Saturday, January 28, 2006

Columbus 4 Nashville 3

David Vyborny and Rusty Klesla carried the team to a hard-fought win on home ice against a solid team. Vyborny added two goals (14-15) including the game-winner in the third period. Klesla assisted on three of four Columbus goals.

Nash and Wescott had the other goals. Nashville outshot Columbus 27-24. Berard, who hurt his back in the game the other day, did not play.

This win was a good bartometer for the Jackets. The team is beginning to churn out wins, but they need wins against the better teams in order to raise confidence.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Columbus 4 Minnesota 3

Three third period goals carried the Blue Jackets to the win on home ice. SDergei Federov had and assist and the game-winner in the third period. Nash, Berard and Hainsey also scored goals for Columbus. Vyborny had two assists.

Great to see a stirring comeback victory given that they folded many times earlier this season. Gallant has the team playing hard every game. MInnesota outshot Columbus 28-25. Columbus was a poor 1-9 on the power play; Minnesota was a respectable 3-6.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Columbus 6 Vancouver 5

On home ice, the Blue Jackets win a scoringfest against the Canucks. Both teams combined for a staggering 7 power play goals, including four for Columbus. With less than six minutes left in teh game Trevor Letowski netted the game-winner.

Alert the media! The Blue Jackets outshot the Canucks 43-33. Jan Hrdina, continuing his strong play, scored two goals on the power play. Nikolai Zherdev had a power play goal (his 15the goal of the season) and an assist to go along with his eight shots on goal. David Vyborny added three assists.

There is no question that the Blue Jackets are playing their best hockey of the season. What is surprising is that Rick Nash has remained relatively cold at the offensive end, though he is still skating hard and finishing checks. Manny Malhotra had an assist. It's good to see him playing strong again.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Nashville 7 Columbus 2

A thrashing on the road against a solid Nashville team. I'd call them a rival except that there is no rivalry until the Jackets can put a solid season or two together. After putting a solid run of games together, the Jackets were flat.

Letwoski (short-handed) and Berard score goals for Columbus. Letwoski had 6 shots on goal. Nashville outshot Columbus 48-29. Again, too many shots allowed. This time Leclair was the shooting gallery target in goal.

Nashville converted 3 of 7 power plays.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Columbus 4 St. Louis 3, SO

Rick Nash nets the game-winner in the shootout to give Columbus a win. Zherdev, Vyborny and Hrdina scored the regular game goals and continued the solid offensive play for the Jackets. Adam Foote played 26+ minutes and was +2. It's good to see the team captain back playing.

St. Louis outshot Columbus 47-37. Too many shots allowed against poor Denis.

Weird sort of hat trick: There were only three penalties were called in the second period. Oddly, all three goals scored in the period were short-handed goals, two for the Blues and one for the Jackets.

Friday, January 20, 2006

Berard Admits Steroid Use

A key off-season signee Blue Jackets defenseman Bryan Berard received a two-year suspension from international competition for taking norandrosterone. He took teh test as part of being named to the U.S. Olympic team. Since the test was not NHL testing, he won't be subject to league discipline. Very lucky. Berard said the steroid was a supplement he took before the season. A test taken Sunday allegedly found that norandrosterone is no longer in his body.

Berard's comments: "No question, I'm embarrassed about it. There's nothing I can do about it now, other than accepting what I've done. We'll learn from it, it was a mistake and it won't happen again."

It is too bad that Berard made the choice, a bad choice, to juice himself. His image of being heroic for recovering his eye-injury will be tainted. Even if he did not use illegal substances in making his comeback, he has left the door open to suspicion about his past and future condition. A shame that is of his own making.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Columbus 4 New York Rangers 3

Some games are boring and some games are exciting. This game was a fun ride for three periods. Both teams played hard and after five goals in the first period, the teams hunkered down and played solid defense. The game had some hard hits, too. Jagr had a crunching check along the boards and Steve Goertzen plastered a Ranger in open ice during the final period.

Continuing a trend, the Jackets did not fold when the Rangers tied the game in the third period. Perhaps earlier in the season they would have folded the tent and lost, but Rick Nash is healthy and unwilling to give up. Nash continued his goal-scoring streak to nine games with the game-winner in the third period.

Alert the media! Jody Shelley scored a goal! Chimera and Vyborny (power play) both scored again.

The Blue Jackets were whistled for only one minor penalty in the game.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Columbus 5 Florida 4, OT

A good road victory for the Blue Jackets capped by an overtime goal by David Vyborny, a rare overtime power play goal that was his second of the game and eleventh of the season. Columbus netted three goals in the third to stay in the contest.

Chimera, Nash and Federov also had goals for the Jackets. Hrdina and Zherdev has two assists each. Florida outshot Columbus 52-23.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Columbus 6 Pittsburgh 1

The Blue Jackets pound the hapless Penguins (that sounds a bit cruel after watching The March of the Penguins) in Columbus. It was good to see the Jackets put a game away in which they had an early lead instead of letting a team back into a game. Playing strong for three periods is the key.

Sergei Federov continued his offensive tear, scoring a goals and two assists. Jaroslav Balastik added two second period goals to put the nails in the coffin. Rick Nash continued his strong play, netting a goal and an assist. A healthy Nash goes a long way towards moving the team ahead.

Paul Leclaire was strong in goal, turning away all but one of the 29 Pittsburgh shots on goal. Jody Shelley had seven times more penalty minutes as on ice time. The game had fights and misconduct penalties galore. Even feisty Rick Nash got into a scrape.
Columbus 6 Pittsburgh 1

The Blue Jackets pound the hapless Penguins (that sounds a bit cruel after watching The March of the Penguins) in Columbus. It was good to see the Jackets put a game away in which they had an early lead instead of letting a team back into a game. Playing strong for three periods is the key.

Sergei Federov continued his offensive tear, scoring a goals and two assists. Jaroslav Balastik added two second period goals to put the nails in the coffin. Rick Nash continued his strong play, netting a goal and an assist. A healthy Nash goes a long way towards moving the team ahead.

Paul Leclaire was striong in goal, turning away all but one of the 29 Pittsburgh shots on goal. Jody Shelley had seven times more penalty minutes as on ice time. The game had fights and misconduct penalties galore. Even feisty Rick Nash got into a scrape.
Columbus 6 Pittsburgh 1

The Blue Jackets pound the hapless Penguins (that sounds a bit cruel after watching The March of the Penguins) in Columbus. It was good to see the Jackets put a game away in which they had an early lead instead of letting a team back into a game. Playing strong for three periods is the key.

Sergei Federov continued his offensive tear, scoring a goals and two assists. Jaroslav Balastik added two second period goals to put the nails in the coffin. Rick Nash continued his strong play, netting a goal and an assist. A healthy Nash goes a long way towards moving the team ahead.

Paul Leclaire was striong in goal, turning away all but one of the 29 Pittsburgh shots on goal. Jody Shelley had three times more penalty minutes as on ice time. The game had fights and misconduct penalties galore. Even feisty Rick Nash got into a scrape.
Columbus 6 Pittsburgh 1

The Blue Jackets pound the hapless Penguins (that sounds a bit cruel after watching The March of the Penguins) in Columbus. It was good to see the Jackets put a game away in which they had an early lead instead of letting a team back into a game. Playing strong for three periods is the key.

Sergei Federov continued his offensive tear, scoring a goals and two assists. Jaroslav Balastik added two second period goals to put the nails in the coffin. Rick Nash continued his strong play, netting a goal and an assist. A healthy Nash goes a long way towards moving the team ahead.

Paul Lecalire was striong in goal, turning away all but one of the 29 Pittsburgh shots on goal. Jody Shelley had three times more penalty minutes as on ice time. The game had fights and misconduct penalties galore. Even feisty Rick Nash got into a scrape.

Monday, January 09, 2006

Columbus 5 Coyotes 2

I don't think that I can remember a team being held to 15 shots on goal winning the game by three goals. The Jackets scored on every third shot on goal. Bryan Berard got a hat trick and all three goals were scored on the power play. Rusty Klesla and Rick Nash added goals to complete the scoring. Marc Denis kept the Jackets in the game by stopping 32 of 34 shots on goal. Federov had four assists in the game.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Detroit 5 Columbus 2

"2005, glad to see you go." That's what the Blue Jackets players must have been saying last night while celebrating the new year. After leading 2-0, Detroit steamed back and scored five unanswered goals on their way to another road loss for Columbus. In the first period, Rick Nash scored the fifth goal of his injury-shortened season. Chimera netted another one, his seventh... then the roof caved in. Two of Detroit's goals were on the power play; Columbus was 0-5 with a man advantage. Foote and Berard are still out and that means trouble for the defense. Interesting perhaps only to me: playing against his old team, Federov had no shots on goal in 18 minutes of ice time.