Sorry for the late posting, I’ve forgotten what traffic getting out of the Arena District is like when facing a sell out. I’ll gladly put up with it for the rest of the (post)season if it means the barn will be rockin’ like it was tonight. While tonight’s crowd didn’t approach the sheer fever and insanity that were games 3 and 4 against Detroit in the CBJ’s only playoff appearance, it was the closest I’ve seen it to that in a while. There were a fair amount of Rangers fans in attendance as well but it was far from the dreaded away team invasion that we’ve seen before. Tonight’s a game that had been circled on many calendars for quite a while for those who are interested in the narrative associated with hockey. It had a former captain returning to his jilted team, many former teammates lining up against each other and two division foes each starving for points to secure their playoff berth. What more could you ask for? The tribute video pieced together to honor Nash’s return to Nationwide Arena was well done and by and large was met with positive reaction/gratitude in the form of a standing ovation. From that point on though, the cheers waned in favor of loud, sustained choruses of boos for the former captain after a cross check on beloved CBJ net minder, Sergei Bobrovsky. Frankly, I think this was a brilliant job by Bob in drawing a penalty. He was under Nash’s skin from the beginning of the first with the occasional swipe of the goal stick whenever #61 was near his crease. I found it hilarious that straw that broke the camel’s back was Bob teasing Nash by lifting Nash’s stick off of the ice, offering it to him, only to drop it back to the ice and laugh. After all those chops to the ankles/legs I would never have suspected that a childish joke would be what would make Nasher blow his top. It did, he became Nationwide Arena’s newest enemy no. 1 and then Matt Calvert took him to task for what he classified as a ‘gutless’ shot on Goalie Bob. On to the stars of the game and game in one picture!
3rd Star: Derick Brassard
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a team focuses so much on shutting down Rick Nash that Derick Brassard sneaks in the game winning goal. If you were a CBJ fan for more than a few years you should smile as you reminisce about that MO and then suddenly frown as you realize that we fell for that tonight and should know better. In tonight’s case, it was a particularly soft goal. You really hope to see Bob hug this post a bit tighter and make the save but for whatever reason, he wasn’t up for the task tonight:
2nd Star: Sergei Bobrovsky
Yes, the 2nd goal was a softie but Bob had an otherwise admirable game. When your net minder can serve up a .935 save percentage, he’s doing his job: giving your team a chance to win the game. Bob was perfect in the first 40 minutes when he saw the majority of the rubber coming at him. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I genuinely believe that rhythm is a very important part of his game and going from 14 and 12 shots in the first two periods to only 6 may have done him a disservice. I’m not suggesting that the CBJ outshooting the NYR 11-6 in the 3rd was a bad, it’s just something to be aware of.
1st Star: Henrik Lundqvist
Having never been a fan of Lundqvist, I’ve always quipped that Lundqvist is Swedish for “too much hair product”. That said, his reputation as a premiere goalie is well deserved. As the big Swede goes, so go the Rangers. With neither team being able to convert on many offensive chances tonight, it was good for the Rangers that Hank had their back in the 3rd, when he saw the most action.
Stud: Team legs
No we didn’t win and we may have come out a little flatter than I’d have liked but considering the battle we just played in Montreal last night I was very happy with how the team committed to playing the body and forechecking aggressively. Remember that it hurts to hit people, not just to be hit. There were a few downright scary hits from my perch in section 203: namely the Comeau hit on Johnny Moore and Dalton Prout absolutely running over/through Derek Stepan. Sadly, Moore never returned to play/the bench after Comeau’s hit. Here’s to hoping it’s nothing serious. Edited to add: hat tip to @BlkNBlueShirts for pointing out that Moore did return to the bench briefly but left again in the 3rd.
Dud: Power Play
In the past two games, the Jackets are a combined 0/11 with the extra attacker(s). That simply won’t cut it for any team that hopes to complete a charge into the playoffs or do any damage once they’re there. I’m not a fan of the “just shoot it crowd” but the Jackets power play is entirely too cautious right now and a bad power play actually hurt really good even strength momentum that we had going at times this weekend. Some have been quick to point out that Umberger has shown success on the PP this year and that he scores no goals from the press box. While a valid point, if one player alone has that big of an impact on your special teams’ ability to perform that’s indicative of team dysfunction that needs addressed.
Those in attendance tonight were treated to an absolute slobberknocker of a game that left me salivating for a 7-game series between these two teams. First things first though, the CBJ have got to forget about tonight and prepare for a trap game against the wannabe spoilers waiting for them in Long Island on Sunday. Hopefully the team can rest up and maybe we’ll see some fresh faces against the Isles. Perhaps even McElhinney in net? We’ll see. Until then, Join the Battle!
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