A slow first period for both teams lead into an interesting second period before the Jackets pulled away from the Minnesota Wild for a 3-1 win. It was a close game in every facet, from shots to faceoff wins, to blocked shots, and powerplay goals. A huge save by Sergei Bobrovsky on a penalty shot and a crucial kill on a four minute powerplay by the Jackets allowed them to maintain the 1-1 tie going into the third. From there, the Wiz-bomb took over, with a goal and tipped in shot providing the winning margin.
3rd Star: Zach Parise
Parise had a pretty solid game, doing everything for the Wild. He’s a very strangely rated player at this point in his career. I can’t decide if he is underrated or overrated. I feel like he doesn’t get discussed as much as he should when talking about the top two-way players in the game. But at the same time, he’s not the superstar he’s sometimes made out to be, and not the offensive force some seem to expect him to be. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an awesome player, but he was also on the losing side of the biggest play of the game tonight.
2nd Star: Sergei Bobrovsky
Said biggest play:
1st Star: James Wisniewski
So James Wisniewski is really good. I don’t think even Jackets fans for the most part realize just how good he is. Everyone knows the bomb of a shot. However, I feel like his recklessness is almost as well known. Well Wiz is a high risk player. He takes chances, and a lot of those chances result in points. His goal and the shot tipped by Scott Hartnell a goal are one thing. His pass that almost singlehandedly led to Brandon Dubinsky‘s game opening goal is another thing. That was a high risk pass, that very easily could have been intercepted for a breakway, or broken up by the second wave of Wild players and only been an odd man rush. Instead, he hits Dubinsky perfectly in stride. It’s a fantastic pass, but Wiz is probably the only Jackets defenseman who even attempts it. I get just as frustrated with some of Wiz’s turnovers, as when he misses, he REALLY misses. He’s doing something right though. Over the last five years only seven defenseman have scored at a higher clip. Note the names above him there, and you’ll see he’s only topped by Norris winners and multiple time All Stars. He’s also a stud when looking at the fancy stats. The only stat he’s not awesome at is plus-minus, the worst stat in the history of hockey. In summary, James Wisniewski is a very good hockey player.
Dud: The announcing crews following the Wild’s called off goal
This was such an easy call, and I’m a little sad that both the CBJ television and radio crews botched it. The whistle blew as the puck was going in. Now the intent to blow rule has changed, but it’s now been changed so that the video crew can judge whether the puck was in for long enough before the ref blew the whistle that it should count. That was not the case here. If the whistle goes, or the ref intends to blow the whistle, that is it, the play is over. It doesn’t matter if the CBJ had possession or anything. The refs had decided and made the call. A wrong call leading up to a goal doesn’t matter (remember this?). Making this even worse, was the continuous questioning of whether the play should have gone to Toronto. This was NOT reviewable. It was about Savard playing the puck, the whistle going (or the intent to blow), and then the puck going in. Even still, if the refs don’t mess that up (if you think the whistle shouldn’t have gone), there is still no goal. It’s difficult to tell from the CBJ’s broadcast angles, but there are only two ways that puck could have gone in. Either David Savard knocked it in (which means automatic no goal, as you can’t score on your own net with a delayed penalty called against you), or Suter kicked it in, which is obviously no goal. There is no world in which this was even close to goal. I am glad the refs discussed the call to get it right, but it seems like most of the work was regarding whether it was a two or four minutes penalty anyway. Fortunately, the Jackets penalty killers (especially Bobrovsky) were fantastic and killed it off to keep it to a one goal game.
Stud: Josh Anderson in over Jared Boll
So a bit of mea culpa to start. I was not super pleased when I heard they were calling up Anderson. I did not have a particularly high opinion of him following his junior hockey career. What I had seen was a guy with the physical tools to be a very good third or fourth liner in the NHL, but without the effort and wherewithal to play that kind of role in the NHL. Now, it’s only been a few games, but I am coming around a little bit. I don’t think he’s got a huge upside or anything, but he is already a capable depth player. He’s a better player than Jared Boll right now, and if he can keep up his current play, he might keep Boll out of the lineup. Anderson is big enough to fight a little if it’s needed, and Dalton Prout is a better heavy than Boll anyway. I may still cheer when Boll fights, but it’s mostly because I know I won’t have to see him play hockey for at least the next five minutes.
So the Jackets get into the win column again, making it two straight following their X game slide. At this point, in 5th last place, I have no idea whether I should be cheering for the Jackets to win or lose. All I know is that they have kept working hard and have been enjoyable to watch the last few games. They take the ice again Wednesday in Winnipeg for their final game before the All Star break.
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