The 5-Hole: Blue Jackets News and Notes – 10/6/09

Every Tuesday, WFNY’s The 5-Hole brings you up to date with the goings-on of the CBJ…

The Week That Was

Week: 2-0-0, 4 points
Overall: 2-0-0, 4 points (2nd division; 5th conference)

The two lines above… that’s history, folks. In this, their ninth season in the NHL, the Blue Jackets have won their first two games in a season for the first time. Let that sink in for a moment. That’s some seriously long-standing bad mojo that was just undone. What’s better, they won last night in Vancouver in a game that, if you looked at just the stat sheets, you’d think they had no business winning. I’m not ready to start getting the Stanley Cup engraved after two games or anything, but this team has shown me something already in the early going.

Saturday, 10/3 in Columbus – Blue Jackets 2, Wild 1 (Box Score) – Highlights
Monday, 10/5 in Vancouver – Blue Jackets 5, Canucks 3 (Box Score) – Highlights

Borrowing from my preview piece from yesterday about game 1: The Jackets played sloppily at times on Saturday, but for the most part their defense and penalty killing were solid, Steve Mason was stellar in goal, and the offense generated 39 shots and some very good scoring opportunities. RJ Umberger was able to cash in on a short-handed goal, and Rick Nash very nearly followed with one of his own on the same Penalty Kill. Nikita Filatov had a great steal and breakaway, but just wasn’t able to solve Niklas Backstrom. Raffi Torres played a solid, energetic game. Rick Nash was all over the ice on offense and defense. Rusty Klesla absolutely smoked a shot from the point that torched Backstrom for the game-winner. It was a good night all around.

Steve Mason was near-brilliant in goal against Minnesota, only giving up one PP goal in the third in which a defenseman left him high and dry on the post and the Wild’s player was able to stand on the doorstep with it and put at least two moves on him before slipping the puck by him. On offense, the depth finally looked real on Saturday. The top two lines generated a lot of chances; the third line was a force. Columbus generated 39 shots on the second-best defensive team from last year. Minnesota’s goalie was pretty solid, too, and so the hope is that if the Jackets can continue to get the volume of shots they did Saturday that they will score more as the season progresses and they get a little tighter.

The Jackets had a mixed bag on special teams on Saturday: their first goal was a short-handed goal, and literally 10 seconds afterward Rick Nash almost had *another* shorty on the same PK. That said, they did give up a Power Play goal (the only goal allowed on the night) and again struggled at times on the Power Play themselves, going 0-for-3. There were glimpses of improvement, but also periods of time where they still had trouble maintaining any kind of possession on the Power Play. Of note on special teams was that the Jackets salted the game away by killing off a penalty for the final 1:43 of the third period, which included an empty-net stretch where Minnesota had six skaters to four for Columbus. It was a crazy flurry of activity; Mason made some huge saves, Rick Nash blocked a big shot, and the Jackets held on for the victory.

On Monday, the Jackets had a different task: withstand the storm that was an 0-2 Vancouver team making its home debut and desperate for a win. The Jackets couldn’t muster nearly the same volume of shots, and Vancouver peppered Steve Mason with 43 shots of their own. It was a tall order. But, it was the Jackets’ offense that provided the kill shot early in the second period, scoring on three consecutive shots to chase Roberto Luongo and open up a 4-1 lead. The teams had traded goals late in the first period, with the Jackets falling behind with four and a half minutes left, but answering with their second short-handed goal (this time from Antoine Vermette) in as many games to tie it with just over 40 seconds left in the period.

It was the early second period that doomed Vancouver; the Jackets’ first three shots of the period all found the twine. Kristian Huselius, Rostislav Klesla, and Nikita Filatov all beat Luongo in the span of three minutes and 43 seconds to take all of the air out of the building and earn Luongo a trip to the bench in favor of backup Andrew Raycroft. Raycroft stopped the bleeding enough to give the Canucks a chance to get back into it, and get back into it they did. Christian Ehrhoff blistered a shot from the point past Mason with 11:33 left in the second, and Willie Mitchell did nearly the same thing from the opposite point with 12:23 to go in the game.

Mason was forced to make some stellar saves down the stretch, but make them he did. It wasn’t until the Jackets went on the Power Play with about five minutes to go that they were able to salt it away. Brace yourselves… the Jackets’ Fedor Tyutin drilled a shot from the point that was redirected by Raffi Torres for a PP goal with three and a half minutes left to put the lead back up to two. That’s right! They scored on the Power Play! I was as shocked as anyone. Mason and the Jackets’ defense we up to making that stand up the rest of the way, and the Jackets notched their first 2-0 start in franchise history. What a world!

Up Next

The Jackets continue their western time zone road trip this week, with games in San Jose (1-1-0, 2pts) on Thursday and in Phoenix (1-0-0) on Saturday. Both of those games will also be home openers for the Jackets’ opponents, which is always a tough challenge. Thankfully, Columbus gets a couple of days off to practice and get their legs back. They will return home next week.

Full Schedule

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Hot: D Rostislav Klesla. Fresh off signing a four-year contract extension, Rusty has had two of his better games to start the season. After suffering through an injury-plagued season last year that saw him play in only 34 games, he got healthy and was solid in the playoffs. And, that trend has continued so far into the new season, as he has scored a goal in each of the first two games and has notched an assist as well.

Not: It’s hard to pick someone out to throw under the bus after just two games—both wins. If I have to pick someone, it would be Derick Brassard. He has no points in the first two games, and is one of only six players with no points—and one of those (Jared Boll)barely played against Vancouver after suffering an injury early in the first period. Brassard is also –1 so far through the first two games. This is not meant to knock Brassard; these are the first two games of regular season hockey he’s played since last December. But, by the numbers, he’s off to the “worst” start.

Injury Update

Mike Commodore has missed the first two games with a groin injury that occurred on Friday in practice. He’s been skating, but his status for Thursday’s game against San Jose is still up in the air. Jared Boll got lit up pretty good against Vancouver, and it’s being reported that he may be suffering from a concussion. Fredrik Modin (knee) was moved to the IR when the rosters were pared down last week, and is expected back in roughly four weeks.

Quotes of the Week

When we used to win on the road, it was like making the playoffs. Now it’s become almost standard.
–Captain Rick Nash, after Monday night’s win in Vancouver.

It seems like every time we come into this building, there’s a crisis, and we end up stuck in the middle of the damn crisis. I wish it was just a normal time and a normal game, but we seem to come in here when they’re trying to right the ship. I know Vancouver has a good team, but we have a team that can make you nervous, too. We can make you spend a lot of time in your own zone, a lot more time than you want to, if we’re on top of our game.
–Coach Ken Hitchcock, talking prior to the game in Vancouver about how Vancouver’s team was struggling and hoping to get well on Columbus.

I think we may finally be getting to a point where this team is no longer sneaking up on anyone. While that means it will be that much harder for them to have success, it also means they’re reached a point of earning respect from other teams in the league. Monday’s win did nothing but further buttress that point, as the Jackets didn’t just hold on for a big win on the road; they were able to ice the game late. It’s early in the season, of course, but every win on the road is huge.