The Columbus Blue Jackets took the ice last night in Detroit for their seventh game of the season; and for those of you keeping track at home, the current win total stands at: zero.
Seven games, an 0-6-1 record, one lousy point. Are you kidding me? But that’s not the worst of it. The Jackets have now won a grand total of three games in their last 29 tries. In five of their seven games, the Jackets have surrendered the first goal. In every game this season, the Jackets have scored only two goals. Not exactly the offensive fireworks we had hoped to see with the addition of center Jeff Carter (currenly on IR with a broken foot) and some fresh young talent brought up from Springfield to join the big boy team. Cam Atkinson has already been demoted — despite showing some offensive prowess — after leading (trailing?) the team with a -3 plus-minus rating. Matt Calvert, who late last season was scoring hat-tricks as the Calvenator, has also been sent back to the minors. Columbus remains the only winless team in the NHL….even the team Atlanta didn’t want that is coached by Scott Arniel’s interim predecessor has managed to get a W.
Against Detroit last night, the CBJ never had a chance. The Wings scored on their first two power plays of the evening, with Johan Franzen tallying both, to take an early 2-0 lead. Considering the ease with which Detroit scored those two goals, you would’ve thought they had a three- or four-man advantage. Columbus scored next as Derick Brassard top-shelved a rebound off an Aaron Johnson shot, and the first period ended with Detroit up 2-1. It would never get any closer than that.
Detroit would score the only goal of the second period. It was Pavel Datsyuk who deposited the puck into a basically empty net, as CBJ goaltender Steve Mason found himself floundering around outside the crease amid a barrage of Red Wing shots. Down 3-1 in the beginning of the third, Columbus would again pull within one goal. Vinny Prospal fed Aaron Johnson a sweet pass at the point, which the defenseman one-timed past Detroit’s Jimmy Howard. It was the closest the Jackets got to resembling an NHL hockey team all evening.
For Detroit’s next goal — again on the power play, just as an extended five-on-three opportunity ended — Mase was on his knees watching traffic as Nicklas Lidstrom shot a laser into the back of the net. The Wings capped off the scoring when Valterria Flippula guided the puck into an empty net with 1:27 remaining. It was about as effortless as the other Detroit goals appeared throughout the game; and it didn’t take an empty-netter in the closing minutes to seal the Red Wing victory. This one was over the minute the Blue Jackets got off the bus outside Joe Louis Arena.
I don’t have all the answers; it’s seeming more and more every day like nobody does. Heck, I’m not sure anyone in the Blue Jackets organization even understood the question. At what point early in the season it’s acceptable to be in panic mode? I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’ve been there long enough to settle in with a cold beer….but no chili, since that would’ve required a third goal…
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