Isn't it amazing when you have more skilled players than the other team on the ice and then play with more energy than they do that it equates to a win?
Before I get any further I just want to say one thing to Hitchcock, THANK YOU! He finally came to his wits and scratched Shelley from the lineup last night and put 4 lines that all had skill and were playing with energy.
You could tell Nash came to play last night. His goal in the first was key. The Jackets had totally dominated the first when the Blue's Backes kicked in...uhh...I mean the puck accidentally deflected off of Backes's skate and into the net. CBJ is down 1-0 and you are really wondering at the that point is the wheels falling off this season. But in little more than 4 minutes on the game clock Nash unleashed a wicked wrister that beat Toivonen to the glove side. That goal really settled the team back down and got back to dominating the game.
Then I got worried again. It all stems from a statement I once heard from a wise old hockey troll that lives under the Worthington IceWorks, "if a team doesn't score on a 5 on 3 they will loose." This statement, as it has held true more time than not, comes to be prophetic but more on that later. The Jackets Ronoldo Hainsey blistered a slapper on the 5 on 3 with only 10 seconds left on the 2 man advantage.
Chimera scored on a wrap around in the 2nd and you felt like this team could be ready to go run and hide. Chimera has been snaked bitten trying to get goals and has had much better opportunities during his 25 games goalless streak, hell he had a better opportunity in the 1 period of this game, so when that goal went in you just felt like the hockey gods were smiling down on the Jackets. Ah, but wait, we are talking about the Columbus Blue Jackets here. The Blues responded with a goal in the second on a nasty shot by Boyes to register his 24th goal of the season. Early in the third, just 3:33 in, McDonald knotted it up on some shotty defense by the Jackets. Well, being a Jackets fan for as long as I have, you have seen this horror movie before and you don't want to watch again. But I remembered that wise old troll's prophecy "If you don't score on the 5 on 3, you will loose." Then I remembered that early in the 2nd that Nash and Federov were in the sin bin together and the Blues had 1:15 of 2 man advantage and couldn't score. Everything is fine until Vyborny got call for interference and then of course Foote got called for interference and gives them another 5 on 3 for 1:17. Now I am sweating because if they score on this one but not on the other one does that mean they still loose or will they win because they did score on the 2 man advantage. When I was talking to the troll about this he got too drunk and pass out before we could go over this scenerio. Thankfully the Blues didn't score again and the Jackets took that momentum and went to work.
Zherdev did a between the legs to the forehand wrister from the circle to beat the goalie stick side. 4-3 Jackets. Fritsche then scores 1:18 later with Chimera pressuring the goalie scored from about the same spot Nash did in the 1st. 5-3 Jackets. Then Vyborny hits Zherdev with a 120 foot pass and then all alone Z made Toivonen's head spin with a move that he put in with a back hand roofer. 6-3 Jackets with 1:57 left. What could go wrong now? Well, you silly fool, you haven't watch the Jackets very long. LeClaire got the puck caught up in his skates from behind the net and then brought the puck in front of the net where McClement scored the easiest goal he will ever get and that includes any empty netters he would get. Finally the game ends 6-4!
Brassard's Debut
Derick Brassard got his feet wet last night with 10 shifts, 6:36 of ice time of which 2:05 of it was on the powerplay. Only won 1 of 5 faceoffs which won't bode well for him with Hitchcock. Didn't embarrass himself but you could tell he was wide eyed. More play will help him settle down. You can see the skill, just needs playing time.
Fire the Cannon!
Eric Smith
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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