VAN 4 – CBJ 3
A change of pace today for a recap of the Vancouver game. Since I watched on tape delay I kept the laptop handy and made some game notes as it went by. I should’ve kept game time as it went by for organizational ease, but, live and learn. Anyway, here we go!
1st Period
Nash goal – middle finger to the late arriving fans, we have far too many fans who think they won’t miss anything if they are a few seconds late, or a get up a few seconds early for some more beer and popcorn.
Baumgartner goal – 1st goal of the season… can’t be giving those up this late in the season… Guess what? Marc Methot was way out of position, what’s new?
Jared Boll goal – taking the fight to VAN, 4th line doing their job! Mega-props to Noel putting them on after the Vancouver goal, another middle finger to late arriving fans
Jurcina High-sticks Samuelsson – HUGE PK coming up, double-minor too.
PK again – Voracek and Brass on the kill which is great to see…Methot making up for bad play early with great hit on Kesler… Russell on the PK… Huge kill
Juice playing some defense and, what the heck?? steals the puck!?!?
Power play… Nash double-shifted on the PP
Hustle by the 3rd line is outstanding
Hejda picking up a stick on the fly haha
Alex Burrows is a bitch
2nd Period
Ryan Kesler seems to be everywhere
Kris Russell laying some checks, good to see further rounding out of his game
Hemmed in our own zone… can’t control the play, again the 4th line gets the first real possession
Defensive passing suddenly looks sloppy and bad
Great save by Mase… followed by a great scoring chance by the young-guns (Brass & Voracek), exactly what you want to see, generating our own momentum
“Got a piece of Boll” – Bill Davidge
Sweet jesus, too many men… AGAIN, somehow that’s Hitchcock’s fault, Penalty Kill… Jake looks huge out there with Brassard, good energy from a great kill leads to….
RAFFI TORRES – he will be missed, but someone must step-up when he goes elsewhere at the deadline
STEVE MASON – what in the wide world of sports? you think he’d have learned from last season (Detroit), just when the CBJ seize momentum this kind of play gives it right back to the opponent
Paging Rick Nash… seemingly he disappeared after his opening goal
Big missed slash on Brassard at center ice
Is it me or are we taking point shots more often?
Goaltender interference – huge kill coming up as the ‘Nucks have momentum, scary shot in the neck/collarbone on Hejda, nice use of the stick by Nash, great play by Mason, great kill, now build on it, FSO tells me that’s 16 straight successful PK’s
“Raymond went down very easily” – Bill Davidge… again
Being out-shot 26-16… wow, nothing new I guess
Jan Hejda – pinching in on the play? Surprising to see from him
3rd Period
Jackets are looking slow and un-energized
Forecheck – 1-2-2, not sure if I like just one deep forechecker
Nice strength on the puck by Stralman
High Stick on Vermette – MASSIVE kill ahead… if you keep taking silly penalties, you’re going to give up a goal… even though it’s tied, I have a very bad feeling the Jackets are on the verge of going back into their shells
Here’s the adversity Noel was waiting for
Rome is COVERING THE PUCK WITH HIS BODY, has to be a delay of game call at least
Steve Mason – looking good in recent games, now has given up 3 goals tonight… lots of big juicy rebounds that are very scary, even in the games when he posted shutouts
OMG – Puck deflected off Brassard’s stick, up and over Mason… wow, 4-3 VAN, CBJ have given up 3 straight goals, very sloppy play now, TIMOUT CBJ
Russell – great to see him jumping up on the play still and looking dangerous with the puck
Nice side-to-side movement by Mase to make a huge save
Zombie Nation… really?
Power Play coming up – Must score… we’re making Raycroft look like Marty Brodeur
Can’t muster anything… empty net and the Canucks aren’t wavering
Game over
Post-game thoughts:
- Well, we got the adversity that Interim Coach Claude Noel was looking for, we didn’t completely fold, but we didn’t do a good job getting the game to that point. When you hold leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-1, you have to be able to hold on. After the timeout the Jackets looked more organized, but still couldn’t muster much as Raycroft had gained confidence as he made many easy saves after the initial Blue Jackets onslaught.
- In my opinion, Steve Mason lost this game tonight. After looking very sharp for a 3 games, he gave up 2 very bizarre goals, one that he gave right to an opposing player, and another that will be considered “fluky”. The timing of both goals was terrible, but as previously mentioned, the 2nd goal where Mason made an unforced error, was truly the back-breaker, and set the Canucks off and running on 3 straight goals.
- Noel now has a chance to correct the issues that Hitchcock could not. This team has struggled mightily with mental toughness all season long. There are more blown leads than I care to think of, but it is good to see the team performing well after the late timeout. We’ll see what happens on Sunday, and after the Olympic break.
