Clutch!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen -- please be seated, and Professor Hitchcock will review tonight's game with you and explain just how and why that was the finest example of how Hitch Hockey is played that the Jackets have ever put on the ice.

Oops -- I guess Hitch can't make it -- something about being in Alberta, having to go kick some Canuck tail in Vancouver. No worries, Hitch, I'll take it from here.

Do not let the 1 - 0 score fool you. This was a dominant an effort as the Bluejackets have provided all year, particularly when you consider the situation under which it was played -- 6th place, 1 point ahead of half the Western Conference, including Edmonton, on the road, coming off 2 losses and an exhausting 6 in 9 stretch. This was a matchup of two hockey teams desperate for the 2 points, as we arrive at the 3/4 pole of this race.

Not only were our best players our best players -- Nash, Huselius, Mason, Umberger, Commodore, Hejda, Tyutin--but our role players were also our best players. Torres, Dorsett, Boll, Gratton all played key roles. How beautiful was it that Torres got the lone goal??

This was not a situation where the Bluejackets caught an opponent when they were down. Despite the boos from the home crowd, Edmonton played tough defense, had what seemed like a hundred blocked shots, and had a goalie in Roloson who stood on his head all night long, aided by a post or three. Otherwise, this is a 6 -0 game. The Jackets simply denied space and time from the Edmonton forwards, and when they did get a moments worth of space, Mason stopped them cold. We were relentless on the puck in the offensive zone, stingy in the neutral zone, and cleared the puck out of our own zone with precision and speed. And we kept doing it, again, and again . . . in the end, we wore down their forwards by forcing them to spend the majority of their shifts in their own zone.

Let's review the pluses for tonight's game. Although we got no power play goals, and missed a few opportunities we should have cashed, I can't in good conscience assign minuses to those tonight.

++ Legs -- We skated, and we skated, and we skated . . . there was no place on the ice where the Oilers were safe. We forechecked relentlessly, stood people up at our own blue line, and got the puck deep almost every time down. That set up the forecheck, which set up turnovers, which set up opportunities. Hitch-Hockey!

++Hitting -- We made the Oilers pay the price every time they touched the puck. As much as we skated, we hit just as much. Boll, Tyutin, Commodore, Gratton, Williams all laid lots of wood on people tonight, and the effect was cumulative.

++Puck Control -- Terrifically strong on the puck all night long. No turnovers to speak of in our own zone, and crisp, decisive exit passes. We cycled well in the offensive zone, maintained position on the wings to keep pucks in, and moved the puck well on our power plays. Best puck control in a long time. 32 - 19 in shots, 29 - 17 in faceoffs. Done.

++Goaltending -- The Masonic Wall was back in spades tonight. Not overly tested, with only 19 shots, but his two consecutive saves on Cole in the second were sick. Two nice saves at the end while Edmonton pressed the action. All this at 20 years old, with the weight of the playoff race and the recover from mono on his shoulders. Good stuff. NHL leading 8th shutout, reduced his GAA, and is coming closer to locking up the Calder.

++Intelligence -- This was an intelligently played game, on and off the ice. We neutralized Hemsky, leaving him with only 1 or 2 real opportunities, "sandwiching" him from front and back, as Hitch described. We kept our heads up and avoided turnovers and stupid penalties. Zero penalties in the third period, which is huge in a 1 - 0 game, particularly when the other team has a guy like Sheldon Souray, who has an absolute cannon from long range. Great coaching job in rolling 4 lines on short shifts, never letting up on the pressure.

++Players -- Everybody played their part tonight, but some stood out. Boll, Torres and Dorsett were enormous tonight. A little more confidence in these guys in the offensive zone and who knows what we might have. Gratton was another guy who stood out -- some big hits, nice passing, won lots of battles down low. Peca was strong, and Tyutin, Russell, Methot, Hejda and Commodore all atoned for past sins.

The heat was on from the hysteria crowd after two losses, and the Jackets came through with flying colors. Not only did we take care of business, but St. Louis beats Dallas 3 - 1, Boston creams (sorry, had to do it) Anaheim 6 -0. Phoenix and Colorado both lose, so stick a fork in them, they are done. Minnesota has a tough double in Calgary and Edmonton, then has a night off before going to Vancouver.

Tied for 5th with 68 points with 20 games to go. 10 - 10 gives us 88 points, which might do it this year. 10 - 8 - 2 or 11 - 9 gives us 90, which is looking very good right now. We are 9 - 5 - 1 since the All Star Break, slightly ahead of the 60% rule standard. If we stick with winning 60% of the remaining games, that will give us 92 points, a virtual lock for a good spot in the West.

An effort like tonight is going to fuel more. Opponents are not going to get goaltending efforts like this every night, so some of those shots are going to start going in. When that happens, watch out!

Great win tonight! Go Jackets!

Improbable Victory!!

Hitch had it right ----in his post game comments, Hitch noted that it was "games like this that make coaches go into scouting." In an exhausting, gut-wrenching, insanely schizophrenic effort, the CBJ outlasted the Canucks, gaining a 6 - 5 shootout victory and 2 very big points in the last road trip before the All-Star break.

Make no mistake, this was an ad lib performance, one where the script got thrown out early on. Instead of Hitch-Hockey, it became a track meet, a dizzying up and back affair that seemed destined to be decided only because rules say these things eventually have to end. There were moments of pure elegance, when you could swear our team was composed of Hall of Famers -- the tic, tac, toe passing leading to Malhotra's first goal. The precision of the Rick Nash to Kris Russell to Jason Williams power play goal. Commodore's beauty from the point. There were also tons of moments that made you wonder where these slow footed, jet lag laden guys came from. In between, there were ludicrous moments, such as the floater that Mason kicks appropriately toward the corner -- except that Nash happens to be skating by at that moment, and it hits his thigh and goes in. Vancouver fans booing Roberto Luongo. Yep, lots of bizarre goings on at the 3,000th game in Canuck's history.

Most of all, this win was one of character, of toughness, of refusal to lose. The Malhotra goal to tie it in the first. Two great goals at the end of the second to come back from a two goal deficit to tie it. Read that last sentence again -- two goal deficit. On the road. Against Vancover. This ain't your father's Bluejacket team. Having gotten into Luongo's head with those two goals to cap the second, they proceed to score 2 quickies from Torres and Commodore at the start of the 3rd, to go up 5 - 3. The celebration is on, right? Nope. The fluke goal off of Nash and a nasty power play shot from one of those pain-in-the-neck Sedin twins, and we are tied at 5. Two All Star goalies, and the game has more points than the Steelers-Ravens game . . . Again, past Bluejacket teams fold up their tent at this point, graciously thank their hosts, and move on to the next town. Not this bunch. They dusted themselves off, dominated the rest of the third and the OT, got beautiful SO goals from Williams (great choice to lead off, Hitch!) and Nash, Mason shuts down Wellwood and Sundin, and you walk away with 2 points. Whew!!!!

Here are the +/- for the game:

+ Nash -- Give this guy a week off more often. A beautiful wraparound goal, two nice assists, and overall domination of the ice when he was there. That line with Huselius, Malhotra and Nash is scary every time they cross the blue line.

+ Attitude -- This is probably the 3rd or 4th time I have awarded a + for attitude, which in itself says volumes about this hockey club. These guys had every reason to quit, and didn't. They had dead legs (see below), were in a hitting contest, got some bad breaks, some non-calls, fell behind, came back, fell behind, came back, took the lead, lost it -- and then dominated. That is the mark of a winning club, folks.

+ Power Play -- Yes, you are reading this right. Due to a rash of coincidental minors, and a lot of non-calls, we only had two power plays all night, and one of those was a 4 vs 3 in OT. However, the one PP we did have in regulation was so pretty, I had to give it a plus. We created space, we moved the puck quickly -- we used the width of the ice, not just the perimeter, and Jason Williams converted a one-timer from Russell into a wide open net. Well done! Honorable mention to the PK, which was great, except for an awful kill attempt that gave the Canucks their 4th goal.

+ Players -- Besides Nash, you have to give the + sign to Jason Williams, who scored the PP goal, made a beautiful shot in the shootout, and generally showed speed, puck handling and an ability to take control. Imagine what he will look like when he gets to know his line mates. + signs also for Boll and Torres, who were tenacious on the puck all night, and created lots of opportunities. Tyutin continues to get shots through from the point, Russell is just fun to watch with the puck, and Commodore has turned into a scoring machine. Modin also played a heavy game. Not sure what to say about Huselius. On the one hand, he created lots of opportunities and had two assists. On the other hand, he failed to convert some beautiful opportunities. He is great, but frustrates the heck out of me at times.

--Defense-- We looked slow, tentative and generally clueless in our own zone much of the night. Tollefson was befuddled by the Vancouver forwards. Methot had his second awful game in a row. He let his man go, leading to the first goal, and got himself trapped with the puck, made turnovers, just generally bad. The All-Star break is coming at the right time for him. Canuck forwards coming down the middle were either left alone or just harassed with some feeble attempts at poke checks.

--Legs -- As I noted above, while at times we clicked, at other times we looked like we had just gotten off the flight -- from China. Come on guys, it's not that long of a flight, and you have had a day to get over it. They almost looked at times like some of our younger guys were awed by the 3000 game hoopla and the whole Sundin mystique. Get over it --- soon!

This was a victory engineered by veterans -- Nash, Modin, Commodore, Tyutin, Williams,Huselius. The kids provided energy at times, and their never-say-die attitude is becoming contagious. 2 huge points on the road, in the type of game we have historically never won. We came to Mason's aid (and he was far from bad) and did what needed to be done for the victory. That is 4 out of the last 5, 8 out of the last 11, and 5 for 7 on the road. Great job. I'm exhausted . . .