Jackets beat Phoenix, Leclaire at 120 Scoreless Minutes

Pascal Leclaire completed his second consecutive shutout last night in front of a half-full Nationwide Arena. The Jackets prevailed over the Coyotes by a score of 3-0, including a first career goal by Jared Boll.

The Jackets put on a great performance in which they played all the way to the end. Only once or twice did they give up a good scoring chance to the Coyotes. Most of the time the defense was all over the puck before a play could bet set up.

The 'Energy Line' played a phenomenal game, carrying all three goals. Chimera had a piece of each and finished the game with a goal and two assists. The top line was centered by Modin -not Fedorov- allowing #91 to serve as the anchor for Zherdev's second line. It looks like Hitch is reattempting the Zherdev-Fedorov partnership, which was tried early and often last year. The thought is that the two Russian-born stars would be able to find common ground and give Zherdev the support he needs to be a top scorer. Last night we didn't see much from this line, but look for it to be used again and again this season.

A hat tip must be paid to Leclaire for shutting out a second team already this season. Having not played in the season's first road trip, he remains un-scored-upon this season. You could see the tension building toward the end of the game. Every time the play stopped, Leclaire paced the goal line with greater and greater intensity. Despite several seasons in the league, Leclaire is still wanting to prove himself. With games like that, it will happen in no time. This is the Leclaire we've all been waiting for. Tougher opponents are coming, however.

The Jackets are now 2-1 (.667!) and face the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
Score sheet

Doug MacLean to Interview with Phoenix Coyotes

The Phoenix Coyotes organization is looking for a new GM to preside over the Great One and his team full of not-so-great ones. The organization is going to interview nine candidates and former CBJ GM Douggie Doug MacLean is on the short list.

Best of luck with that, to both MacLean and the Coyotes.

Jackets Win 2 Road Games in a Row: Gretzky Throws Clipboard

If you're like many CBJ fans, knowing the team is out of the playoff picture is pretty discouraging to tuning in for the games. However, if you took that attitude this past weekend, you missed out.

The Jackets went on a two game stomp of the south, beating the Stars 3-2 in a shutout, then topping Phoenix 4-3. The shootout victory, a rare occurance for the Jackets came just days (or hours?) after this article in the Dispatch described Hitch's new practice of holding shootout try-outs for the team in an effort to always have the best, hottest shooters leading the overtime charge- not the go-to shooters of Nash, Vyborny, and Zherdev. I never found any follow-up of this tryout system, but let's just say that it was Chimera who fired the winning shoot-out goal to topple the Stars on Friday.

Saturday's game in Phoenix was a fantastic display of skill by the entire CBJ roster. Brian Boucher had his first start for Columbus, despite not yet having proper CBJ goalie gear. He had a few troubles staying in position and gave up far too many rebounds, but the Jackets prevailed.

Perhaps one of the more noteworthy moments from this game occurred just seconds from the final horn. With approximately three seconds left to play, the teams went to a face-off in the neutral zone. Phoenix Coyotes Head Coach Wayne Gretzky disagreed with the call and believed the face-off should have been held in Columbus ice, thereby giving the Coyotes a last second attempt at a 6 on 5 play, and a potential game-tying goal. Gretzky through a fit, yelling some choice four letter words at the refs and throwing his clipboard. He caused such a scene that there was serious potential for him to be called on a delay of game penalty. The penalty was not issued, however, and the Jackets easily held on to win the game.

Jackets Set New Franchise Record!!!!!

I wish I could be excited about the Jackets setting a new record, but lo, I am not. The record set in tonights 3-0 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes was the record for most times shutout in a season. 12. And there's still about two months of the season yet.

I don't know what happened tonight. I caught the first five minutes of the game on CD101, as I was still driving home from work (which took over two hours), and I watched the last five or so minutes on FSN. Ugly, ugly hockey. The Jackets didn't look incredibly enthused about the game, and looked pretty poor compared to the Coyotes. Phoenix managed three goals and a few big hits in the game, and Roenick smashed up Eriksson pretty good. (He had a nasty bloody lip during the 3rd.)

I'm pretty disheartened by the whole experience tonight. Not a good night. Terrible weather, terrible drive home, terrible performance by the team. I hope they do something (players only meeting?) between now and Thursday in so that they can put on a better performance against Kipprusoff, Iginla and the rest of the Calgary Flames. I'll be at the arena for that game, and it will likely be the last I attend this season. I've been attending games above my means this season as it is.

(Try a Google image search for "shutout". Why are there so many hockey pictures?)

Box Score

New Lines against Phoenix

Jackets are at home in Nationwide tonight against Gretzky's not-so-great Coyotes. Phoenix has certainly had trials and tribulations this season, just as we have. They also traded away Mike Comrie to Ottawa. Comrie is a pretty good center, and a guy I always tried to pick up while playing various editions of EA Sports' NHL games.

If you're watching tonight's game, keep an eye out for some new lines and some CBJ players in new positions. Nash will be on the opposite wing (that means the right side for those not familiar) and Sergei Fedorov will move to the wing. He's still recovering from an elbow injury, so he's not so hot on the face off. Gilbert Brule will be back to center after spending a while on the wing too.

The lines will likely be as follows:
Modin - Brule - Nash
Fedorov - Svitov - Vyborny (the "smart line" according to Hitch)
Chimera - Malhotra - Fritsche (the line that's been hottest of late)
Shelley - Konopka - Carter

Interesting lines, huh? Hitch apparently has a thing for Konopka, so we'll be seeing plenty of him in coming games. I don't like seeing Carter all the way down on the 4th line though. I think he's more talented than that, but with the 3rd line magic we've witnessed and Fedorov out of center, there's no place for Anson anywhere else. Frankly, I think that 4th line would be at its best if they sat Shelley and brought up Picard, or another AHL stud.

Oh yeah, Leclaire may be back this week, so that should be helpful.

A Full 60 Minutes

Time for home game number two, a thriller for fans of fast paced offense. This time around, the Jackets had a couple of regulars back in the lineup, and they sparkled against the Phoenix Coyotes. Nikolai Zherdev was the story of the night, finally making it back from Russia. The Coyotes learned quickly that Zerdev was back in Columbus, as he put up a two goal night. Rick Nash continues to be the story however, with 3 goals and 3 assists in 3 games. Leclaire once again proved strong for Columbus putting up a remarkable 24 saves on 25 shots. The shots looked great from the other end as the Jackets' offense got off 34 shots on Mike Morrison.

It seems as though all of the things that we've been talking about are all coming around. Not only did the Columbus dominate on offense, but there was the full 60 minute effort from the entire team, something that definitely was missing in Chicago a few days ago. Anson Carter also scored his first of the season, a beautiful bank shot off of newly acquired Phoenix defensman Ed Jovanovski.

One problem that I do see developing, especially later in the season is the lack of minutes Coach Gallant is giving to Jody Shelley. Not that Shelley deserves them, but the days of the hockey goon are numbered. The Coyotes landed quite a few cheap shots in the game, notably on Dan Fritsche, who was injured, but also on Alexander Svitov, who so recently was on the IR list with a shoulder injury, which came dangerously close to being reaggravated. Point being, Shelley got his minutes after these two potential game breakers, but only managed to get one good hip check in toward the end of the second. Where is the team goon when the kids are getting pushed around? Why is Jody Shelley still on the team? I know the fans in Columbus adore Mr. Shelley, but if Coach Gallant doesn't give him ice time, why is he sitting on the bench at all? It seems to me like that spot on the roster could be filled by a useful player to give the top lines a chance to rest for a few minutes. Shelley had 5:02 of ice time, while David Vyborny on the other end topped the list with an unheard of 24 minutes on the ice. Sooner or later our stars are going to need a break.

I hate bursting the bubble of this great win by the Blue Jackets with negativity, but I also see a problem in the officiating. I counted two specific instances where a Columbus player was TACKLED, only to be called for interference. Yes, I said it right, but I'll say it again. A Columbus player was tackled and then went off for interference...HUH? too bad they don't show the penalty replays on the jumbotron.

I will now leave you this fine evening with my new favorite Gretzky quote (Sorry Tyler, I actually found a better one): "First of all, they played a nice game. They're a much better team than last year. I tried to explain that to our guys." Guess they didn't hear your words of wisdom, o' Great One. Better luck next time!

Phoenix Coyotes 1, Columbus Blue Jackets 5

Columbus Record: 2-0-1 5 pts.
(First place in the central division)

Trailing Columbus in the division:
Chicago, 2 pts.
Detriot, 2 pts.
St. Louis, 1 pt.
Nashville, 0 pts.

Box Score