Last night the Blue Jackets came back from 2 goals down and with a 2-1 deficit in the 3rd period to come out with a 4-2 win over the desperate Minnesota Wild. The Union Blue has won 4 out of their last 5 games and seem to be playing with more purpose even though fans search for purpose for the rest of the season.
So the question is, are the Blue Jackets losing by winning? If they continue to win it will put them farther and farther down in the draft. If the lottery falls the way it should Columbus would be selecting 7th and just a week ago they were in the 5th spot. This is moving up the rankings but not in a good way.
Edmonton has all but wrapped up the
Taylor Hall sweepstakes unless they lose the lottery too. The Blue Jackets were in the running though for
Tyler Seguin ,
Cam Fowler or
Brandon Gormley . As they keep winning though, Columbus will be picking players that will have a distinct drop in talent and won't add a player that will have immediate benefits to the club. A player that will take more grooming or a player that never materializes at all (i.e. Alex Picard).
At this point the Jackets have to cross their fingers and hope a player like
Erik Gudbranson slips down or take a chance on another Russian player like
Alex Burmistrov or
Vladimir Tarasenko or even
Kirill Kabanov .
My opinion is that the culture of this franchise has a losing mindset that runs too deep and winning at any time for any reason must be done to change this culture. Rick Nash agrees as he stated last night after scoring 2 goals to bring back the CBJ from defeat and post a win, "We are making the right moves. Obviously it is a little bit late, but momentum at the end of this year can carry over into next year." Nash went on to say, "We are going to have the same core group here, so it is important to get past the things that we are not too good at."
"We want to build something." Antoine Vermette stated after the game. "We are playing for our future. We want to establish something."
The core forwards all seem to be moving in the right direction and even Kristian Huselius looks to be showing signs of life. Jakub Voracek is turning into an absolute beast, Derick Brassard is slowly but surely showing growth, Vermette is turning into a very good 2nd line center but doesn't embarrass himself on the top line either. R.J. Umberger is the heart and soul of the team and has helped get more out of Voracek and Brassard being on their line. Nash is Nash but since the Olympics is showing more leadership skills that will serve him and the organization well for the future.
Where the building needs to take place in on the back end. Kris Russell being the exception as he is turning into the offensive defenseman that NHL organizations cherish, the rest of the group is at best forgettable. Mike Commodore does seem to be getting to where he should have been to start the year but being that it is mid-March, it's a little too late. Hopefully, Commodore gets his off season training figured out and also puts money toward finding a cure for the world's worst recorded charlie horse.
Fedor Tyutin also will be back most likely for next season and someone needs to tell him that giving the puck to the other team isn't the object of the game.
Nathan Paetsch will not be back and his performance last night could give a coach enough material to fill a swimming pool of tape filled with bad plays. I've heard all the excuses of Paetsch not having enough games under his belt this season and he's rusty. Or that the CBJ keeps moving him from forward to defenseman. You can choose one of these or make one of your own to help you sleep at night if your a Nathan Paetsch fan but bad is bad and last night was bad.
Marc Methot is a tough one to get a finger on except he is flourishing under the new regime of Claude Noel. He's playing bigger minutes and not disappointing. He was +2 last night but zero hits. He's a +3 in the month of March and that is saying a lot when he was a minus 2 in February, minus 2 in January and a minus 8 in December.
Anton Stralman is a type of player that Howson would like to add to the roster in the off season just with a little better skating, better defensive responsibility, more accurate shot and more willing to shoot it, more .... I think you get the idea. Howson wants Stralman but just better. Stralman is a restricted free agent this off season that no doubt Howson will re-sign. Now the trick is to get Stralman playing on the 3rd pairing and on power plays versus in the top 2 pairings.
Jan Hejda is the most intriguing figure this coming off season. Hejda could be a key to the rebuilding of the defense and the reason would be that he could be traded. Hejda is an intriguing trade prospect for GM Scott Howson as Hejda is a solid defenseman that any team would love to have on their 2nd pairing at only a $2 million price tag.
The scariest part and the part that needs to be rebuilt with the Blue Jackets the rest of the way is in goal with Steve Mason. Consistency needs to be built for Mason the rest of the way and thus why he will be in goal tonight as the organization continues to try and help regain his form from last season. The Blue Jackets have hitched their wagon to Mason come thick or thin and this year has been a lot more thin. Just to give you an idea, Mathieu Garon has earned 28 points in 25 games with a .905 save percentage and a 2.76 goals against average. Mason on the other hand has earned 41 points in 46 games and a .897 save percentage and a 3.17 goals against. It doesn't take a 30 year hockey scout to figure out who has been better this year. The Blue Jackets really need a consistent presence in the net next year so the skaters in front of the net know what they are going to get.
If ( and I know it's a big IF ) Howson can find some defense, that probably means more than 1 player, and Mason has a more consistent season next year; the winning at the end of this season will pay off in spades come next year.
Notes & Quotes From Last Night
Blue Jackets Team Notes
* Columbus is 14-11-2 the past 27 games overall after going 3-14-7 the previous 24 games
o The club also has posted a 10-5-4 mark in its past 19 home games after going 2-4-1 in the previous seven contests
* With the win tonight, Columbus is now:
o 10-19-6 when the opponent scores first, 5-16-4 when trailing after the first period
o 3-22-4 when trailing after the second period
Blue Jackets Player Notes
* LW Kristian Huselius has points in six of the past nine games after picking up a goal and an assist tonight
o The multi-point outing was his 15th of the season, third-straight and fourth in the past six games
o The goal was his 20th, marking his fifth-straight 20-goal season and seventh of his eight year NHL career
o He has points in three-straight games, registering 3-5-8 in those games
o He has points in 12 of the past 18 games recording 6-16-22 during that stretch
o He has recorded 9-20-29 the past 25 games after being held to 0-2-2 the previous 11 games
* LW R.J. Umberger picked up his 27th assist of the season on Huselius’ goal
o He has points in six of the past nine games (1-5-6) and has collected 5-12-17 the past 22 games
o He has registered 20-27-47 in 71 games this season leaving him three points shy of matching his career high of 50 set in 2007-08 with Philadelphia
o His 27 assists are seven better than his output in 82 games last season
o He has recorded 16-20-36 the past 51 games after collecting 4-7-11 the first 20 games of the season
o He also has registered at least one shot on goal in all but four games this season
* RW Jared Boll snapped a six-game pointless skid with a helper on Huselius’ goal
o He has two assists the past eight games after being held without an assist the previous 41 games
* D Kris Russell snapped a 13-game goalless skid with his seventh goal of the season tonight
o He last scored Jan. 30 at St. Louis
o He has points in five of the past nine games, notching 1-4-5 in those games
o He has recorded 4-7-11 the past 26 games after being held pointless the previous 10 games
o He has 6-15-21 in 61 games to tie a career high in points, matching his output set last season
* D Anton Stralman registered his 25th assist of the season with a helper on Russell’s goal
o He has tallied 2-10-12 the past 23 games after being held to 0-4-4 the previous 21 games
o In 62 games this season, he has collected 6-25-31 and six multi-point games, which is better than the 4-18-22 and two multi-point games he had in the first 88 games of his NHL career
o He has set career highs in goals, assists and points, breaking his previous marks of three goals (2007-08), 12 assists (2008-09) and 13 points (2008-09), all with Toronto
* RW Rick Nash notched his fourth multi-goal game and 14th multi-point game of the season with two goals tonight
o He has goals in five of the past eight games after being held goalless the previous five outings
o His first of two goals proved to be the game-winner, his fifth of the season, tying him with R.J. Umberger for the club lead in that category
o He has collected points in 13 of the past 18 games, registering 11-6-17 in those games after being held to 1-6-7 the previous 14 games
o He has registered a point in 42-of-67 games this season and his longest streak without a point has been three games, which he snapped tonight
* RW Jakub Voracek has points in three-straight games after picking up an assist on Nash’s first goal
o He has points in 10 of the past 12 games, collecting 4-10-14 during that stretch, after being held pointless the previous eight games
o With 12-30-42 in 70 games, he has set career highs in goals, assists and points, breaking his previous bests of 9-29-38 set in 80 games last season
* C Antoine Vermette registered an assist on Nash’s second goal, his 34th helper of the season
o With 22-34-56 in 71 games this season, he has set a career high in assists and points and is two goals shy of matching his career best 24-29-53 he had in 81 games with Ottawa during the 2007-08 season
o He has six more goals and 15 more points than the combined 16-25-41 he had in 79 games with Ottawa and Columbus last season
o Since joining the Blue Jackets last March, he has registered 29-40-69 in 88 games (.784 points per game) compared to 80-87-167 in 359 games with the Senators (.465)
* G Mathieu Garon stopped 18-of-20 shots tonight to give him wins in three-straight games for the first time since Jan. 7-10
o He has allowed two goals or fewer in 12 of his past 17 decisions
o He has posted an 8-4-1 record his past 12 decisions after 0-4-3 previous seven decisions
o He is 6-0-3 with a 1.99 goals-against average and .967 save percentage in his nine starts this season on home ice, allowing two or fewer goals in eight of those nine games
Blue Jackets Interim Head Coach Claude Noel
Commenting on tonight’s game…
“First thing, I’m happy with the result of the game. I thought we played a good third period. We were a little disappointed in how we played in the first 20 minutes.”
Commenting on the return of Captain Rick Nash…
“I thought Rick Nash made a statement to the team that he is a tremendous leader and I think he showed that tonight. He was a man among boys. He was outstanding for us and he took charge of the game.”
Commenting on Minnesota…
“We knew they played last night so we wanted to take advantage of that. They looked like they hit a wall. I think fatigue was a factor for them.”
Commenting on the play of left wing R.J. Umberger…
“That’s why he’s one of the leaders. He’s a horse as well. Tonight he proved to his teammates he’s a proven leader.”
Columbus Blue Jackets Player Quotes
Blue Jackets Left Wing Kristian Huselius
Commenting on the third period and his goal…
“If felt good in the third, we forechecked hard and we played with the puck and got the momentum and scored some big goals. On my goal, I was lucky it came back to me and just stayed with it and it was nice to see it go in.”
Blue Jackets Right Wing Rick Nash
Commenting on tonight’s game…
“Our motivation is playing for the fans and making sure we make the games exciting for them (the fans). We are making the right moves. Obviously it is a little bit late, but momentum at the end of this year can carry over into next year. We are going to have the same core group here, so it is important to get past the things that we are not too good at. I thought we were the better team most of the night we just didn’t shoot enough.”
Blue Jackets Goalie Mathieu Garon
Commenting on Rick Nash’s return to the line-up after missing the past four games…
“In regards to Rick Nash, he obviously made a big difference tonight. He’s a great leader and tonight he showed it again. In the third he took care of things when it was 2-2 and he got us the win.”
Minnesota Wild Quotes
Minnesota Wild Head Coach Todd Richards
Commenting on the Blue Jackets’ third goal…
“That’s what it looks like on the video, too and to me, it’s almost identical to the one last night, where if you watch it on tape (R.J.) Umberger skates in and he’s in the crease, Josh (Harding) goes to make the save and he’s not allowed to. They said that (Nick Schultz) Shultzy had made contact with him, but when you watch it, you can see that he skated in there all by himself.”
Minnesota Wild Center Casey Wellman
Commenting on tonight’s game…
“Yeah it was definitely a disappointing loss, the guys were working hard and they ended up getting a few good chances that they capitalized on, so it was pretty disappointing.”
Commenting on making his NHL debut…
“Yeah, I mean, the guys tried to keep my nerves down for me. The guys are great and you know they just told me to be confident out there.”
Minnesota Wild Goalie Josh Harding
Commenting on the Blue Jackets’ third goal…
“Yeah you know, the last two games its happened once a game and I don’t know, maybe I need to read the rule book and see what is considered goalie interference. You know, he said he was outside the paint, but I tried to watch the replay a little bit but I don’t think he was, and I had nowhere to go.”
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Eric Smith
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