Raise your hand if you thought that was a guranteed goal for Mike Modano in the late in the 3rd period?
*raises hand*
Raise your hand if you thought that despite outplaying the Stars this game the Jackets would find a way to lose it.
*raises hand*
Wrong and wrong again.
The Jackets closed out this game off the strength of terrific play in goal and timely goal scoring from Raffi Torres. Antoine "little red" Vermette closed the game out with a empty netter.
That is 3 wins in a row.
Yes folks, I think the Jackets have found a pulse.
STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW
vs Dallas
01.10.10
SCORE: Jackets 2 Stars 0
GREEN
* Garon is getting it done... what a stop on Eriksson on that early breakaway... that was a game changer... but the game saver came against Mike Modano with just minutes left in the 3rd period. Time to play Monday morning QB -- where would this team be if Hitch had played the hot goaltender from the get-go?
* Beautiful feed from Brass to Torres on that first goal.. that is the skill this kid is capable of bringing... skill that he brought often last year but has vanished for the most part this year. He's also starting to get his mojo back doin some smack talkin out there.
* ..and nice finish by Torres who wasted no time getting that one timer off. He was also throwing his weight around..how about that hit on Brendan Morrow who a is a hard to dude to check? He also had 8 shots.
* Also liked to see Hejda jump up in the play there to create numbers for the good guys. He had a solid game all the way around.
* You want to know what's alive? The Voracek-Vermette-Torres line!! The best chemistry a line has had all year.
* Andrew Murray had the legs churning.. thought this was his best game this season. Bad luck on that puck off the post.
* The team competed all 60 minutes. They had a couple of breakdowns but overall this was a consistent effort all game long.
* Voracek was outstanding. He is really transporting the puck well with speed of late. My heart skipped a beat when he carried that one through the center of his own zone but no harm no foul.
* Boys throwing their weight around.. everyone was hitting! Jackets with 31 thumpers to the Stars 23. Picard led the way with 4. Pahlsson with a GREAT hit on Modano.. needs to bring that game more often. Clark plastered someone as well. There is no question when this team hits they play well.
* Great TO by Hitch after the Jackets got pinned last in the 2nd. They couldn't afford to give up a goal there and allow momentum to shift. Off topic but I'd love to see a stat on how many times that time out goes unused throughout an NHL season? Probably a lot more than we'd think.
* Jackets getting some breaks to go their way.. A post here.. A puck flipped up over the net there.. Rebounds to guy in blue instead of the opposition.
* Not really a bad player on the ice in this game.. there were some individuals who had a mistake here or there but for the most part this was, as previously mentioned, a complete team win.
* PK was flawless yet again.
* Regulation win at home!
YELLOW
* For whatever reason (injury? wear and tear? season grind? etc) it always seems Nash goes into a bit of a shell mid-way through a season and then finds his stride again. He's right smack dab in the shell now although he showed some signs this game that he may be coming out of it. He had a little better jump and was fairly involved in the play. I didn't like the way he gave up the puck late in the 3rd that led to Modano's breakaway however.
* Like Jurcina more than Clark at this point at least on the ice. Although Clark is improving game by game and had a couple of good hard working plays in this one.
* 14,500 in attendance isn't bad considering.
RED
* Too many penalties.
* Derek Brassard with only 9:25 played.... Only Boll and Picard played less. Why? Why? Why?
* Tyutin and those unforced turnovers...
* Turco played well which is credit to him but when you dominate play like that they need to find a way to score more.
* Wasn't big on putting Commodore and Hejda out there on that late PP. Hitch went into protect mode with a 1 goal lead instead of going for the throat. It worked out okay this time but how many times has that backfired this season?
3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT
1 Garon was a game changer and saver.
2. Team win.
3. Three in a row.
A solid win but I'm still puzzled by the lack of playing time for Brassard.
Everyone is gonna get excited and think there is still a chance. Hey that is the fan in everyone. For me I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy the wins and like I said in a previous post, if this team hits 5 to 7 wins in a row then I'll take a look at the standings and see how deep the hole still is.
As is stands now I'm more focused about setting this team up for next year and if I'm Howson I do not let this lack of playing time for young players go unaccounted for. These guys need to be playing upwards of 15 minutes a night.. period.
-LTL
