the 3rd period... nicely done!!

* Jackets were awesome in the dot winning 65% of their draws.

* Loved the Boll Peca Wilson line... I thought those guys had a lot of energy for the few shifts they were out there.

YELLOW
* Decent crowd of over 15k. Would certainly like to see more for a Saturday night game but its a step in the right direction.

* Even Christian Backman played a solid game with over 14 min of ice time and he got 3 shots..on net!

RED
* Hate to see them give up that shorty but they batteld through it.

VS. Chicago Blackhawks

Honestly I haven't gotten a chance to watch this entire game yet. I had a adult league championship game (go Ice Breakers!) so only caught the last 8 minutes.

From what I saw the boys looked like they were playing hard but again failed to put it in the net. They also gave up a last period goal which really hurts.

Modin is cetainly hot though. He notched his 5th goal in 7 games.

While the team is going great at home they have really struggled on the road dropping their past 5 without gaining a single point. Their defense seems to be improving off the great play of Mason but now their offense is drying up.

The Jackets just seem to be treading water right now. Win 2 lose 2 and so on and so forth. They have to go on a run and string some 4 and 5 game winning steaks together here if they really want to realize those playoff dreams.

SYRACUSE CRUNCH
The wheels are falling of the Crunch train. They dropped all 3 games this weekend.

Things started off Friday when they popped 3 in but lost 4-3. On Saturday they lost 4-2 to Toronto and yesterday they dropped a 1-0 decision to Rochester.

After a great start they have won just twice in their past 10 games. They currently sit at 14-12-0-1. They aren't scoring and their goaltending has been as sharp.

Cleary this team needs a wake-up call.

One more note. This was the final game for Nikita Filatov and Maxim Mayorov as they are off to Kingston, Ontario, to try out for the Russian World Junior team.

For more Crunch coverage check out Lindsay Kramer's blog.

OHIO STATE MEN'S HOCKEY
If anyone had a great weekend it was the OSU Men's hockey squad.

They absolutely dominated Bentley in Friday night whipping them 10-1. It was actually a 1 goal game in the 3rd until the flood gates openeded and out poored rivers of offense. The Buckeyes scored 5 PP goals (must be nice!). In all 15 Buckeyes had points in the win.

Things were certainly closer on Saturday night but again the Buckeyes found a way to win in OT off the strenght of Zac Dalpe goal that gave the Bucks a 3-2 victory. Dalpe won the game when he batted a puck out of mid-air at 1:11 of OT to give them the win.

That marks 6 straight wins for the hockey Bucks and improves their record to 11-6-1. They currently sit 6th in the CCHA.

The Buckeyes are off until they host the Ohio Hockey Classic at the Schott starting on Jan 2nd. Miami, Clarkson and Army will be taking part in the tournament.

Finally, check out the Blue Jackets official web site. They have a pretty cool new graphic honoring Brassard and Mason for their rookie of the month awards.

-LTL