Is Peyton Hillis Wearing Down? Plus Hillis Contract Talk
December 13, 2010While We’re Waiting… Jake Delhomme, Larry Doby and Beating the Bengals
December 14, 2010Columbus Blue Jackets (16-11-1, 33pts) vs.
Calgary Flames (12-15-3, 27pts)
Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta
Monday, December 13, 2010
9:00 PM EST
TV: FSNOH-HD / Radio: WBNS 97.1 FM
(Dispatch Preview / SportsDirect Preview)
So, the Jackets have won two out of three after losing five straight. They begin a three-game Western Canada road trip tonight in Calgary. The Flames are languishing at the bottom of the standings, yet as we remember from back in October you can’t take anyone lightly. The Flames came into Nationwide on 10/22 and skated the Jackets out of the building on the way to a 6-2 win. The Jackets played an intense game on Saturday night, and fore- and body-checked the Rangers into submission. If they can continue that effort, well, if you win again tonight that would be called a “winning streak.” It has happened before.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets:
SC1: | Rick Nash | Derick Brassard | Jakub Voracek |
SC2: | Tom Sestito | Antoine Vermette | RJ Umberger |
CK1: | Ethan Moreau | Sammy Pahlsson | Derek Dorsett |
CK2: | Chris Clark | Kyle Wilson | Andrew Murray |
D1: | Jan Hejda | Fedor Tyutin | |
D2: | Rostislav Klesla | Marc Methot | |
D3: | Kris Russell | Mike Commodore | |
G: | Steve Mason |
Calgary Flames:
SC1: | Rene Bourque | Olli Jokinen | Jarome Iginla |
SC2: | Alex Tanguay | Brendan Morrison | Ales Kotalik |
CK1: | Curtis Glencross | Mikael Backlund | Niklas Hagman |
CK2: | Tom Kostopoulos | David Moss | Tim Jackman |
D1: | Robyn Regehr | Jay Bouwmeester | |
D2: | Mark Giordano | Cory Sarich | |
D3: | Anton Babchuk | Adam Pardy | |
G: | Miikka Kiprusoff |
Team Rankings
Scoring:
CBJ – 2.57 gpg (21st NHL)
CAL – 2.60 gpg (t17th NHL)
Defense:
CBJ – 2.68 gapg (t12th NHL)
CAL – 2.90 gapg (22nd NHL)
Power Play:
CBJ – 10.9% (29th NHL)
CAL – 15.4% (19th NHL)
Penalty Kill:
CBJ – 80.0% (23rd NHL)
CAL – 81.2% (20th NHL)
Season Matchups
This is the second of four matchups this season:
10/22/10 – Calgary 6 @ Columbus 2 – box – Highlights
12/13/10 – Columbus @ Calgary – 9:00 PM EST
12/21/10 – Calgary @ Columbus – 7:00 PM EST
03/04/11 – Columbus @ Calgary – 9:00 PM EST
Game Notes
Well, another day, another chance to get a winning streak going again. The Jackets *have* won two out of three, but the game in between was a clunker on the road in St. Louis. All credit to Scott Arniel and his staff, though, as he’s gotten the Jackets to play harder in the two wins of late. It culminated with a physical beating of the New York Rangers in which Captain Rick Nash and goalie Steve Mason combined to will the club to victory, and the troops followed along, pushing the forecheck along with a great amount of hitting to the Rangers and making them uncomfortable. Heck, we even saw a Power Play goal as the iciing on the proverbial cake.
Well, it has to continue tonight. This team continues to win a game looking impressive only to come out the next time out and look flat. That trend can’t continue. It’s too simple to say, “They just need to play the way they did last time!” and I know I do that a lot, but seriously. Play with that same intensity every time out, and you’ll win a lot of games, men.
Steve Mason gets his second straight start tonight after doing a good job on Saturday night against the Rangers. Hopefully, the Jackets remember how flatly they played against the Flames the last time out, and are looking for some payback. Although, we saw this same movie play out once before this year against Colorado.
The biggest issue facing the Jackets of late has been the complete disappearance of their Penalty Kill. The one goal allowed to the Rangers was on the PP. In the previous three losses (over four games) the PK allowed nine goals. That is simply unacceptable. In the 4-1 loss to St. Louis, they allowed three PP goals, and went 0-8 on their own PP. When your own Power Play is that anemic, you simply can’t afford to let your opponents repeatedly pummel you on their man advantage. The Jackets were in the top 7 in PK at one point, but 10 PP goals allowed in their last five has pushed them all the way to the bottom 10 in the league. That’s not a good trend.
On offense, the Jackets continue to struggle to put together consistent efforts, having scored just eight goals in their last five games and 14 in their last eight. To have success, they need to find the offensive groove they were in earlier where the top line—back together tonight, incidentally—was a force and the secondary scoring would put them over the top while they limited opponents’ chances on defense.
Overall, if Columbus can circle the wagons again, keep Mason clean, and find a way to patch the holes on the Special Teams units, I like their chances. They seem to have a good mentality on the road (8-4 so far away from home), and Calgary is a team that can be had with a good effort. But, it comes back to that: mentally this team has to come out and WANT to win they way they did earlier in the season. They can’t let a little adversity stop them. This includes continued PP struggles (which clearly seems to weigh on them), falling behind early, and other teams getting physical. This team knows, deep down somewhere in their collective psyche—that they can play with pretty much anyone in the league. They just need to find a way to tap into that each and every game.
From The Outside Looking In
Red Mile
Matchsticks and Gasoline
Flame for Thought
Next Game For The Jackets
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
10:00 PM EST
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Vancouver Canucks
1 Comment
Sometimes I look at those stats and wonder how we could have won as many games as we have. Its probably too early to be talking playoffs, but I worry about them digging themselves into a hole too soon in the season. The PP is painful to watch, and lately the PK has been almost as bad. At least they won a weekend home game Saturday.