The Columbus Blue Jackets took the ice tonight against Toronto, and once again asserted themselves as the worst team in the NHL. The Jackets dropped a laugher to the Leafs, 4-1 (game summary).
After a strong showing Sunday night in a win against Anaheim, there was some cause for hope in Columbus. Steve Mason didn’t fully kill the mood when he gave up the opening goal six minutes into the game; he waited until only 0:14 left in the period to surrender a weak goal on a horrible angle, effectively ending the Jackets’ chances for a victory. On the bright side, Mason did stop the other half of the four shots he faced in that opening period.
"The club’s record on the season is currently 2-10-1….ask John Cooper what a record like that will get you in Columbus."
Things would go from bad to worse for esaM in the second, as he surrendered two more goals on just seven shots by the 5:31 mark. With more than half of the hockey game remaining, the former Calder Trophy winner (seems like a long time ago, eh folks?) and his 0.636 save percentage were pulled in favor of rookie and emergency backup Allen York.
On the other end of the ice, Toronto’s third-string goaltender Ben Scrivens was nearly flawless in his first NHL start. He stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced. Kudos to the Toronto coaching staff for breaking him in against Columbus, a team that is famous for making opposing goalies look good since 2000. The Jackets weren’t without their chances, which were even more numerous than the 39 shots on goal suggest. The CBJ had break-away opportunities, had one goal denied by the post and left countless rebounds sitting near the goal crease; yet were only able to get one across the red line. Rookie Ryan Johansen scored his third goal of the season in the second period….way too little, way too late, considering the Jackets were already down 4-0 at that point.
The Blue Jackets ended up out-shooting Toronto 39-18, yet somehow losing by a 4-1 margin. The goaltender performance on the ice, in descending order of talent, went like this: Toronto’s third goalie, Columbus’ fourth goalie, Columbus’ starter. The game was oddly reminiscent of the early days of hockey in Columbus, when I would watch teams like Colorado skate circles around our expansion franchise and score at will. In a year when we hoped beyond hope that the Jackets were turning things around, they have regressed and dug themselves into a giant hole early in the season. The club’s record on the season is currently 2-10-1….ask John Cooper what a record like that will get you in Columbus.
It wasn’t all bad tonight, however. Here are some of the highlights of the game…
– I attended my first CBJ game of the season with my son Spencer and my friend John. We ended up with some sweet free tickets in the first row of the club level.
– Spencer and I added a miniature Toronto Maple Leafs hockey stick to our collection. We now have a stick from every team we’ve seen at Nationwide since last season. (The count stands at 11, including the CBJ.)
– Traffic was really light leaving the downtown Arena District.
– While we didn’t earn any three-goal chili from Wendy’s, our tickets did come with an offer for a free cheese coney with any purchase at Skyline Chili.
– We were paid a visit by Blue Jackets mascot Stinger, that giant lovable (and yet unexplainable) lime green bug.
What’s that, you say? The game highlights should be hockey-related? No, I don’t think there were any of those…
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