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George Lucas Memorial Loss in Tampa
Games notes for this entry. Sloppy looking first period as the Jackets seem a bit off. A late break by Umberger is easily stopped. Flat period for the most part. 2 shots on goal for TB in 1st period.

Shoot the puck! Ahh! Sometimes Huselius drives me crazy. "A little too fancy" said by Gare is an understatement. Later Boll eschews a scoring chance to make that extra pass too. Great flash move to the middle by Nash from the off-wing, but good glove save. The second period starts with 7 minutes of action before the first whistle.

Umberger sets up Voracek with an open net opportunity that is missed. Shortly thereafter McKenna stops Huselius from point blank range on a Columbus PP. Boll wisely doesn't retaliate to a punch to the head and the Jackets get another PP chance. The team looks horrid on the PP: no shots and sloppy play. Terrible period for a team trying to play into the playoffs.

Jackets come out skating hard and fire 8 shots in the first 4 minutes of the period. Hejda's shot from the point is stopped by McKenna but the rebound hits a defender and finds the net for a 1-0 lead. Later Hejda takes a penalty to give the drowning ship a line... and they score. It never fails. Mason screened on the point blast and has no chance to stop Malone's redirect.

Good glove save on a backhand shot. McKenna has done his part for Tampa tonight. St. Louis rings one off the right post behind Mason. Lucky break for Columbus. Late icing by TB leads to a time out with 1:20 remaining.

OT "I have bad feeling about this." Goal knocked in with an obvious high stick called off as a rebound bounces off of Mason's mask and was struck with a high stick. Commodore giveaway in front gives Lecavalier a chance in front, but he shoots wide. Whew. A minute later St. Louis beats Mason on an off-angle, magnificently placed shot that eludes Mason's glove. Outshot 34-17, Tampa wins.

If they play like that against Calgary on Thursday, they'll get run out of the building. Hitchcock has work to do on the day off tomorrow. Not a game you would expect after a two day rest against one of the worst teams in the league.