Can we just make believe that 5 car pile up in Nationwide night didn't happen?
Unfortunately that answer is no but the Jackets will need to quickly erase it from their memories.
Nothing went right last night much to the Stars credit.
The Jackets were loose defensively. Goaltending across the board was horrendous. Bounces didn't go the Jackets way. The Stars wanted that game and they were rightfully awarded the 2 points.
STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW
GREEN
* Attendance was fantastic with over 18,000 in the house. Now about that show the team put on in front of them.
* Hey, they got a PP goal...and it was almost a 5 on 3 goal...almost.
* Huselius's goal was sweet.
* Credit to the Stars... they wanted this game more than the Jackets.
* I picked a good game not to attend.
YELLOW
* I thought there for a bit the Jackets were going to pull a rabbit out of the hat when they cut the Stars lead to 3-2.
* At least they didn't get shutout.
* None of the Stars' goals were of the powerplay variety...which is surprising. Then again the Jackets did a decent job staying out of the box.
* The Jason Chimera center experiment needs to come to a close... squares don't fit in round holes.
* Officiating was pretty good.. although I'm still wondering how Methot didn't get any penalties for dropping them on Ott.... credit to him though again for standing up for his teammates.
RED
* If you didn't realize how important goaltending is is in this game then last night should drive home that point. Dallas certainly worked for some of those 7 goals but the Jackets didn't help themselves with mistakes they made up ice and in front of the net... unfortunately the goaltending was not there to bail them out in this one.
* We know why the Jackets have been riding Mason like they have... Dubielewicz was horrendous. Gave up rebounds all over the ice... got beat high... was overplaying just about every shot.. I should hope it was first game jitters otherwise no way this guy belongs in this league.
* Mase caught some unlucky breaks on the first 2 goals but that 3rd one was certainly on him. Was smart of Hitch to pull him and give this kid a rest....especially since we now know he's be battling mono.
* Nobody in particular had a strong game. In fact collectively the team was a -24. Only 3 skaters finished with out a negative in the +/-.
* How many posts were hit in this game from both sides?
3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
* Attendance
* Huselius's goal
* ummm....PP goal?
The loss drop the Jackets to 9th in the West tied with Phoenix, Dallas, Edmonton & Minnesota with 53 points. Unfortunately all but Phoenix have games in hand on the Jackets.
Games like this one have been few and far between this season. What the Jackets can't afford to do is go on any kind of extended losing streak.
The good news is that the Jackets have been able to quickly put games like this behind them and respond with a solid effort in the next game.
As the cliche goes... can't get too high after wins...and can't get too low after losses.
The Blues are up next at home on Tuesday.
GO JACKETS!
-LTL
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Eraser
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4 comments:
Knowing that Mase has been battling mono helps explain his play the last few games. Not making excuses for Dubielewicz, but not playing for a while and stock pads that looked ill-fitting on him shoed up big time. He seems so small in net after having Mase in there. Hopefully the rust leaves him quick as we are going to need him to carry the play when Mase gets a rest. As Hitch said, he just had a bad game.
Tuesday against the Blues will be a "heavy" game and the Jackets better be ready. They (and us) don't need to slide right now. Learn the lessons from last night and move on. We're still only 2 points out of 5th.
I agree with Rick about Dubie's troubles. Coach Hitchcock will have the boys ready for the game on Tuesday. It's a shame they had to blow up in front of a massive, weighty crowd... but let's face it, the CBJ are something like 10-3 at home lately. I think this is just a blip, one that every team has (even the mighty Red Wings). They'll be back, and hopefully looking for redemption against a struggling St. Louis Blues team.
I Was at the game (debacle?), last night (as I usually am). OUCH!
Granted, Mase was not at his best, but, the D was awful, and the Stars beat the CBJ, at all facets of the game - coming up with pucks in the corners, beating them to the pucks, disrupting the rythm, etc. (The CBJ) Just got flat out outplayed.
BTW - Dubie looks like a flat-out midget, coming in after Mase skated off the ice (lol).
Frankly, the Chimmers (at center) experiment went 2 1/2 games longer than I'd expected. Playing center requires not having hands of stone and does require being cerebral (uh, great guy, but not exactly Henrik Zetterberg).
Every team goes thru a stinker of a game, or two - this really was the first one since the debacle on Dec. 23rd.
So, let's all get out and support the CBJ on Tuesday against those dreaded Blues!
Oh, and to those "Steeler's Suck" chants?
Uh hey, the last 43 years called, and the Browns haven't yet made the Super Bowl. The Browns are 1 of 5 who haven't yet, and 2 of them are late expansion teams.
So, come up with a better chant during boring parts of the game, Sections 210-212, and, one other thing:
S#ck it! S#ck it, hard!
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