Lite-Brite is a toy, created by Hasbro in 1967, which allows the user to create glowing designs. It is a light box with small colored plastic pegs that fit into a matrix of holes and illuminate to create a lit piece of art. Using the colored pegs the user can create designs from imagination or by following templates.[1] There are eight peg colors: green, blue, red, yellow, orange, pink, purple and colorless clear.
Lite brite.. Light the Lamp... Lit up scoreboard... Late game fireworks. Considering the Jackets late night comeback, this seemed like the perfect toy to kick off the "classic Christmas toy" game recap theme for the month of December.
I will tell ya whose lights I thought were out in this game though, and that was the CBJ!
How many times this season have they been on the other side of games like this? But finally they were the team who were outplayed but came out of nowhere to produce an unlikey win.
Let's jump into it.
1. I'm not gonna sugar coat it. After this team went down 2 goal I thought they were absolutely f*****d. Game over. But not this night. The Jackets may have been outplayed for the majority of the game. They may not have deserved to win but you will get no apologies from me or this team. What goes around should eventually come around --- and the Jackets finally got a little bit of that 'come around' in this game. Credit to these guys for not giving up.
2. Hard to choose between Nash, Sanford or Nikitin to talk about next. All deserve tasty beverages for their heroics. All had HUGE plays to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. You know that though? I'm gonna go with Nash first. He wasn't noticeable most of the night but the captain finally came up with key plays to carry this team to two points. The tip for his goal was great for two reasons. 1. It tied the game and got the CBJ to OT and 2. It was great to see him in front of the cage utilizing those skills. Also not to be overlooked was the clutch shootout goal which sealed the victory. We need many more nights like this from Nash if there is ANY hope for the big dig out of this hole.
3. Nikita Nikitin was a monster in this game. With 1g, 2a he led all Jackets in points. He was also 2nd in TOI with 27:21. He now has 8 points in 10 games in union blue. Guy is getting it done in all facets of the game. Nice rip on a bouncing puck that found it's way through Kiprusoff's pads. His first as a Jacket. Congrats! Keep it goin Nikki 6 (comin from a die hard Crue fan that nickname is entirely appropriate!).
4. Curtis Sanford... 9gp GAA 1.76 Save% .937. Witness lightning in a bottle folks! I'll tell ya though, not his best game. I think he'd like to have goals 1 & 2 back but then again, he also made a some big saves to keep this game within 2 goals and within striking distance if... and a big IF... this offense could finally get him some goal support. And that was my favorite part of this game - Sanford has been the spark for this team's resurrection from the dead... Was awesome to finally see this team give him some help on the scoreboard. And then of course Sanford stepped up AGAIN and stopped all 3 shots in the shootout. An area he has struggled mightily in the past.
5. Shootout! My gawd we finally have a OT/Shootout win. The first this season.
6. I think Wiz is starting to look a little burnt out. He played a team high 27:44. He finished with a helper but had a couple give-aways... Got burnt pretty bad on the 3rd goal when he tried to stand the Flames player (I think it was Comeau) up at the blueline. He looked overwhelmed in this game at times. It's also no coincidence to me that when Wiz has struggled so has the PP which went 0-4 and overall looked horrendous. Need to get back to the basics of gaining the zone and hitting Wiz for those bombs from the point -- that is not happening with any regularity.
EXTRA SHOTS:
Congrats to Vinny Propsal on his 700th point. The days of tough physical hockey games versus the Flames seem to be over. There was a fight between Boll/Jackman but that was pretty weak. The 3rd line continues to play well and produced yet another goal. Vermette playing better in that role. Arniel finally did it and broke up Nash/Carter. I can't remember if Nash scored that game tying goal with Carter on the ice however? I don't care if they are together or seperate but if they are struggling I'd like to see Arniel try them on different lines more often to see if any O-sparks can be generated. Hey Calgary fans, trust me when I say we feel your pain! That 2nd Calgary goal sure did look like it redirected off Methot's stick. After that late period goal I thought the CBJ were completely sunk. Will be very interesting to see how this Brass situation plays out. I think there is definitely a trade demand on the table behind closed doors - more later. Heard on NHL Network that this was just the 2nd win in the last 13 tries at the Saddledome.
The Jackets face the high flying Edmonton Oilers led by Hall, Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle tonight. Those guys are fun to watch and very tough to shut down. Gotta believe Sanford gets the start - how can you not go with him?
I'll leave you with this completely non-hockey related pic as it's just too funny not to post.
First one to name who the guy is standing next to Matt-the-mask(less) get's a good game! This unamed individual was in Columbus down by OSU yesterday eating at Panda Express at a table next to Matt.
-LTL
