What A Battle!

Who did not know that this one was going to be a war??  With Nashville having its back very much against the wall after a loss last night in Chicago, they were in a "must win" situation to keep their playoff hopes realistically alive.

Every write-up leading up to this game focused on the first 10 minutes, and the need for the CBJ to avoid getting blown out by the Nashville intensity.  Well, the Jackets accomplished that mission in spades.  In fact, they dominated the first period and the first half of the second.  They were swarming, playing solid defense, and taking advantage of overly aggressive Nashville defensemen to create scoring opportunities.  Nifty goals by Nash and Novotny should have provided a 2 - 0 cushion, but Peca's unfortunate deflection of a Nashville shot made the cushion only 2 - 1. However, we were outplaying Nashville at both ends, and when Nash scored again off a great feed form Williams 6 minutes into the 2nd, it seemed that the Somet Center Curse had been fully exorcized.  Of course, this is Nashville, in Nashville, so we know that was a silly thought.

Another screwy bounce, this time off of Methot's skate, enabled the Predators to narrow the gap to 1, with Jacket-killer Arnott getting credit for the goal.  A few minutes later, the Preds knotted the game with their only power play goal of the season against the Jackets.  After a tentative first half of the 3rd period by both clubs, Bonk knocked in a puck that bounced around the crease for what seemed like an eternity. 4 -3 Nashville, and it looked like the CBJ fortunes were once again going to take a hit in the Music City.  Again, this is not the CBJ team you have been accustomed to watching.  The boys found another gear, and a gorgeous feed from Vermette to Williams, and the ensuing sniper shot, tied it up, and 5 minutes later guaranteed a point.  Not as easy as it sounds, however, as Tyutin got called for a 4 minute high sticking penalty that was imposed only after the play and some extended conversation among the officials.  Nobody raised an arm at the time of the infraction.

Nonetheless, the Jackets dispatched the remaining time in regulation, and the balance of the penalty in OT, and maintained consistent pressure thereafter.  Credit Mase for an outstanding save on Suter coming in all by himself near the end of regulation.  

The shootout was what you would expect for these goaltenders.  Nash got an unlucky bounce off the crossbar, and Rinne handled Williams and Novotny. (Sorry, Hitch -- don't get the Novotny over Vermette choice for the SO).  Mason dispatched Fiddler and sullivan, but Koistinen made a nice forehand move to get Mase down, and roofed the backhand for the winner.  

Here are the +/- for the night:

+  Early Energy -- We came out strong and skilled, and really had Nashville scrambling early.  We took advantage of their aggressiveness, while limiting their scoring chances.  Although shots were relatively even early on, we kept them to the perimeter.

+ Offense -- We showed some real skill at the offensive end (subject to the hibernation minus given below).  Two goals to the back door, one in regulation and one on power play.  If we can start doing that kind of thing consistently, we will be very dangerous in the playoffs. Nash, Vermette, Voracek, Williams, Chimera, Umberger all showed great energy in the offensive zone.  Great resilience getting the tying goal in the last 5 minutes.

+ Special Teams -- True, we gave up a power play goal, but we killed 6 others in solid fashion, including that potentially lethal double minor to Tyutin with 1:48 left in regulation.  We only had 3 power play chances, but cashed in on one of those in beautiful fashion.

-- Hibernation -- When we went ahead 3 - 1, we pulled our heads inside the shells and tried to play prevent defense.  2 SOG in the 2nd period is all the proof you need.  We stopped hitting, took no shots, got sloppy in giving away the puck, and made no takeaways.  No wonder that we lost all of those statistics for the game.  Perhaps natural to have a let down after getting so geared up for the first 10 minutes, but this is the playoff chase, guys!!  

--Details -- 1 goal indavertently deflected into your own goal is unfortuate.  2 is sloppy. Taking 7 penalties in a game as important as this is inexcusable, no matter what you think about the officiating. (Hey, we won 2 Toronto reviews and got a double minor when the damage was done by our guy, not theirs).  Also need to do better than 50% in the faceoff circle.  Need to clear those pucks out of the crease crisply and quickly.

--Injury (?) -- Huselius left right away, then returned, then went away again.  Have looked, but not found any updates as yet.  Hopefully nothing major.

Not the win we wanted, but the single point is extremely important.  First of all, it gives us the second tiebreake, should we end up with the same record as Nashville.  Secondly, it lets us keep 6th over the almost surreal charge put on by Anaheim (8-1-0 during the Dirty Dozen).  Finally, it reduces our magic numbers toward a clinch.  Right now, our magic number is 0.5 vs. Edmonton, 1.5 vs. Minnesota and Nashville, 2 vs. St. Louis, and 3 vs. Anaheim.  Can't technically clinch on Sunday, but Tuesday should be the day, assuming a win over the Blackhawks.  

Hitch will have the boys ready to vault over that 90 point mark, and get primed for a playoff celebration that will be soon to follow.  Go Jackets!!

Thanks, Blackhawks!!!

Thanks go out to the Chicago Blackhawks, who bested Nashville tonight, 3 - 1, clinching a playoff spot for Chicago, who moves up to 4th in the West with 95 points. Calgary and Vancouver are battling for the Northwest Division title, but the loser of that battle now sits in 5th, and would lose the home ice advantage to the Blackhawks.

Several impacts of this game on the CBJ:

• Nashville will be an angry, desperate team tomorrow. However, after a tough one tonight they will hopefully be a little tired, while the CBJ spent today in Nashville.
• A CBJ win over Nashville tomorrow will eliminate Edmonton from passing the Jackets, and will also eliminate Nashville from passing us. Nashville would have the theoretical ability to tie us with 90 points, but would lose on the second tiebreaker.
• A win over Nashville means that we would be in a position to clinch a playoff spot on Sunday with a win over Chicago, or a loss by Minnesota @ Detroit, or an OTL by both us and Minnesota.

The key tomorrow for the Jackets is to come out hard, withstand the early rush by Nashville, and use our defense and puck possession to wear down the Predators. A nice crowd of JacketBackers already down there, and noting that the Nashville folks aren't terrible enthused about the Predators. Go figure . . .

Go Jackets!

The Force Is Strong With This One . . .

After a disappointing home and home with St. Louis, and the ensuing panic among the more squeamish CBJ fans, the last name many wanted to see on the schedule was Nashville. Darth Vader. Death Star. Doom.

Well, not so much actually . . . Our own version of Luke Skywalker, Raffi Torres, slammed home the winning goal 4:05 into the third period, and turned the affair over to the rest of the Rebels to finish the job. Through a combination of deft puck possession in the offensive zone, a tenacious defense, a superb penalty kill and solid goaltending, the Jackets killed off the balance of the period, restoring order to The Force.

Sure, this was a depleted Nashville team, with Arnott, Erat and Legwand out. They received another blow when Dumont went hard into the boards and lay motionless for a good period of time. He eventually left the ice with moderate assistance, but I suspect that a concussion is a real possibility. But, as Nash observed in the paper this morning --everybody goes through it, and you just have to keep playing. (AP Photo/Jay LaPetre)

The Calgary win was artistic -- this one was a mechanical marvel. The pieces all fit together, and even when a gear slipped a little bit, the clutch engaged and smoothed it right out. Nashville's lone goal came on a gorgeous cross-ice feed at the left post for a tip in that Mason had no chance on. It was started by an ill-advised pinch attempt, I believe by Tyutin, and he and Boll got caught up ice. A Huselius turnover leading to a breakaway was negated by a beautiful back check by . . .Huselius. Russell thwarted a later breakaway effort. Mason made a number of terrific saves, but none nicer than a second period beauty. He slid to his left as the shooter came down the right wing, reminiscent of Martin St. Louis' winning goal for Tampa in OT. Just as then, the shot went to the far post as Mason was sliding the other direction, but he reached back with the glove and made a terrific save. Give Rinne credit for Nashville -- he singlehandedly kept them in the game.

Here are +/- for tonight:

+ Discipline -- We played an extremely disciplined game, taking zero penalties in the first two frames. Our defensive corps was much better on the puck and in support, after a little bit of initial shakiness. We cycled, we put pucks on the net, and did not get out of our game plan when we could not get things to go. We kept grinding and got rewarded, at the same time wearing Nashville down.

+Possession -- We dominated possession in this one, but in a totally different way than against Calgary. There, we had artisitic passes and combinations that flowed artistically, Here, we continued to cycle, get the puck deep, chase it down, center it, shoot, get the rebound, cycle it . It was amazing to watch for those of us Day 1 season ticket holders who only dreamed about days like this. We generated traffic in front, and though we did not cash in on all our opportunities, we won the majority of the battles.

+ Penalty Kill -- We didn't need to use it much, but when we needed it, the PK came through in spades! The only two power plays of the night for the Preds came back to back, with 28 seconds of overlapping 5-on-3 time. This coming just minutes after we had taken the lead. Nothing like a 3rd period 5-on-3 against you during a heated playoff race to get the blood moving! With Mason as the foundation, the penalty killers were aggressive, challenging the puck handlers and creating havoc. Well done!

+Special Mention---- Aside from the obvious, Jake Voracek was ENORMOUS tonight, though he won't show up on the scoresheet. He was all over the ice, making plays, keeping possession. Vermette was a monster as well. Boll had some good moments, and hopefully was not dinged too badly by his blocked shot. Backman (yes, him) was solid, if unspectacular. Russell was a key contributor in moving the puck and keeping momentum going.

-- Columbus -- 6 games to go in the regular season, we are in 6th place, with a 2 point lead over Nashville, and the Predators are in town. It is Spring Break for most of the kids, so no school tomorrow. No blizzard, no tornado, no NASCAR on television, no OSU rowing meet to distract. So why the hell were there only 14,495 in the house? Shame on you Columbus -- you showed yourselves for the fair weather, attention-deficit fans that you really are. Disgusting . . .

A great win at a clutch time for the team. With 88 points and 5 games left, the fat lady hasn't sung, but I hear something in the wings . . . Vancouver has now taken over the lead in the Northwest Division, so Calgary drops to 4th. Chicago is also standing still. A well-earned rest for the boys now, until Saturday in Nashville. We swept the season series here, now need to break through in their barn. A contingent of 30 or so Jacket Backers will be in the house on Saturday, so we will represent. Funny, I didn't hear any "Let's Go Predators" chants at Nationwide tonight. Hmmm . . . maybe too many syllables.

Luke slays Darth. Pleased we are.

Go Jackets!

Sanity Check

Our young guys got a taste last night of what happens if you play tentatively. Good lesson, and time to move on. Due to work commitments, I came in toward the end of the second period. Climbed in the car just as they announced Williams' goal, and got home to see Nash's goal and the following rather bizarre sequence of events.

Since I didn't see the whole game, can't do a full +/-, but here are my observations on what I saw:

• Some bizarre breaks -- Russell puts the puck in our own net (why doesn't the Dispatch mention this???), which was a killer at the time
• Game where people will look at the score and wonder about Mase, but he had basically an own-goal by Russel, a breakaway, and a screened tip in by Erat. Tough to fault him on those, and I didn't see the first goal.
• We are being way to sloppy in our own zone --not only turnovers, but providing too much space, not clearing the crease, etc. I would rather see us take a penalty than have those goons hang out in the blue paint in front of Mason.
• Our younger guys looked lost last night -- Dorsett and Rome in particular, but Boll as well. Dorsett and Boll need to temper their "hit it if it moves" attitude with playing some real defense.
• For one of the few times in recent memory, we lost on the detail stuff -- faceoffs and hits. Those are the things that create opportunities.
• We miss the senior leadership of Modin, Peca, Chimera on our lower lines. Even Gratton has been a stabilizing influence on the 4th line.
• Credit to Rinne -- very solid.
• Umberger and Voracek continue to impress.

Road games at Nashville always bring the worst out in us. Not an awful game in terms of execution, but one where a series of little flaws killed us. On to Detroit, where we ironically match up better.

We will be there, sporting our blue! Go Jackets!