The Blue Jackets wrapped up a Canadian tour last night in Calgary and both fan bases were curious to see what team would show up for their side. Columbus was looking to finally get a regulation win on the road with back-up Steve Mason in net, and Flames faithful were curious to see how their team would respond in their first outing since Jerome Iginla was traded.
Right off the bat, my new favorite line of 11-42-13 was buzzing – creating some opportunities and providing some sustained pressure in the offensive zone. Cam Atkinson had a beautiful opportunity off a pass from Matt Calvert that he just couldn’t convert. But this energy set the tone for the arrival of the other lines on ice. While on the PK, Mark Letestu buried a short-handed goal to put the Jackets up 1-0. Shortly after, Dalton Prout and Tim Jackman engaged in a bout at middle ice that Prout won soundly and certainly brought many cheers from the group of friends I was with game-watching. Prouter certainly seems to be impressing in his time up with the big club and the long term defensive picture got a little more cloudy for all the right reasons as another quality candidate is showing us he’s here to play.
Shortly after, Derek MacKenzie took the puck on a breakaway and was on the receiving end of a hooking call to put the Jackets on the power play. Our power play unit still needs work, but even rusty, having James Wisniewski back on the ice is an asset here. Wiz shows the best control with the puck off the point – managing puck movement and keeping play in the zone (I’m looking at you Nikitin). The first period ended with the Jackets up 1-0.
Things seemed to be going fairly well, and Steve Mason was holding court in his own net until another bizarre goal occurred. Brian McGrattan would score when, after a juicy rebound, as Mase was diving to cover the puck, Colton Gilles would react too fast and attempt to clear the puck from in front of the net. This threw Mase out of control and away from the net and a cluster of Jackets players were now trying to cover the net with the puck still only yards away. Tim Erixon would go to goal and as the puck came into the crease, he tried to block it but slipped and as he fell he helped push the puck across the line. Point for Calgary. The play was not only wonky, it was also costly as Tim would leave play and not return with an “upper body injury”. There has been no official confirmation but it would appear Tim hit his head either on the crossbar or even on the ice as he fell. Ultimately, this play showed more than just a score. The mistakes by our players hinted at guys still not trusting Mase in net. Gilles should have given Mase the chance to cover that puck and if that happens, Erixon is never forced to try and block shots.
Thankfully our boys regrouped and the second period would end up being quite the offensive show. RJ Umberger and Vinny Prospal would take a glorious 2-on-1. RJ deserves all the credit for this series which culminated in a beautiful cross-ice pass to Vinny for goal number 2. It’s glimpses of talent like that make us want more and more from number 18. Shortly after, my favorite line potted another one when Cam would pass to Matty from above the blue line and and Calvert would put the Jackets up by 2. Backlund would bring Calgary back within one but then, with Prospal-Brassard-Letestu on the ice, an absolutely gorgeous pass to Derick Brassard resulted in one of his goals that shows what we want from him. If that guy would just take shots instead of his conditioned response to pass off to a linemate, one can only guess what he could really do.
Shortly thereafter, (we’re already at 4 goals in the period) Ryan Johansen would be called for hooking and head to the bench which allowed Calgary to once again re-enter the hunt off a Wideman goal. But, in a night with guys showing up, Ryan took back to the ice and with a big old “F you” to the penalty called on him took the puck down for a beauty of an unassisted goal. Finally Ryan was off the schnide and boy was it pretty. The period ended with the Jackets up 5-3.
The third period would start with a goalie change for the Flames but the Jackets hung tough with Mason. People started to fret when Glencross (of course) would score to, again, bring the Flames within one but our growing team showed the strength to hold on to the lead and finish with RJ netting the final goal on an empty net shot in the final two minutes of play.
It was a badly needed two points for the Jackets – it redeemed the road trip and also brought back serious conversation about trying for a playoff spot. We are currently one point off the 8th place Blues, but we also have games in hand so the challenge remains steep. The team remains an enigma. We seem to only play to our competition – who would have thought this team would put up 4+ goals in two consecutive games after the offensive drought that has plagued most of this season. The game certainly brought us highs and lows, in addition to the benefits of the win, Prouter was a +4 on the night – a team record for a rookie. The lows include the continued curious scratching of John Moore and the continued absence of Nick Foligno due to injury. Tim Erixon left the game and so did Jared Boll so it will be interesting to see who is really banged up and who is able to recover in time for the matchup Sunday against the Ducks.
Go Jackets!
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