I really hope game 1001 is better than 1000 for the sake of Ken Hitchcock’s sanity.

7:00pm EST Fox Sports Ohio (HD)

The Jackets look to right the many wrongs from an awful night in Nationwide Arena on Wednesday. The Blue Jackets have won 1 of their last 5 home games and look to get back on the + side in that regard. It has been reported that Mike Commodore will miss the game due to conditioning issues, so will Sammy Pahlsson because he had his Bursa Sac drained, Google Image Search that at your own risk. Garon gets the nod in net giving Mason a few extra days to clear his head from the Red Wings loss.

Right now the CBJ’s stats are nothing to be proud of, nor do they matter when the team is in what seems to be a tailspin. Time to get refocused and set the world straight.

CARRY THE FLAG!!

It begins tonight. The Jackets are in 1st in the Central, and would like to stay there for more than just the opening month and a half of the NHL season.

7:00pm EST Fox Sports Ohio… and its a big game, so that means NO HD

The Red Wings come in reeling from a 5-1 loss in Toronto and under much criticism from various press outlets. Both teams have not played since Saturday night and should be well rested. As mentioned yesterday the Red Wings will start goaltender Jimmy Howard in lieu of Chris Osgood (cue Ozzie chant). The Jackets must take advantage of him early and often and use their speed to their advantage.

Of course there is the whole revenge aspect after getting swept last April at the hands of Detroit’s few people with jobs. The team and the coaches will downplay it, but the fans sure as hell won’t. I would not be surprised to see an attempted octopus launch tonight… makes me wish I had enough money to sit lower bowl every game. On top of it all Ken Hitchcock will coach his 1000th NHL game tonight. Congrats!

Statistical Comparison

Columbus Power Play 22.2% (9th) vs. 75.9% (26th)Detroit Penalty Kill

Detroit Power Play 20.0% (16th) vs. 79.4% (18th) Columbus Penalty Kill

Just like tonight is the first time the Jackets have been ahead in the standings when these two rivals met, this is probably also the first time the CBJ rank better than the Wings in each special team category. The question is, do the Red Wings start to “get right” tonight against a much younger Blue Jackets squad?

Columbus Goals/game 3.19 (7th) vs. 3.07 (24th) Detroit Goals Against/game

Detroit Goals/game 2.80 (15th) vs. 3.25 (27th) Columbus Goals Against/game

Both defensively weak teams in the early season, but the Jackets will ice their best defensive corps of the season for only the second time all year.

CARRY THE FLAG!!!

CAR 2 – CBJ 3

For two periods it looked as if the Blue Jackets were going to lose to a depleted team who happens to be dead last in the NHL with 7 points. Thankfully it only took about 2:30 for Nikita Filatov, Jared Boll, and Rick Nash to score the Jackets’ 3 goals of the game and coast to another win.

Certainly a scary moment in Nationwide last night. Rick Nash went to the goal with the puck on his stick and cut across the crease slicing Goaltender Cam Ward’s left leg resulting in the above image. Yes that’s blood on the ice, it was fairly gruesome and shocking.

Carolina goaltender Cam Ward had surgery late Saturday or early Sunday at Riverside Methodist Hospital to repair a lacerated muscle in his left thigh, The Dispatch has learned

Puck-rakers

The Blue Jackets then proceeded to give up the opening goal, per usual and trailed the lowly Hurricanes after two periods completed. In that span Jackets’ Goaltender Steve Mason was able to stand tall and keep the deficit within reason for the Columbus offense to overcome. The Canes’ had an extended 5-3 advantage and three other power plays to try and top the Jackets, but were unable to capitalize as the presence of Jan Hejda and Mike Commodore in the lineup for the first time was apparent.

Do not adjust your computer monitors… that is indeed CBJ Winger/Fighter Jared Boll going to the net and SCORING A GOAL. The scoring explosion started with a nice one timer from Nikita Filatov followed two minutes later by the above beauty from Boll. Barely 30 seconds after Boll scored, Rick Nash took the puck to the net scoring his 11th of the season, giving him 11-11-22 in only 16 games… that puts him on pace for 113 points this season, yowza.

Bring on the Wings…

This has to be a lame-o preview as I am stuck on the school internet at parent teacher conferences. As a band director, I don’t get many if any people needing to come talk to me except for the really hands-on parents who do everything right.

Anyway, the Jackets went toe-to-toe last night with (in my opinion) the best team in the National Hockey League. Unfortunately it didn’t result in a victory for the Blue Jackets, instead it went to the trivial skills competition that the Sharks were able to win when Dan Boyle got one past Steve Mason. Before I go on further, I cannot say enough about the recent turnaround that Mase has had. The poise, confidence and skill is all back and roaring, and has been on an upward trend beginning with the shootout loss to the Penguins. That being said, Mason will get a much deserved break tonight in lieu of Garon getting his 3rd start of the season. Let’s see, 3rd start, 15th game, so about 1 start every five games, but that will surely be different down the stretch or if Mason begins to struggle or on the other hand gets very hot.

Statistical Comparison:

Columbus Power Play 24.1% (7th) vs. Atlanta Penalty Kill 83.3% (8th)

Atlanta Power Play 27.5% (3rd) vs. Columbus Penalty Kill 78.3% (21st)

For the second night in a row the Jackets face a very talented team in both facets of the special teams. While this is no slight on the Thrashers you have to wonder what effect on the numbers playing in the Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference has on the statistics.

Columbus Goals/Game 3.14 (10th) vs. Atlanta Goals Against/Game 2.91 (16th)

Atlanta Goals/Game 3.54 (2nd) vs. Columbus Goals Against/Game 3.36 (27th)

The Jackets took a step in the right direction last night giving up only 2 goals against one of the most talented teams in the NHL. It will take another large effort to get the same result tonight in Atlanta.

CARRY THE FLAG!!!