Even Obama, "frosty" Stanley Cup mug and all, was toasting the Blue Jackets' effort in this game!
1. Nothing to complain about in this one. The team played great hockey from top to bottom. Not one player I can think of that took the night off and every player had over 10+ mins in ice time. The start was great. Even strength was great. Special teams were great. Mason was great. Guys that are supposed to score goals, scored lots of goals. Guys stood up for one another. I mean, who was this team?!
2. One thing that is absolutely going right for this team of late is the PP! I'm not sure what it is -- be it the entries, having Brass on the point, Savard coming on, splitting up 61 and 7... But this things looks SOOOO much better and it's making teams pay for their mistakes. The puck movement tonight was mesmerizing. I still can't believe that was happening in Jackets jerseys. The PP is now 16th overall in the league.
3. I would personally like to thank Ryan Clowe for this victory. The Sharks were charging hard in that 2nd period grabbing 2 quick goals in 26 seconds. If they would have gotten that 3rd one -- who knows where this game ends up. But then Ryan Clowe takes two boneheaded penalties and what is even better -- the Jackets PP makes em pay. Sounds strange, but that 5th goal was a big key to this win.
4. Carter with his 2nd hat trick as a Jacket in just 29 games. Why does this guy want out again? In all seriousness -- games like this will only drive up his trade value. That heat on that first wrist/snap shot makes scouts drool. The touch on that between the legs goal makes em beg for momma. Just gotta get em to look past those "rumored" off ice issues and mammoth contract.
5. RJ Umberger with the Gordie Howe hat trick in the first period. Now that is the engaged RJ that has gone missing for the majority of this season. He scored his goal the way he needs to score goals, and that is planting his big butt in front of that cage and battling hard for that rebound. The play of the night for me was RJ stepping in to help out his young teammate in Ryan Johanssen. That is leadership and that is what we need to see much more out of this player.
6. It is just one game so let's not get ahead of ourselves b/c after all, this season has been a disaster and this team is still 9 points (could be 7 if Edmonton loses tonight which looks unlikely) out of 29th place. They are gonna win some games. But I'm particularly glad this one very solid performance was at home in front of the home fans still coming out for these games. The fans deserve a lot more nights like this! They could lose the rest on the road for all I care as the season is toast -- just give the fans at home something to cheer for!
EXTRA SHOTS:
Congrats to Jeff Carter on his 500th game and Antoine Vermette on his 600th game. Also congrats to Steve Mason for becoming the Jackets all time leader in goaltending wins. Very unselfish play by Nash to hit Carter for his hat trick - probably their best passing play all season! 10 Jackets with at least one point in this game. Carter and Prospal with 3 point nights. Nash, Savard, Brassard and Umberger all had 2 point nights. Solid TO by Todd Richards after giving up those two quick goals. Pahlsson even made some nice plays in the offensive zone. Didn't think that was boarding on Marleau by Nash. Toronto continues to make calls that go the CBJ's way. With 15 goals, Carter is just 5 behind Nash for the team lead with 38 points, Prospal is just 4 points behind Nash for the team lead. Fedor Tyutin is now a team worst -23. Want to read something funny? Check out the Sharks game day thread on HFBoards.com. Nothing like reading the reaction of an opponent's fanbase after getting blown out by the CBJ. 60 games down -- 22 to go. This courtesy of Matt the Mask -- Hitch had a great line on Cannon Fodder podcast last week -- when you are this far out of it, you can't trust anything you see - good OR bad. Keep that in mind.
Jackets get to enjoy this one for a few days as their next game isn't until this Friday versus the Foote-less Avalanche. The question will be, will the Jackets be down any less players come Friday?
Cheers!
-LTL
