NYI 4 – CBJ 3 OT
Not any huge reasons to be upset with this loss. There was a rough start, giving up 2 ugly goals in the first period that Mathieu Garon had very little chance on, one coming due to a d-man out of position and another off of an odd deflection in front. Digging a 2-0 hole is rarely overcome, especially by this team and especially this season.
The Jackets put a dent in the Islanders lead in the second period, on the power play no less, when RJ Umberger redirected a Rick Nash point shot. The words “Why is Nash playing the point?” were barely out of my mouth when he shot the puck and Umberger scored. Umberger has transformed into the CBJ’s own version of Tomas Holmstrom, as much as we all hate the wings (and rightly so) Holmstrom is the type of player the Blue Jackets have lacked for too long. The grit, determination and skill put forward by Umberger is un-matched by many players on the team, and it showed last night.
The third period was a wild affair where the Jackets seized the lead on goals from Nash and Grant “G-spot” Clitsome scored his first career NHL goal. In typical CBJ fashion, the lead was blown and we were on to overtime. Here’s Puck-rakers on the Islanders game-winning goal:
In overtime, Commodore went deep into the Islanders’ zone and tried to make a play when none was there to be made. He had the puck stripped by defenseman Mark Streit, who led a smart Isles’ counter resulting in Josh Bailey’s winner at 2:58 of OT.
…..
“The overtime goal for me was (pause) I didn’t like it,” Noel said. “There are a couple things I didn’t like, first of all you got a defenseman playing way up front, and I understand he’s trying to score a goal . . . but that’s certainly not the way we want to play.”
Here is Commodore on his decision to join the play deep:
“I had the puck in the corner, I should’ve put the puck behind the net and I just lost it. The guy (Streit) made a good play but yeah, I tried something maybe I shouldn’t have.”
An unfortunate end to an otherwise exciting night, a couple interesting facts:
- With last night’s attendance of 16,972 the Blue Jackets are averaging 15,286 fans through 38 home games. Not bad especially when you look at last season through 38 games: 15,469, only 183 fans ahead of where the Jackets are now.
- The Jackets sit 24th in the league with a 30-32-13 record and 73 points. Of the clubs below them in the standings 4 of them are very close to taking over the Jackets, Islanders 72 points, Tampa Bay 72 points, Florida 71 points, and Carolina 71 points. Below those 4 teams are Toronto with 68 points and Edmonton with 55 who have done everything within their power to lock up the 1st overall pick.
- The Blue Jackets did not have a single “+” player last night, surprising really with 3 goals scored. Sammy Pahlsson was the worst on the night posting a -2.
- With only a handful of games remaining, the Jackets record this year ranks right up there with the “dark ages” of this franchise only having more wins than the first 4 seasons of existence.
Preview for tonight’s Chicago game will be posted a little later on. Go Jackets.
