Jackets Gamebox: vs. Minnesota

Gamebox
vs. Minnesota
October 3rd, 2009

OFFENSE
Last season the Jackets and Wild were nearly identical in goals scored averaging 2.68 and 2.61 respectively. The Jackets scored just 6 more total goals than the Wild at 220.

..but what about this season?

The Wild lost offensive but oft-injured star Marion Gabrik but replaced him with Martin Havlat. They also have a healthy Brent Burns patrolling their blueline. The Wild however didn't have a single player crack the 70 point plateau with Koivu leading the team in scoring with 67 points.

The Jackets are led by Nash who scored 79 points a season ago. They will also have a healthy Derick Brassard back in their lineup with the addition of a full year of Antoine Vermette.

Havlat's addition plus a healthy Burns isn't enough to match Nash, Juice, Umberger, Vermette and the kids.

Edge: Jackets

DEFENSE
Under Jaques Lemaire the Wild were one of the most suffocating defensive teams in the league. Last year they gave up only 2.40 goals against which was good for 2nd overall in the league. The Jackets, no defensive slouch in their own right, checked in at 9th giving up 2.72.

The Wild return many of their defensive starters from a year ago with the addition of Greg Zanon. The Jackets are in a similar position with the lone addition being Anton Stralman.

I'm gonna give the Wild a slight edge here but with Lemaire gone they could open up offensively which could lead their defense more vulnerable than in year's past. The Jackets under Hitch should pick up where they left off last year.

Edge: Wild

GOALTENDING
Stat time:
Backstrom
W: 37
L: 24
OT: 8
GAA: 2.33
Save%: .923

Mason:
W: 33
L: 20
OT: 7
GAA: 2.29
Save%: .916

Yeah I'd say it's a toss up.

Edge: Push

SPECIAL TEAMS
Not much to go off yet so again gonna have to defer to last year's stats.

Wild
PP: 20.1 (9th)
PK: 87.6 (2nd)

Jackets
PP: 12.7 (30th)
PK: 82.1 (13th)

Special teams are how the Wild were able to compete last year. To be ranked in the top 10 of both categories is very hard to do. Until the Jackets prove otherwise the Wild has the clear advantage in this one.

Edge: Wild

X FACTOR
Pretty easy one... the Jackets get to play this one at home in front of a large (hopefully sell out) crowd coming off their first ever playoff appearance. They should feed off the energy of that crowd and deliver a 'W'.

I caution though that I also thought the Jackets had the clear advantage at the final home game last year where all they needed was a point to avoid Detroit in the first round and they fell flat on their faces.

You hate to call any game a must win this early but with the next 3 being road games -- and all home openers for those teams -- this is a crucial 2 points to grab out of the gate.

******************

Hockey is back ladies and gentlemen. Not sure about the rest of ya but we'll be hitting up our favorite hockey home away from home - the R Bar - at or right after their 1 p.m. EST opening time!

Whatever your pre-game routine - have a great time as there is always just something special about opening night.

GO JACKETS!!!

(Thanks to Dru for the great graphic!)

-LTL

Stars shine

STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW

vs. Minnesota

09.21.09
Score: 5-1 (Jackets)

GREEN
* The first line came to play. Some great line play as well as individual performances. Brass's pass was a thing of beauty on Clitsome's tally... Nash's goal was jaw dropping.. then the cake topper was the tic tac toe passing of Nash to Juice who found Brass who buried it. I hope that was just a taste of what is to come this year.

* John Moore was absolutely light's out.... as I was saying a couple of folks around me either he is that good or the guys around him are that bad. His skating is world class.. his hockey sense seems far and beyond his age... he vision looks outstanding and then how about that hip check? The kid will most likely go back to junior as you want him developing and not sitting but wow, he's much further along that I would have ever anticipated. This is a prime reason why you hang onto your first round picks folks -- sure some bust but it's how you get your hands on blue chip talent like a Moore.

* Game ops picking up there game! First the replays... the GLORIOUS REPLAYS!!!! From the multiple angle of goals to the replay of the fights.. absolutely LOVED IT!!! Then how about the music? 1,000,000 times better than anything I had heard previously and the crowd was absolutely digging it and getting pumped!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Kimberly Kershaw -- keep it goin!!

* The Hammond B3 gets its own green light. It totally kicked ass!!!

* Fights/scrums. First off I didn't know Blunden could drop them the way he did... then how Boll goes against a guy 3 inches taller who has at least another 20 lbs on him and hangs in there the way he did is somethin... Picard took care of his man with no problem then of course Clitsome's body slam. I generally liked the way everyone right down to Kris Russell was getting their noses dirty in this game.

* Picard was flying around all night. Really like his energy and he was getting down in those dirty areas which we could really use in our lineup. Gonna be hard to keep him off the opening night roster with his play.

* Clitsome... besides the He-Man "I have the power" strength he showed in his body slam take down.. he looked pretty solid out there.. nice finish on the goal and some solid plays with the puck.. I'm a big fan of his but will have to see him a few more times this preseason to tell if he's ready to lock down that #7 spot... he's a guy I definitely would like to see play a lot of minutes to continue his development be it here or another year on the farm.

* Vermette with an absolute beauty of a shorthanded goal that he created and finished all himself. I like his energy and elusiveness tonight as well. That 68% in the dot wasn't bad either!

*Ushers for finally figuring out its preseason and using their good judgement.

* Still love that cannon!!

* Just being in that arena for the start of a new season always gets a green light in my book.

* The Jacket Backers for a great ticket deal for those that renew their memberships!! Stlll tickets available for tonight's game and Sundays! Sign up or renew here!

* Jake's hair! Seriously though looked great and even more confident out there...

* Murray. Loved his game. He really battled hard in the corners and didn't lose many puck battles. I would like to see him shoot a little more when he has the looks.. he was guilty of trying to be too unselfish a bit last night. Guy is playing like he doesn't want to lose his spot which was great to see.

* The R Bar for being the R Bar!!

YELLOW
* Pahlsson looked pretty good... very active sticks.. excellent positioning... guess who was out there at the end of the game?

* Mayorov. Take this to the bank -- this guy will be a full time NHLer this time next season. I think he's taken a gigantic step since last year in every aspect of the game. Much more of a North American flavor to his game now. I just hope he stays committed to North America and keeps workin hard b/c he isn't that far away.

* While game ops took some major steps forward... I had to cringe when I saw the Austin Powers movie clip and then that Kiss Cam... I understand some fans like it... at least there was no sound this time with the movie clip and the gimmicks were kept to a minimum.

* Crowd was sparse but got really loud..especially towards the end with all the action..... I thought they really fed off the replays and music...

* Solid night for Mase between the pipes. He didn't see a whole lot of action but was there when he needed to be.

* Not a whole lot of missed shots which was encouraging.. heck, Huselius didn't even hit a post.

RED
* More injuries... Torres out with back spasms.. it looked like Boll hurt his hand.

* That lack of a big time shot is going to continue to haunt us... all I could think about when we had that 5 on 3 was if only Erhoff was back there to pull the big trigger.. instead we tried to work everything down low was the Wild did a good job of neutralizing.

* Friend of a friend who said "shutout" before the end of the game.. told ya I give you a red light ;)

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Top line combined for 7 points.
2. Everybody getting their noses dirty.
3. Game Ops is back!!

Was really good to see the boys notch their first win. Even though it's "just preseason" nobody likes to lose.

The boys are back at it tonight at 7:00 EST at home vs. the Boston Bruins!

C-ya there!!

-LTL

Live and learn

The Jackets lived though a tough game in St. Louis last night but there is a lot they can learn from it.

First off.. .that is the kind of hostile atmosphere the Jackets are going to encounter for every road game in the playoffs. They can't get rattled... Among other things they have to battle through absolutely atrocious officiating and come out on the other side. They are going to need to figure out how to raise their level of play to match the other team's intensity and desperation and keep the game within reach.

Everyone knew that game last night was a tough draw and that is exactly how it played out.

That's okay as long as you learn from it and move on.

The Jackets have done a lot of learning this season and the best part about is that they have done a lot of moving on as well.

Now it's time and focus on getting a point of the Wild to secure that 6th playoff position.

The biggest key tonight is for the Jackets to feed off the energy of a sold out hyped up Nationwide Arena crowd. The Wild are done.. their playoff chances are over. The Jackets have the most to play for now and they can't let the Wild play spoiler.

I also wanted to mention what a great job the Jackets Backers did last night with their game viewing party. In fact they've done a fabulous job all seasons with their events. I would encourage all you fans out there to become members as it really is a fun and well run booster club.

Sorry for the short post today but I'm headin on down to the Arena District to start soaking this one up!

Hope to see you at the R or Garage! Look for the "Jacket".

GO JACKETS!!

-LTL

Filatov goes wild!

Not only are the Jackets staying afloat with all of these injures...the veterans that remain and even better, the youngsters, are thriving under the pressure!

The youth was on display yet again last night in a big way as the Jackets, fuleld from a hat trick from 18 year old Russian Nikita Filatov, knocked of the Minnesota Wild by a final score of 4-2.

It was typical Jackets/Wild affair through the first two periods but the Jackets broke it open in the 3rd off a nifty play by Alexandre Picard, yes I did say Alexandre Picard, who slid a nice cross ice pass to Derek Dorsett who made no mistake burying the biscuit to put the Jackets up 2-1. Filatov followed with two spectacular goals to push the lead to 4-1 before the Jackets gave up a late PP goal....by that time the game was well in hand.

This team is coming together folks... they needed that spark from Mason and now its catching fire right before our eyes. They are believing they can win every single night.... I can't remember the Jackets playing so hard on the tail end of a back to back... coming off a very successful road trip the Jackets have been known to come out flat but not now...not the way this team is chugging along.

STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW

GREEN
* LOVE the way this team came out in the first! They were competing all over the ice which is what you have to do against this Wild team.

* Nikita Filatov... he gave us just a small taste of what this kid bring at this level... let me say I can't wait to see the full course meal! All 3 goals were of highlight reel material.... I personally loved the last two and that showcased the kid's speed and quick release.. wow! Wonder how many were second guessing passing on this kid before he got to us last night?

* Nikita didn't do it himself though.. his linemates in Peca and Voracek were fantastic as well.. Peca with 2 helpers and Voracek with his first 3 point NHL game... that pass Peca made on the Filatov's last goal... thing of beauty..

* Jackets rocked again at even strength with 4 goals.. thought a couple of their PPs were rolling well but weren't able to pot one.

* Great crowd at oer 16,500... great to see promotions that are putting butts in the seats.. with performances like that they'll come back buying tickets at face value!

* Wanted to give a shout out to the game ops.... not sure if anyone else noticed but they really limited the fluff and sponsor games throughout instead they focused on hockey... they ran a great Mason segment as well as a Nash All Star tribute... also loved the bit on the kids and youth hockey... great job!

* Hitch did a good job spreading the ice time around and using his bench last night. A must when your playing back to back while hoping to keep your energy high...

* How about the super fly snooka belly flop on Harding by Dorsett after his goal... I didn't catch that live but lost it when watching the replay... well deserved goal by Dorsett though, that guy has been playing fantastic hockey.

* D collectively was really good.. from the forwards all the way back to the goalie... the actual defense is playing with a lot of confidence now in front of Mase.. making some really nice outlet passes as well.

* Section 108 with their "Tanya" Harding goalie chats.. nice job fellas!

* Line at the R Bar to get in post game...? Yeah I think the word is out! Place was rockin!

YELLOW
* Boller had a nice go around with Weller... I'd give Weller the decision but that was a great fight.
* Steve Mason wasn't perfect....? What gives! Wasn't his best game but the kid was still really good and basically didn't see either shot he let in..

RED
* Hate to see them let in late PP goal...but would rather have that then with a 3 goal lead then other obvious circumstances.

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Nikita Filatov.. first Jackets rookie to record a hat trick.
2. Strong team effort!
3. Peca, Voracek and Dorsett in particular to me had fantastic games! Lots of people stepping up to keep playoff hopes alive.

The win pushed the Jackets back to two games over the .500 mark with a 20-18-4 record. They are 6-4 over their last 10 and have won 7 of their past 8 at home.

They are certainly rolling.

...and the hope is they roll right over the Foote-less Avalanche this Tuesday at home!

-LTL

Simply a-mase-ing!!

The Caps just got "mased".....again!

45 saves... he now leads the league in save %, gaa ans shutouts!

This 3-0 win for me was one of the most improbable wins I've ever seen from the Jackets. They did it with ten 1st or 2nd year players... with 9 regulars out of the lineup including their captain... against a team that had only lost 1 game in regulation at home all season long..... and against arguably the best player in this game in shutout fashion no less.

Lots of praise to go around for this one so lets get right to it.

STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW



GREEN
* Steve Mason stole this game.... the team scored some key goals for him but 45 saves against a team like the Caps... just what do we have in this kid....? I mean he's done this for 24 games straight now and makes it look pretty routine out there. Need some luck to get the shutout but those posts hits came after the Jackets were up 2-0... he made those early saves in the 1st that really boosted this squad.

* Team effort.... the vets remaining in Peca, Umberer, Modin, Malhotra, Commodore, Hejda and Tyutin... they all picked up their games and delivered in a big way. The young kids all did their part.

* The best game I've seen Voracek play as a Jacket hands down. He made great play on Umberger's goal and was skating the puck with more confidence than I've ever seen from him at this level... the 16 minutes of ice time Hitch gave him certainly backs that up.

* Got that key first goal!

* Even though the PP struggled early it came through with a big 2 goals which sealed this one.. they were both generated from quick point shots which the Jackets have done a better job at getting off.

* Jared Boll taking one for the team and then making it count where it should count most... the scoreboard!

* PK.....with Mase as its best killer... was perfect against the league's 4th best PP.

* Jackets had no business winning that game... they were outplayed.. but you know what, there have been many nights this year when that has happened to us.. bout time we had one go our way.

* Murray was a beast and was hustling all over the ice. Played over 18 minutes and made a big difference out there.

* Jackets did the little things... took the hits..made the hits... guys like Boll stayed disciplined.. won key faceoffs... played hard in the hard areas.. scored those dirty goals...blocked shots...cleared the crease... you name it.

* Peca's best game of the year.. not even close.

* Jackets blocked 16 shots led by Marc Methot...

* Ovechkin had 12 shots.. 12!! ...yet MASED!!!

* Great game by Boller.. he played over 14 minutes collected 1g 1a... Jackets needed guys like him to step up and he certainly did that.

* Who else saw that smile from Hitch at the end of the game..? Almost like a "how in the hell did we pull that off?" kinda smile....

* Was it just me or did it seem like Hitch was just rolling the lines on the PP? Heck why not right?

* 4-2 on this road trip.... really somebody pinch me... I would have been happy with .500 but to go 4-2 is season saving material. Very proud of these guys especially with given all of injuries...which haven't been used as an excuse by anyone.

YELLOW
* If I heard the word "understaffed" used by Rimer one more time I was putting the game on mute.... Loved the shout out to the R Bar though!!

* Boys got hemmed in their end pretty bad there a few shifts.... young Russians caught in a couple of those. Both Filatov and Mayorov were gripping their sticks pretty tight but you can see the raw skill with both of these guys and as the game moved along they looked more and more comfortable out there.

RED
* Officiating was horrendous... a phantom trip call... an unacceptable missed offside call that lead to a PP for the Caps... Brashear not given an instigating penalty for sucker punching Jared Boll... too many men for a play that happens 20 times a game... there were a couple of make up calls in there but you can't just give-away free penalties..

* That said the Jackets were guilty of some of those calls...they were lucky to survive but need to be more disciplined.

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Mase
2. Special teams were big...Jackets got it done on the PP and PK.
3. Team effort... everybody stepped up and had a hand in this one.

The win moves the Jackets back above .500 and keeps them right in the fight. It really is something to watch just how important that goaltending position is in this game.

No time to sit back and enjoy this one as its the Wild at home tomorrow night who are in direct contention with one of those final playoff spots with the Jackets. The Jackets have to watch for the let down at home and they also have to be careful not to burn out Mason. Hitch did say he should get 1 or 2 bodies back for tomorrow's tilt.... Huselius should be one of those guy... we can only hope the other is Nash.

Fantastic effort fellas... I'm one very proud CBJ fan tonight!

-LTL

Jackets grab important point

This time Nash left no doubt when he tied up the game with a nifty and steal and equally swift backhand to tie the game at 2 7 minutes into the 3rd period.

This was Nash's 3rd goal in the past 3 games. Yeah, he's starting heat er up just in time for snow fall in central Ohio.

Actually overall the Jackets played a strong road game in the 2nd night of a back to back. Real strong. The Wild are a tough team to beat, especially at home. The Jackets didn't take any short cuts, they competed in the trenches, dumped and chased their way past the Wild's trap and scored timely goals to get the game to OT and earn a very important point.

If you would have told me before the two games this weekend that we'd take 3 of 4 points. I would have taken it and ran like I stole somethin.

STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW

GREEN

* Overall just a solid road game. The Jackets competed in all areas and got much better as the game moved on.

* Nash was a force last night. He created both goals. He drove the net like we hadn't really seen much this year to create chaos in front of the net which resulted in Huselius getting the tally. Then he made a fantastic play to steal a pass from rookie James Sheppard and then he finally converted in 1:1 situation when he went to the backhand to beat Backstrom.

* I thought the Chimera-Manny-Umberger line was a excellent again. They didn't get on the scoreboard but they had some dominating shifts and chewed up a lot of key minutes. Manny was excellent in the dot winning 15 of 20.

* 3 of 4 points on the road against two very good team - oh yeah, that's ever-green! The weekend moved the Jackets to very respectable 3-4-2 on the road.

* Even strength play contiues to be the lifeline of this team. Two more goals tonight 5 v 5.

* I thought Mason was good once again. Not much he could do on either goal scored. He's stopped the shots he should and then some. This Mason vs. Leclaire pushing each other deal could really spark something here for the Jackets. Goaltending is just so important and if you get two guys competing against one another then the standard of play should only improve.

YELLOW

* It great to see Huselius get that late period goal but I love the way this guy is competing defensively. Skating back hard and breaking up some dangerous plays with the opposition. I've liked this guy all year long actually. He's had an off night or two but for the most part you know what your getting game in and game out.

* Hate to see the team compete so hard and lose in the shootout.

* The Jackets did a decent job staying out of the box collecting just 3 minors. Unfortunately one of those the Wild's PP converted on.

* Speaking of the Wild's PP....their defense is so good at moving the puck and are very mobile (just re-watch Kim Johnsson skate the puck out of trouble in his own end).... they are especially potent on the PP... both of their goals were generated off shots from the point. Look no further than that as a reason why our PP continues to sputter...we have nothing on the points.

* Jan Hejda lead all Jackets with a whopping 28 minutes of ice time. Unfortunately he finished a -1.

RED

* Nothing really stood out to me as being horrible last night. Backman has his typical night and Voracek looks like he's losing some confidence out there but that's really about it. Jared Boll has also been relatively MIA this season.

* For a sold out crowd it sure did seem pretty quiet in the Excel Center last night.

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT

1. Jackets overall played a strong road game.

2. Best game from Nash in a while and a very timely forced turnover and subsequent goal to boot.

3. Chimera-Manny-Umberger line was strong again.

The Jackets move to 8-7-3 which gives them 19 points and ties them with Chicago and Nashville in the Central. Unfortunately the other teams haves games at hand so that number is a bit mis-leading.

Still the Jackets are getting important points in situations where in the past they failed to get.

Next up is the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Edmonton is a team who after a fast start has lost their past 2, including a back-breaker in OT to the Avalanche last night, and will certainly be ready to play come Tuesday. The Jackets cannot blow a tire like they did against Phoenix in their last appearance at home this past Wednesday.

A really good weekend. Need to keep the momentum going this week against the Oil and away in Atlanta on Saturday.

-LTL

Game reaction

Lost in all this goal inconclusive-so-lets-reverse-it mumbo jumbo was a decent road game by most of the Jackets.

I'll spare everyone the spotlight today and just throw a few thoughts out there and see what you all think:

* Leclaire held the Jackets in there during the first period and played very well - especially on the extended 5 on 3. Not much he could do on either Wild goal but unfortunately he left the game injured (again). If this guy could ever stay healthy.... sigh.

* Have the Jackets gotten a 5 on 3 PP yet this season?

* Chimera-Brassard-Voracek created the most chances by far...again... was nice to see Hitch increase Voracek's ice time to just under 15 minutes. That's more like it. These two kids are playing wonderful hockey and look to be the real deal. I hope Hitch keeps playing them b/c I still believe they are the difference for us being contenders or pretenders.

* I tell ya Brass got real lucky out there catching that skate blade on his chin and not on his throat. There were some anxious moments there and I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say thankfully he's okay. Was great to see him come back out and make a nice rush with the puck to set up Nash's goal.

* The good news is that he's creating some fantastic chances for himself....the bad news is that he's 0-7 on those 7 breakways. C'mon law of averages...!

* The Jackets had there moments last night controlling long stretches of the play....unfortunately so did the Wild. Overall a decent road game minus the climax.

* Loved Brass's reaction after that game ended when he broke his stick in frustration. These new faces aren't used to losing and that's a good thing.

* I thought Manny looked better than Umberger between Nash and Huselius but that's not saying whole lot. I really like his ability to win some offensive zone faceoffs even though he had a below average night in the circle by his standards winning 10 and losing 12.

* I thought the top 4 defensmen played better than they have recently. Klesla got a goal but just as important were that I thought both he and Tyutin managed the puck better.

As I mentioned in the comments of a previous post, Hitch has his work cut out for him to pull this team back together after such a back breaking loss. You hate to say it, but at 3-5 you've got to find a way to get some points tomorrow night off a struggling Anaheim squad.

Ohio State and Syracuse fared better this weekend. Ohio State lost versus #2 Denver on Friday but rebounded on Saturday night with an exciting come from behind 4-3 win which was capped off by Sophomore Peter Boyd. Zac Dalpe, Chris Reed and Corey Elkins all scored for the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes now sit at 2-3-1.

The Crunch won both of their games over the weekend to move to 5-1 (what's that like?). They won 4-3 over Binghamton Friday with goals from Wilson, Sigalet, MacDonald and Pineault. Plekhanov had a couple of helpers and Mayorov picked up one as well.

Speaking Mayorov, he added 2g and another assist the following night as the Crunch rocked a very poor Rochester team 6-1. Wilson also had 3 points with a goal and two helpers, Plekanov added another 2 assists, Vigalante had a goal and a helper and Starkov added a goal. John "nasty" Mirasty also added a few fights to the mix which I read that he won both against a guy a foot taller.

Mayorov has 3g 4a in 6 games thus far and from all reports, has looked very good early. He's tied with Plekhanov and Wilson for the team lead in scoring.

Dan LaCosta won both games and its expected Steve Mason will get his first game action next weekend.

Puck-rakers also reported this afternoon that Jared Boll is expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow night. No word yet on if he's "fight eligible".

Oh and about that reversal -- here is the Wild's own beat writer's view on the goal:

"The Wild owes the NHL's video war room a bouquet of roses and bottle of Pinot noir."


-LTL

Jackets pull it out

The Jackets improved to 3-4 on the pre-season after dominating (well minus a 2:30 second span they'd quickly like to forget in the 2nd) a Minnesota team that had been 4-1 in the pre-season coming into tonight's tilt.

They almost let this one get away though after going up 3-0 early which fashioned meltdowns of yesteryear but they kept plugging away and were able to pull this one out in the 3rd off a Kris Russell game winner.

I missed most of the first period live as I was late arriving but I did catch most of it on the radio.


STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW


GREEN
* I mean what else can you say, the Jackets absolutely dominated the majority of this game. For the most part all cylinders were a go tonight. In fact I've seen pin-ball machines less tilted for most of this one.

* Nash-Umberger-Huselius. They looked real good and real dangerous. In no way/shape/form did I think Huselius would be half the player we've seen this pre-season. I'm not sure Nash knows what to do quite yet playing with this skilled of a player who uses his teammates so incredibly well. He's figuring it out pretty quickly.

* How about those hands on Huselius' goal. Wow!

* Kris Russell probably played the best game as a Jacket I have seen from him (well the best 2 periods anyways!). He played over 21 mintues of quality time including 5+ minutes on the PP. He kept playes alive, jumped into holes, skated the puck well, notched a the game winner and finished a +1.

* Holy hip check. We finally got to see the famed Tyutin hip check! Man is this guy good or what? He led all players in minutes played with 24... he's real good along the boards and doesn't lose a lot of battles although he did have a couple of turnovers.

* Here's a quetion. We were that good or was Minnesota that bad? I've seen Minnesota play a lot and I've never seem them quite *that* bad. Color me jaded or whatever (hey after 7 losing seasons its hard shake) but hopefully we are just *that* good because this team was all over them last night....winning lose pucks, winning board battles, making solid tape to tape passes, hitting, sticking up for one another. It was a great!

* I want to give a shout out to the Jackets ushers this year in pre-season. In year's past they've acould be a little rediculous with the seating restrictions but this year they've been great and very fan friendly. Kudos.

YELLOW
* From what I saw of Leclaire he was decent besides that 2:30 stretch. Even then really the only goal you could pin on him was the mis-communication between he and Rome on the 3rd goal. He got streamrolled there pretty good and the Jackets pulled him (apparently a slight twist of the ankle) for pre-cautionary reasons. Norrena came in and looked miles better than he did the night before which is encouraging.

* The Jackets PP got moving as they potted two PP goals. Alot of that from having some puck movers back in the lineup on the backend and a lot of that from that line of Nash-Umberger-Huselius.

RED
* Blowing a 3 goal lead and giving up those 3 goals in less than a 2:30 span... pre-season, new players, bad breaks, adult league, regular season, give-aways, whatever...whenever... you can't have it and expect to win most nights. The Jackets got away with it last night and grabbed the 'W' which is the key but I think about everyone in the arena thought the bottom was going to completely fall out once Minny tied it.

* Penalites are one thing but the giving up those extended two man advantages hurts. Need to do a better job there.

* Nothing special from crowd attendance tonight. I hope they can get this home opener sold out!

* Umberger with a slash on his finger, Leclaire with a twisted ankle and it looked like Boll aggrevated something out there (hopefully not the hand). Hitch said on the post game that all should be fine by the opener which was a relief. Not sure about the rest of ya but I'm ready to get to call this puppy a pre-season and get on with it.

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1. Jackets came to play tonight. Outside of that 2:30 they really took it to this Minnesota Wild team.
2. Nash with a hatty of assists, Umberger and Huselius each with a goal and helper.. yeah, I think that line had a good night!
3. Russell with a fantastic night all the way around.

No Nash-Umberger-Huselius for Toronto on Sunday night according to Hitch on the post game. Those boys are getting a rest until opening night. Modin and Peca will be in the lineup and I presume the same for Filatov.

I didn't think any of the "boarderline" players had bad nights tonight but I would imagine cuts are coming maybe as soon as tomorrow.

Remember the NHL season kicks off today at noon with the Rangers taking on the Lighting in Prague on the NHL Network.

On a side note, it appeared a pedestrian was hit after the game crossing Nationwide Blvd after the game. Not the sight your expecting to see after a game and my sincere well wishes to those involved and that everything tuns out okay. Early reports are that the injuries are "not life threatening".

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts and more...

I'm going to combine a few things in this post today.

First off can you believe the season opener for the Jackets is only 1 week away!!

In fact the actual NHL season kicks off tomorrow in Prague and Sweden. I'm not quite sure if these games will be on NHL Center Ice (mine isn't showing it yet) but one would think they would be.

Update: The games are actually on NHL Network.

Okay now to tonight. The Jackets take on the Wild tonight in their final pre-season home game. Here are the lineup courtesy of puck-rakers:

Columbus

F1: Rick Nash -- R.J. Umberger -- Kristian Huselius
F2: Jason Chimera -- Jiri Novotny -- Jake Voracek
F3: Craig MacDonald -- Derek MacKenzie -- Adam Pineault
F4: Tom Sestito -- Manny Malhotra -- Jared Boll

D1: Jan Hejda -- Fedor Tyutin
D2: Richard Matvichuk -- Aaron Rome
D3: Kris Russell -- Christian Backman

G1: Pascal Leclaire
G2: Fredrik Norrena

Minnesota

F1: Colton Gillies -- Benoit Pouliot -- Marian Gaborik
F2: P-M Bouchard -- Eric Belanger -- Owen Nolan
F3: Stephane Veilleux -- James Sheppard -- Craig Weller
F4: Derek Boogaard -- Krys Kolanos -- Cal Clutterbuck

D1: Justin Falk -- Kim Johnson
D2: John Scott -- Brent Burns
D3: Nick Schultz -- Martin Skoula

G1: Niklas Backstrom
G2: Barry Brust

Filatov was orginally slated to play tonight but a late lineup swtich by Hitch has Tom Sestito replacing him. The reason being that Minny is icing a big lineup and they don't want Nikita head becoming a permanent fixture on the half boards at Nationwide Arena quite yet.

Minnesota is 4-1 in their 5 pre-season tilts. What interesting is they've only scored 13 goals in those contents but have only given up 10. They certainly walk a thin line. In contrast the Jackets have scored 18 and given up 18. Of course when you factor our the 7 they through up against a B league Chicago team those numbers don't look so impressive.

Both teams are going with a regular heavy lineup. Umberger gets his shot tonight between Nash and Huselius. Novonty moves up into the top 6 which IMO he's earned this pre-season.

Rome and Matvichuk get what may be their final opportunity to impress the coaches to earn that 7th or 8th spot. On offense MacDonald, MacKenzie and Pineault get that same opportunity.

Leclaire has improved in his second game from his first so lets see if he can keep that trend going.

Ohio State kicks off their season with a warm up game at the OSU ice rink tomorrow. Here is a great season preview that's up over on OSU.com.

..and yes, according to them Zac Dalpe will make his debut with the Buckeyes at 2:04 P.M. (yep, apparently its :04 exactly according to their schedule) tomorrow.

I may have to figure out a way to swing down there for this one...hmmm.

They open their season at home versus Miami next Friday.

Fedorov back to defense? According to this article that is what the Caps are experimenting with:

"He's lasted in this league all these years because he's extremely smart. He can handle the puck. He sees the ice. Everybody's looking now for those really good puck-moving defensemen because the game is about moving the puck and scoring goals and he's a guy that can do it as well as anybody.''

Fedorov is expected to get some more work in by partnering defenseman Jeff Schultz in Friday's exhibition game against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. They were paired together at practice Thursday.

"We're just flirting with the idea,'' Fedorov said.

Hmmm.... certainly sounds familiar.

Finally former Blue Jacket 2nd round pick Joakim Lindstrom was put on waivers by Anaheim and has been claimed by none other than the Chicago Blackhawks according to the Ducks web site.

-LTL

Jackets make game of it

The Jackets dressed a bunch of lower line guys and propsects but still managed to hang in there against a pretty stacked Wild squad losing 2-1.

Jiri Novotny collected the goal with Voracek and Clitsome with the assgits. Freddy Norrena stopped 29 of 31 shots.


STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW


GREEN
* Freddy Norrena did his job and held this team in for the first two periods when the Jackets were outshot 25-12.

* Jakub Voracek seemed to show well again tonight as I heard his name many times and he collected his second assist in as many games.

* Grant Clitsome, the kid many have been raving about since prospecet camp made one hell of an impression tonight. He led all players with 23+ minutes of ice time and displayed keen hockey sense and the poise we've been seeing. I look for him to get bumped from Group 'B' to Group 'A' asap so the Jackets can take a longer look at this guy. Now it wasn't a perfect night for him as he was a -2 and didn't get any shots on goal but he seemed to be all over the ice making plays.

* Jiri Novotny with another goal. What can you say besides this guy wants to keep his job and he's certainly making a big case early.

* Natiowide Jackets commercials - specifically the Jazz one - A+++

* PK killed all Wild penalties (I believe it was 9 total). Bounced back well after allowing 2 PP goals the night before.

YELLOW
* Andrew Murray was solid...again.

* Jackets managed to snare a PP goal which was good. Hard to get a read on where the PP stands with the mixed bag of players we've seen thus far but all I know is the two botched 5 minute majors two nights in a row reminds me of last year's nightmares on the PP.

* Nice 3rd period outshooting the Wild 11 to 5.

* Although Mayorov got limited time (only 8:50) the radio crew was impressed with his play and he seemed to make some things happen. Same with Pinneault.

* Dorsett took a nasty one. I think I heard Mathews say his name again at some point. This kid is a gamer though and dropped em again.

RED
* Paging Michael York. Seriously did anyone hear his name during this game? Did not hear much out of Clay Wilson either.

* That Chipotle "burrito" song commercial. Yeah I remember it so it did its job but Miley Cyrus songs are less annoying.

* No streaming of the game online. Again no excuse.

3 Bright Lights on the Night
1. Freddy Norrena - played very well and kept the team alive in this one which is all you can ask for
2. Grant Clitsome - great debut
3. Jazz - laughing just thinkin about that commercial..well done Nationwide!

Some good quotes in the paper today with Hitch singling out Novoty, Norrena and Murray. I'm going to have to revise my thoughts on Novonty it seems!

Boys are back at it today at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Nikita Filatov is expected to hit the ice for the first time this camp.

They take on those Preds tomorrow night and word has it the Jackets plan to ice a veteran laced roster. Don't want miss this one!

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts: Right back at it

Puck-rakers has released tonight's lineup and without further adu:
F1: Mike York, Jiri Novotny, Jakub Voracek
F2: Craig MacDonald, Steve Kelly, Jared Boll
F3: Andrew Murray, Trevor Frischmon, Maksim Mayorov
F4: Adam Pineault, Blair Yaworski, Derek Dorsett

D1: Jan Hejda, Marc Methot
D2: Richard Matvichuk, Aaron Rome
D3: Grant Clitsome, Jonathan Sigalet

G1: Dan LaCosta
G2: Fredrik Norrena

By my count that is 11 players returning from last night's lineup (including the goalies).

As puck-rakers suggest there isn't a whole lot of meat to that lineup and apparently Minnesota will be icing a veteran laced squad.

That said there are some good stories to watch:

* How does Voracek mess with 4th line guys in York and Novotny? Remember Voracek could very well start further down the lineup and play his way up as the season progresses. By all accounts he played very well last night so we'll see what he can bring on a back2back.

* Hejda to see PP time? That is what Puck-rakers stated this morning. I give credit to Hitch for thinking out of the box but I see this experiment lasting about as long as the Z-at-center one did. Its preseason though so why not try it and I see it as a tip of the cap to Hejda for playing so well under Hitch.

* Grant Clitsome. I love what I've seen thus far from this kid and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in game action and an extended look.

* Mayorov gets his first taste of NHL preseason action. He'll be playing along Fritschmon who has impressed this preseason and Mr. Consistent himself Andrew Murray.

* I think we'll see York get a lot of playing time tonight so lets see if he can bring more to the table than last night's performance.

* Look for Dorsett to drop them again. Look for Boll to keep the mitts on. In fact with this lineup I don't see as many dances as we saw last night.

* LaCosta let in 2 goals in 8 shots. Since I didn't see the goals I can't say if they were soft but we'll need a much better save % than that to win tonight.

* The ole vet Matvichuk gets his first bit of game action. Actually I've kind of liked him in camp. No wheels but I never saw this guy out of position.

* Hopefully the AHL vets have better nights than what they showed yesterday.

Game Spotlight

Its really 2 fold for me tonight. I want to see if Voracek can have another strong game and what another youngster in Mayorov can bring to the table.

Its an 8 p.m. EST start tonight. No word yet if Minnesota will be streaming this (we already know Columbus completely dropped the ball) but the games should be on 1460thefan.com and CDC101.com respectively. I'll update this post if I find anything out.

GO JACKETS!

-LTL

Only the Jackets....

Only the Jackets can throw up a stink bomb of a performance last night in front of their first sell out crowd of the season, and biggest crowd in over a year.

Only the Jackets could take the great momentum they had going into the All Star break and let the wheels completely fall off and get the butts kicked in 3 straight games - 2 of which were at home.

Only the Jackets could use the trading of Jody Shelley as an excuse to stop playing.

Only the Jackets could have their superstar player play the insivible man during the most important stretch in franschise history.

Only the Jackets could pretty much take themselves out of the playoff picture in a matter of a week. (They have to win 20 of their remaining 28 games to really have a legit shot - that would put them at 96 points - ain't happening).

Lit it up

Marion Gaborik. Jackets needed to contain him and they didn't get it done, not even close. Gaborik had two goals and could have had more.

Opportunistic Wild. We may have outshot them by a considerable margin but when the Wild decided to turn it up, the Jackets had nothing for them. The Wild completely shut it down in the 3rd and sat on their 3 goal lead. They gave the Jackets low percentage shots that Backstrom just ate up for dinner.

Sell out crowd. To bad it was the worst played home game of the season. Great timing Jackets.

Dim the light

Derick Brassard. Got his first goal and actually made an impact out there offensively.

Busted bulbs

Nothing dissapointments me more last night than the fact that a record crowd wittnessed that mess from the home team. Last night was a real chance to win back some fans and make some new ones. Those fringe fans not only left early but certainly won't be investing any more money in this team soon. That just can't happen and the players have got to understand this. Columbus isn't Toronto or Minnesota -- its still a new market being developed and you have to take advantage of these kinds of opportunities to win new fans (and old ones giving this team a chance again) over.

Can the Jackets gets some new sticks? Seriously have you ever seen as many broken sticks as there were last night? At one point two Jackets had broken sticks in one shift.

Rick Nash. What is up with this guy? Our franchise player cannot dissappear during the first ever playoff push. This guy has been completely invisible out there. I think he maybe had one good chance last night. I'm personally starting to get concerned over when, if ever, this guy is truly going to develop into that "go-to" player -- maybe I have to high of expectations. I just don't know if he'll ever reach that Lecavlier, Sundin, Sakic, Modano type status -- he definitely won't be a Crosby/Ovechkin type. I do really want to see him with a legit #1 center.

What in the hell was Novotny thinkin on that 2nd goal? He just gave the puck back to the Wild right in front of the goalie. Those are the kinds of mistakes this team did not make prior to the All Star break. That ply copmletely changed the momentum in this game when the Jackets had after Brassard got his first goal.

Vyborny. 8:45 in minutes played. At this point why not just scratch this guy. Call up Lindstrom to take his place. I guess the reason would be to keep him playing and deal him by the deadline for whatever you can get.

Norrena. No big saves last night. Should have stopped that opening goal which was a wrist shot from the point. A friend of mine said it best, Norrena is just good enough to lose with this year. Allowed 4 goals off 20 shots. To his defense a couple of those even superman couldn't have saved.

Brule has the best seat in the house on that 3rd goal. Hey Gilbert -- its called defense and you can't let the opposition's best player walk in scott free for a tap in goal. Pathetic.

Nash got used on the 2nd goal by Gaborik as he allowed him to completely walk around him into the slot. Nice 'D' franchise.

Got to question Hitch a bit tonight. He should have called a time out after that 3rd goal and considered pulling Norrena. A two goal leads is pretty much insurmantable against a defensively sound Wild team, but a 3 goal lead put the nail in the coffin and start shoveling dirt.

3 bright lights on the night

1. Sold out crowd

2. Derick Brassard - 1st career NHL goal

3. Z's jersey and pads a mess - hey, it was somewhat enteraining to see Z scrum it up a bit in the 3rd period

I can gurantee you there are some serious discussions going on right about now in Nationwide Arena offices as to just what the state of this team is. I hate to say it but while not elimated, this 3 game losing streak has badly hurt the Jackets chances to say in this hunt.

Another loss or two and I think it will be clear this team will become a seller....and IMO its time to completely gut this fish. Any player that's not in the long term plans of this team gets put on the block and is dealt to the highest bidder. From what I can tell that would be in no particular order:

Fedorov, Vyborny, Malhotra, Chimera, Fritsche, Brule, Tollefsen, Peca. Foote is on this list too if they aren't close in terms of contract extension. They won't all get dealt b/c you need some players to finish out the season but that's who I make available.

This team has overachieved thus far and Hitch has gotten about all he can out of this group. I think its crystal clear to both Howson and Hitch that to take that next steps that are still some major weeds that need pulled and that will happen at the deadline and offseason.

The 2008 team is going to look drastically different that this group that's here now and that's a good thing.

Next game against Ovechkin and those surging Capitals.

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts: Jackets look to get back on track

The Columbus Blue Jackets look to get back to their winning ways tonight as they take on their expansion sisters the Minnesota Wild.

The Minnesota Wild sit on top of the very competitive Northwest division with an overall record of 29-19-3. They have a very strong road record at 13-11-2 and are winners for their past two. They have also won 2 of the 3 contests against the Jackets this season.

For the Jackets, they are losers of their past 2 including a sound butt whipping at the hands of those dang Nashville Predators. They've only scored 4 goals in those past two games and have really gotten away from that tight checking game that has made them successfull most of the season.

Keys to lighting em up

First and foremost the Jackets have got to get back to what made them successful prior to the all star break. That is that tight checking "all in" game. They have been way to passive in their defensive zone allowing way to many breakdowns and odd man rushes. They also have been taking way to many penalties and not making the smart play.

Leclaire needs to bounce back. I haven't yet hard the definitive word on whether or not Leclaire will get the start tonight but I tend to think he will. He's not been particularly sharp and on this team unfortunately if Leclaire or Norrena are off their games its probably going to be a loss.

Nash needs to show up. This guy has been invisible the past two games. He's got 0 points in his past three games and is a -3. He's only got 8 points in his past 15 games. This is not the time for Nash to fall off the radar. He's our franchise player and this team needs production each and every game if they have a snow balls chance in hell to make the playoffs. Nash has been passed in team scoring by Nik Zherdev.

Watch for Gaborik. Minnesota's franchise player on the other hand is red hot. He's got 53 points in just 46 games played. He's got 19 points (8g 11a) in his past 14 games. Against the CBJ he has 13 points in 20 career games. He is the Wild's game breaker and can beat you by himself.

Near sell out expected tonight. Jackets have got to take advantage of the home crowd tonight.

Can't use injuries as an excuse. Feds and Modin are out. Players have got to step up. Paging just about everyone on offense outside of Nik Zherdev and Jared Boll.

Keep it simple. The Jackets aren't a flash team so don't try to be. On offense get pucks deep, win battles, finish checks, get to the net, score dirty ugly goals. On defense stick to your assignments, find the open man on transition - if not there make the smart low risk play, finish checks, active sticks, clear rebounds. These guys know what kind of team they are now -- they just have to execute and come ready to play.

Backstrom exposed. Nik Backstrom can be scored on. The Wild, while good defensively, aren't great. They've given up 139 goals. Heck the Jackets have given up 5 less than that. Get pucks on this guy.

*******************************

Just another huge game. Not a must win but as close as you can get. The Jackets can't afford to give up a loss tonight again at home. The Jackets only have one Saturday night home game left this season - so if you don't have tickets go out get some and lets make this a sell out!

See you all at the RBar pre-game!

GO JACKETS!

-LTL

No heroics this time

Unfortunately my worries concerning Columbus taking Minnesota to lightly proved true last night. The Jackets came out flat again and this time were unable to mount a comeback against a tired but defensively dialed in Minnesota Wild team. Nik Zherdev collected his 4th goal in 4 games as the Jackets were beat 2-1 in front a close to 16k in Nationwide Arena.

Lit it up

Zherdev played a strong game collecting his 4th goal in as many games. He carried the puck well and tried to create out there. He did try to get to cute a couple of time giving the puck away twice however.

Leclaire and Backstrom. Both goalies played well enough to win this game. As is usually the case, a redirected shot from the point was the difference in this one.

Minnesota deserved to win this game. The Jackets turned it on in the third but to little to late. Despite playing their 3rd game in 4 nights the Wild stuck to their system and it payed off. Really the score *should* have been 3-1 as they got robbed on a goal by the refs.

Congrats to David Vyborny on his 500th game played.

Dim the light

Nash was completely bottled up last night. Unfortunately there was nobody there to pick up the slack...again.

Secondary scoring. As mentioned above. The secondary scoring was again a no-show last night. Someone asked Hitch if this team just doesn't have the horses to play his system. I'm beginning the wonder the same. If this team is gonna make the playoffs this year I think its becoming pretty obvious, Rick/Nik/Pascal are gonna have to carry them.

Beech. I love this way this guy is playing. Best pure passer on this team and isn't afraid to use his body. I hope they keep playing him with Nash.

Nice to see Boll challenge Voros to a fight for his hit on Novotny...and nice to see Voros oblige. I heard the post game interview with Voros after the game....like Boll, that guy "gets it" and knows his job. Really seemed like a class act.

I liked Glencross tonight. He seemed to really be the only Jacket forward hitting on the forecheck. In fact he led the team in that category with 4 -- and those weren't 4 soft hits either, they were board rattlers.

Crowd was decent - close to 16k. Still a far cry from what used to be a guaranteed sell out for Sat night games. At least the Jackets made it a game and didn't get blown out but they also didn't see what this team can be capable of when they want to play hard.

Busted bulbs

Again, the Jackets failed to win a game they should. They were flat, tried to win on skill and were outplayed save the 3rd when it was to late. Until the Jackets can get up for these games they should win they we are going to continue to see this "win 1, lose 1" pattern this entire season and *that* pattern will not be enough to get us into the playoffs. They need to put some streaks together -- especially here in December where so far this team is 1-1-1 <<<---- not good enough.

Refs. As mentioned, terrible call on that disallowed Wild goal. The Jackets catch a break on that and still can't use it to their advantage.

Chimera. This guy is really playing like crap lately. He's not alone either, what exactly has Michael Peca done lately?

Terrible turnover by Ron Hainsey on the Wild's second goal.

If its not Zherdev or Nash -- this team cannot handle drop passes. Don't even try them at this point -- just get it deep.

SOMEBODY please wake the game ops up. Boll has that great fight...crowd is roaring...momentum could change...and what do they do? They play a damn video which completely sucks any life out of the building. STOP killing the crowd game ops! Play the crap when its already silent or after the opposing team scores.

3 bright lights on the night

1. Pascal Leclaire - 24 saves off 26 shots, some of the spectacular variety

2. Nik Zherdev - 4th goal in 4 games

3. Boll / Voros fight - nice bout

Jackets fall to 13-11-1. Next game is against a resurrected Anaheim Ducks team. They missed out on a glorious opportunity to put a little streak together last night. They'll look to start a new one tomorrow evening but they could quickly find themselves in a losing streak if they don't play the way we all know they can. Remember December is to critical to their overall season success to get caught sleepwalking through this month.

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts: Don't get cocky Jackets

The Jackets take on the Minnesota Wild tonight. The Wild, who are the Jackets expansion brothers, are one team the Jackets have had major success over in their overall series.

The Jackets are 13-9-1 all time versus the Wild and 9-1-1 against them in Nationwide Area. The Blue Jackets are 2-0-1 in the past 3 while the Wild are losers of their last two including a 5-0 drubbing in Detroit last night.

Keys to lighting em up

Don't get overly confident. The Wild are gonna come into Nationwide looking at this game as a must win to end their current skid especially after an embarrassing loss against the Wings last night. The Jackets have to be ready and they can't look at their success at home against this team and get cocky. They can't let their guard down and take anything for granted, if they do the Wild wins.

Mentally prepared. We all know how this team responds to teams they think they should beat and how they respond to teams above them in the standings. Technically the Wild are 1 point ahead of them in the standings but b/c the Jackets have had a lot of success against this team, they have to start beating teams they should...and with a struggling Wild team playing on the tail end of a back to back on the road - the Jackets must take the 2 points here.

Shut down Gaborik/Rolston/Bouchard. Gaborik leads the team in points with 22p in 23gp. Rolston and Bouchard are right behind him with 19 points 28 games. Gaborik is explosive and the Jackets have to watch neutral zone turnovers when he's on the ice. Rolston has a rocked shot and uses it quite effectively on the point from the PP. Bouchard is a free wheeling free agent pickup that can beat you in a lot of ways. Jackets need to shut these guys down.

Battle of the special teams. Jacket have the 3rd best pk, the Wild have the 11th. Jackets have the 21st best PP to the Wild's 3rd. Whoever wins the special teams wins this game.

Secondary scorers must continue to step up. Guys like Kris Beech, Dan Fritsche, Joakim Lindstrom and Curtis Glencross really came through in the 3rd period against the Avalanche. The Jackets will need more of that if they hope to grab another two points. Can't just be the Rick, Nik and Pascal show.

Jackets need to be energized. 60 minutes tonight. Hitch can't give a speech like he did against the Avs every night to get his players competing at a high level. The players need to take upon themselves to motivate. They know how good they can be when they play their basic game with energy and get pucks to the net. None of this fancy dancy nonsense. Hit, pucks to net, energy = wins for this team.

**************************

Another Saturday night home game for the Jackets - the 3rd of the year thus far. Hopefully the CBJ faithful show up...grabs a pre-game beverage at our favorite neighborhood hockey, the RBar!, and support our boys in Blue. Hopefully the Jackets give them a good show tonight.

Go Jackets!

-LTL

Jackets run wild, Leclaire earns record setting 6th shutout

The Columbus Blue Jackets finally got a win this afternoon in Minnesota by blanking a very hard to beat at home Wild team 4-0. Leclaire was huge in net stopping all 32 shots including 8 powerplay chances by the Predators. Peca, Vyborny, Fritsche and Nash collected the tallys for the CBJ.

Lit em up

Really no other place to start other than Leclaire. For a guy who wasn't expected to start tonight he definitely righted his game in a big way by collecting a team record setting 6th shutout of the year. Leclaire has struggled a bit in his past a few starts with the worst coming off his last outing against Florida -- some of which can be contributed to Pascal, some of which to the team play in front of him. Hopefully this is the start of a good stretch for him although he'll face powerhouse Detroit in a back to back start tomorrow night unless Norrena feels better.

Michael Peca. I got to thinkin...what is this team's record with Peca in the lineup b/c it seems like when he's in, we win? So I did a little diggin.....they are 8-4-2 with him and 2-4-2 without him.....so I think its pretty easy to see where Michael stands with this squad and he was just as important tonight notching the first goal of the game, an assist, +1 and went 9 for 15 in the face off circle...he's got 2g, 7a for 9 point in 14 games so far this year. We just need him to stay healthy.

Rick Nash. What more can you say about this guy - he's just having a monster year. He notched another goal and an assist. He's got 27 point total which puts him in the top 10 in the league....he's got 16 goals which puts him tied for 2nd in the league in that department. This guy has been fantastic and I still don't think we've seen the best from him yet.

Speaking of faceoffs... Fedorov went a whopping 11 for 12 in the circle while Malhotra went 10 for 14. I think faceoffs are one of the most underrated areas of hockey and this team is really excelling at it.

Special teams. The powerplay seems to be finding its groove. The team notched to PP goals in 5 chances. The PK also got back on track killing off all 8 Wild powerplays including a 5 on 3. Oh...and we can't forget Fritsche's shorty (thanks for the early gift Burns!)!

Dim the light

After being rightfully demoted to the fourth line David Vyborny got on the board with his second goal of the season. Perhaps this will light a fire under #9.

Defense as a whole looked much better tonight blocking shots, taking away the lanes and generally keeping the Wild and their speed to the outside most of the night. Also a tip of the hat to Adam Foote for sticking up for Jiri Novotny as he blindsided by a guy who just happened to come out of the box as he was rushing up the ice looking the other way. I don't want to call it a cheap shot because it was legal and if the roles were reversed I would expect a Jacket player to do the same -- really just an unfortunate situation for Novotny, hopefully he's okay.

Busted Bulbs

Had to feel a little bit for the Wild -- their game completely reminded me of some of the Jackets' games the past few weeks. Its not that they really played that bad of game, they drew tons of penalties and skated hard...but they just couldn't connect on passes, convert on their special teams and could not hit the net for the life of them. Also like the Jackets, they got off to a nice start but have since cooled significantly. That said, glad its them and not us who got shuout!

Uhhh....I know the Wild needed a shakeup but why Todd Fedorok? I'm sure the Wild fans quickly saw why this guy has been the biggest prostitute in the league since for the last couple of years when he took a ridiculous cheap shot at Jarred Boll after the whistle and after he was already called for another penalty....one word - bonehead. He won't last in Minnesota long and you've got to think this dude has used up about all his NHL chances.

Shelley vs. Boogard - yawn.

Young guns Brule and Russell scratched. Both were the right moves for Hitch to make....hopefully both players use this as motivation and learning experiences and not in some other way. I really think the organization should consider sending Brule to the AHL to regain some confidence but that's for another story another day.

This was a huge 'W' for the Jackets. I thought the Florida game was a must win but this win certainly eases some of that pain. It would be gigantic if the Jackets could take 2 more points from the slumping Wings tomorrow night but it won't be easy... The Wings are coming off a loss and had today off. The Jackets need to lay off the turkey leftovers tonight, put this win quickly behind them and start focusing on this Wings team. We saw the last time these two met that the Jackets can hang with em if they play their game.

Also a big tip of the hat to Ken Hitchcock's one year anniversary as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. What a long way this team has come in a year!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Great win today boys!!

-LTL

Jackets blow 3rd period lead, fall to Wild

The Columbus Blue Jackets carried a 2-1 lead into the 3rd period in Minnesota last night only to fall to the Wild 3-2.

Last year the Jackets lost only one game when carrying a lead into the 3rd. Minnesota also had the 2nd best road record in the league last year.

The Jackets got on the board first in the first period off a very pretty pass from Nikolai Zherdev to a pinching Ron Hainsey. Hainsey wasted no time unleashing a wicked one timer past Wild goaltender Niklaus Backstrom. Jason Chimera also notched an assist. The Wild countered off a Jackets turnover and a subsequent Pierre-Marc Bouchard breakaway that beat Fredrik Norrena.

The 2nd period saw the only goal come from a captain Adam Foote short handed goal off a seeing eye slap shot just inside the Wild blueline that caught Backstrom flat footed. Nikolai Zherdev collected his 2nd assist of the evening while Jiri Novotny collected his first point ever as a Blue Jacket.

In the 3rd, the Wild again capitalized off another Jacket turnover that saw Eric Belanger split the Columbus defense and beat Fredrik Norrena 5 hole. Less than 5 minutes later Brent Burns scored the game winner off a one timer from the point.

Fredrik Norrena stopped 28 of 31 shots.

Lit it up

Nikolai Zherdev continues his strong early performance. Its not a stretch to say he's been the Jackets best all around forward through the first two games of the year. He's doing everything right and most importantly he seems to have found some trust in his teammates as he's using them much more often and getting away from his individual game. If Z keeps this up, he could be in for a very strong season.

Ron Hainsey (pictured upper right) has two goals in two games. I'm personally not the biggest fan of #6 but through the first two games he's done an excellent job of reading the play and jumping up for scoring chances. Both of his goals have been scored in this fashion. He still needs to do a much better job at the transition game but he has played well.

Sergei Fedorov. This guy has also been playing fantastic hockey. We've seen flashes of the Sergei of old in the first two games. He's passing and creating the best I've seen since he's joined the Jackets. He, like Zherdev, could be in for a big season if he continues this high level of play.

Adam Foote is another guy who is playing well. He logged 21.42 in ice time last night and for missing the entire preseason has looked just fine out there. Hitch is playing Foote to his strength's using him strictly in even strength and PK situations and its paying off early. It was also nice to see Footer get that shorty last night.

Penalty killing and Jiri Novotny. PK continues to be strong. The Jackets killed off all 5 man advantages they faced last night. Jiri Novotny has been a key a addition in the area and for me anyways, has looked great for the role we brought him in to play. He reminds me of Svitov without the fighting ability.

Powerplay. The PP went 1 for 1 last night. Its off to a good start going 4 for 8 over two games.

Dim the light

I thought Gilbert Brule and Dan Fritsche continued to play well. They haven't shown up on the score sheet yet but they will. I would actually like to see these two get more minutes but the minutes they have been playing have been quality.

Rick Nash was held off the score sheet last night but I actually noticed him more last night than I did opening night. Funny how those things work. I thought he generated some good chances. Unfortunately for our team we only had one powerplay all night.

Freddy Norrena played pretty good last night even though he didn't get the win. He stopped 28 of 31 shots and the goals that did beat him were two breakaways and a wicked one timer.

Offense. I'm glad to see defensemen getting goals but we needed more from the offense last night and didn't get it.

Busted bulbs

Jason Chimera and David Vyborny were no where to be found last night. Some times the pucks just don't bounce for you and that seemed like the case for these two. Need these two to show up every night.

Young defensemen breakdowns. OK Tollefsen, Duvie Westcott and Kris Russell had tough nights last nights. Russell had a couple of turnovers that lead to odd man rushes and Duvie and Tollefsen got caught flat footed a couple of times. Although I'm still scratching my head how Duvie gets called for a clean hit on Marion Gabrik at the end of the 3rd -- apparently for that moment hitting was no longer aloud in this game. Duvie can give you that though, he's a strong skater and more often that not if your gonna try to beat him wide he's gonna make you pay. He pinched off one of the best skaters in the league in Gaborik on that play.

Points. In a game like this on the road and taking a lead into the 3rd period this team must come out of this with at least a point.

In-your-face. Not enough checking from this team last night. Part of that was due to Minnesota's play as they outhit us 18 to 11. We need to bring that physical brand of hockey with us on the road and we need everyone to continue to buy in.

Overall this team played a pretty strong road game. Sure we blew a lead in the 3rd and sure we had some breakdowns but this team kept battling and played strong systematic hockey. Last year at this time we went to Minnesota for our 4th game of the year and got absolutely blown out of their barn 5-0. Last night this team competed and made a game of it -- which is a large step forward compared to a year ago.

Still plenty of areas to improve on but remember its only one game, lets see how they respond when Phoenix comes to town on Wednesday.

-LTL

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Minnesota Wild 10/06/07 8:00 P.M. EST

Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets

Nash-Fedorov-Vyborny
Chimera-Novotny-Zherdev
Modin-Malhotra-Brule
Fritsche-Boll

Klesla-Hejda
Foote-Westcott
Tollefsen-Russell
Hainsey


Norrena
Leclaire

Minnesota Wild

Demitra Sheppard? Gaborik
Rolston Belanger Bouchard
Radivoiavic Koivu Parrish
Vellieux Moore Foy/Boogard

Schultz Johnsson
Carney Burns
Nummelin Skoula

Backstrom

Game notes

For anyone that thinks we lack centers I refer you to the Minnesota Wild. This is a team that has Walz, Koivu, Belange and Moore down the middle. Walz, according to Aaron Portzline, will not play tonight due to an injury.

I also refer those that think our lineup isn't talented enough to make the playoffs to Minnesota. On paper I think we are easily just as skilled. The difference between the two playoff appearances for the Wild and none for us I contend has always been their superior coaching. We have that now. I contend that if the Wild have enough talent to make the playoffs then so does this team.

Norrena gets his chance tonight to start for the Jackets. In his two career starts versus the Wild Norrena has gone 2-0.

Minnesota is a very tough team to beat at home. The Jackets are going to need to match the effort that had last night versus Anaheim to have a chance in this one.

It will be interesting to see if Hitch sticks with 7 defensemen of if he dresses Shelley tonight. Minnesota has one of the toughest enforcers around in Derick Boogard. Will Hitch match that with Shelley or play around him?

Tonight should be a very good test and gauge for where this team stands.

-LTL