Columbus 1 Anaheim 0

A hard-fought home ice victory for the Blue Jackets. Forward Jason Chimera scored his sixth goal of the season in the third period to clinch the game. Well, he got credit for the goal, but we'll take it. An Anaheim defenseman tried to slip the puck under Giggy to get a face-off but it slipped under the goalie and into the net for the lone tally of the game. Chimera was the lucky Blue Jacket closest to the play. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Goalie Mark Denis had a very strong game, stopping all 40 shots. Shwoing that his injury is behind him now, Rick Nash looked strong and had 4 shots on goal in 24+ minutes on the ice. Berard missed another game with his bad back. His presence on the blue line and in the mix on offense is missed.

Merry Christmas

Took a bit of a holiday break away from the blog. Thanks to folks for noticing and caring enough to email. We all should be excited now that Rick Nash is playing again, so hopefully the new year will bring some punch on offense.

Happy holidays to all.

Blue Jackets 3 Devils 2, OT

Defenseman Bryan Berard scored his sixth goal of the season to beat the Devils in overtime. The Blue Jackets played a solid game on home ice, even managed to outshoot New Jersey 39-30. Mark Denis stopped 28 of 30 shots to give the Jackets a much-needed victory.

Nikolai Zhredev had a very good game, scoring two goals (his 7th and 8th of the season). Hopefully he will use this effort as a springboard to better, consistent effort every night.

Another 30 minute game for Foote. Berard and Federov each had six shots on goal. New Jersey was 0-7 on the power play; Columbus was 1-5.

Jackets 4 Islanders 3, SO

Columbus wins another game via a shoot out. David Vyborny netted the game-winner and only goal in the shoot out. The Blue Jackets named Adam Foote as captain on Tuesday, and he scores a power play goal, one of three Columbus power play goals, in the next game. Nikolai Zherdev and Sergei Federov also scored power play goals for Columbus. It was Federov's first goal as a Blue Jacket just a game after obtaning another milestone by playing in the 1,000 game of his career.

New York outshot Columbus 42-29. Malhotra injured his shoulder and is out indefinitely. No Islander was on the ice for more than 27 minutes; Columbus had three players on the ice for more than 27 minutes, Foote, Vborny and Wescott. Foote was on the ice for a whopping 32:50.

Columbus 3 Minnesota 2, SO

The Jackets grab a rare road win by a shoot out goal by Jaroslav Balastik. Leclaire stoned the Wild in the shoot out and Columbus skates away with a win.

For the Blue Jackets, Letowski and Wescott scored the regular time goals. It's good to see Trevor start to score a bit since the offensive production has been so anemic. Nash where art thou?

In a rare mini-vacation Columbus does not have another game for a week. I wonder how they swung that early Christmas gift?