Beaten At Our Own Game

The Jackets came out of the gate last night, acting as though they expected a game very similar to Edmonton -- sort of a feeling out process in the first, followed by a ramped up style of play. They were half right. The Vancouver game was similar to the Edmonton game, in the sense that there was lots of checking, attention to detail, and movement all over the ice. The problem was that for the better part of 2 periods, it was only Vancouver participating.

Vancouver came out with all guns blazing, at both ends of the ice. We were on our heels early, and it showed. Our young guys looked especially bewildered. While Mason was huge, and our defense not bad, we had trouble communicating -- with lots of miscues on puck handling in our own zone and some blown coverages, which were usually covered by Mason.

This was the flip side of the Edmonton game. Althought that was a 1 -0 affair, we had tons of chances in that one, all set up by aggressive forecheck, strong neutral zone pressure, and a back end defense that confidently cleared the zone. Those things were lacking here, and as a consequence, we could not get the puck deep with regularity and maintain pressure. Only in the late second and third periods did we finally exert that pressure.

Another consequence of being put under pressure is sloppiness. The game boiled down to two penalties we took in short order at the end of the 1st. Mason is screened for the first goal 5 on 3, and a nasty tip provides the next goal during the 5 on 4 that followed at the beginning of the second. Credit is due for holding them from that point forward, but the disappearance of most of our forwards, except for Nash, Umberger, Huselius and, for part of the time, Murray, made it essential for our defenders to pinch hard. We did it once too often, surrendering the 3 on 1 that gave Vancouver their 3rd goal.

Here is +/- for the night:

+ Mason -- Absolutely huge. Some great saves all night, and absolutely no chance on any of the three goals. Good omen going forward.

+/- Players -- Nash, Huselius put forth a lot of effort, but Nash surrendered a couple of penalties needlessly. Umberger continued his strong play. Gratton had some excellent moments, but also had a couple of bad turnovers. Murray was energetic, but couldn't close. Dorsett, Boll, Torres disappeared for the most part. Voracek was active, but failed to take control. We missed the veteran leadership of Peca, Modin and Chimera.

-- Readiness -- For whatever reason, we just were caught off guard by their jump, and never recovered. We lost out in the faceoff circle for the first time in awhile, took too many penalties, and did not capitalize when we got it to 2 -1.

This was a game where Vancouver was out for blood, not only to keep playoff position, but to prevent a season sweep. They played an outstanding hockey game from front to back, and hats off to them for that. Lesson learned, and Hitch will not let them soon forget it. This will happen to a young squad, and just can't repeat the mistake.

A big three games vs Kings, Predators and Red Wings this week, so no time to focus on what is done. I suspect we will see top effort on Tuesday.

Go Jackets!

Going For The Season Sweep!

Tonight, the CBJ go for the season sweep over the Vancouver Canucks in British Columbia. Not an easy task, but one the Jackets should be up to if they continue the caliber of play they displayed against Edmonton.

The teams are not far apart statistically. Vancouver has an edge in Goals Per Game, ranked 12th in the league vs. 20th for the CBJ. In Goals Against, the CBJ are 10th, Vancouver 11th. The Canucks have the 15th ranked Power Play, and we have the 16th ranked PK. We remain last in the PP, but Vancouver is only 25th in the PK.

Both teams have been hot -- Vancouver is 9 - 2 over its last 11. They edged Tampa Bay 2 - 1 on Friday, were shut out 3 - 0 by Montreal on Tuesday, and beat Toronto in a shootout 3 - 2 in a shootout. As usual, they are led by the Sedin brothers. Daniel is the team's only 20 goal scorer, with 25-34-59 pts. Brother Henrik is 12-45-57. However, they are each pointless in their last 2. The addition of Sundin makes the pair more dangerous. He is 6-6-12 in 20 games. Ryan Kesler (18-21-39) adds jump and scoring.

This one, however, will boil down to goaltending. Luongo is over his post-injury rustiness, sporting a 2-1-0 record, 1.64 GAA and .933 save percentage over his last three games. Mason is over his own illness issues, and threw a 1 - 0 shutout at Edmonton in his last outing. Both teams have playoff motivation, and Vancouver will be looking to avoid the sweep. The CBJ can take advantage of some favorable results in other games to create some separation.

Here are the keys:

Early Energy - - Luongo is most vulnerable when you get to him early. Let's come out firing and try to get the first goal. Dominate possession, check all over the ice, and disrupt their flow early on.

Intelligence -- Continue to play smart hockey -- minimize penalties, take care of the puck, get the puck deep, win the battles.

Simplicity -- No need to get fancy. We have the speed, size, skill to get this win, and have 3 under our belt against Vancouver already this year. Keep their studs to the perimeter, clear the puck, North South game, Hitch hockey. 'Nuff said.

60 Minutes -- Can't take a shift or a period off. Roll 4, make their forwards tire themselves out in their own zone.

Last long road trip of the year. Get 'er done! 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 . . .

Game Day Ramblings

As the CBJ get prepared to begin their final road trip befor the All-Star break, they are likely getting warmer weather in Vancouver than we have had here in Columbus.

The trip is beginning on a good note. Per Puck Rakers, Rick Nash has been activated from IR, and Craig MacDonald has been, or will soon be, sent to Syracuse. Let's just hope Nash isn't pushing things -- his responsibility to the team is long term, and we need him for the stretch run.

The Vancouver bloggers, and the Canucks themselves are referring to themselves as "fragile", needing to maintain composure, and needing to get back to a defensive game. Hmm, any of that sound familiar from times past? Vancouver has lost four in a row at home, including a 4 -1 loss to Phoenix on Thursday, when Roberto Luongo made his return, showing some rust, but stopping the last 21 shots he faced. They have scored only 10 goals in those four losses, so offense has also been a sticking point for the Canucks.

Don't buy into the wounded whale story. They are a tough team, with a three point lead on the Jackets in the standings. They have played 46 games, however, to the Jackets' 44, so this presents an opportunity to make some real gains in the logjam that is the Western Conference right now. 9 teams are with in 8 points, ranging from 5th place, all the way to 13th. We need to stay in the hunt, but the season will not be won or lost on this trip, particularly when we have 10 of 13 at home coming out of the break.

Sammy Salo returns for Vancover tonight, so look for them to hit hard early. For that reason, Filatov is a likely scratch. We need to respond in kind, but keep our composure and Hitch-Hockey fully in place. We need to turn the skill lines, including the Nash-Malhotra-Huselius line, fully loose on Luongo and let the rubber fly. Keep pressure in the neutral zone and keep the Sedin brothers to the outside. Watch for them to crowd Mason, so we need to clear the lanes and crease without taking penalties. Finally, let's see if Williams and friends can cash in on a power play or two.

Energy, chemistry, effort, patience. These will carry the day. Go Jackets!!