Raffi! – JACKETS WIN

STL 2 – CBJ 4

Yes they did. No way. No really, they won. I still don’t believe you.

The Blue Jackets pulled out of the slump and won their 19th game of the season last night. Spurred on my winger Raffi Torres’ two-goal night and goals from Chris Clark and Rick Nash, the Jackets stood tall and defended the home turf.

After giving up a goal barely a minute into the game to Blues forward Paul Kariya, it seemed as if we all faced “another night at Nationwide”, but two straight goals by Raffi Torres sent the Blue Jackets into the locker room with the lead and momentum after the first period.

The second period saw a surge by the Blues, but the Jackets would have nothing to do with it. Keith Tkachuk drew St. Louis even at 2 a piece, but Rick Nash seized the lead on the power play for the boys in Blue make the Columbus lead 3-2, and they would not relinquish.

During the last period Chris Clark notched his first goal as a Blue Jacket and that would be all the insurance necessary. There were a couple negatives during the 3rd period however. One major issue was the power play… or lack thereof. In two opportunities on the man-advantage the Blue Jackets registered 1 shot. To me the game began to reek of yet another blown 3rd period lead, but thankfully the Blues did not garner the expected momentum from successfully dominating the CBJ’s power play. Another bit of disappointment came from Ken Hitchcock not putting Raffi Torres back on the ice to try to earn the hat trick. His explanation from Puck-rakers:

“I was trying to get the damn puck out of our own end,” Hitchcock said. “We’ve had some bizarre-ness happen to us all year. I got blasted by the players and the coaches, and now the fans – and now the media. So, I’m batting a thousand.”

Amusing if nothing else, but disappointing to not see Raffi earn the ‘trick.

A couple quick thoughts:

• RJ Umberger is on the verge of having some big scoring nights. He was very close on 4 or 5 occasions last night but just seemed a slight bit off.
• Jake Voracek needs to simplify his game and get out of his slump. It seems to me he is just trying too hard and gripping the stick too tight to be productive.
• Derick Brassard broke out of a bit of a slump and had an outstanding game all around.
• Derek Dorsett played his first game with an alternate captain’s “A” on the jersey. He was a force everywhere on the ice when given the chance. A huge congratulations is deserved for one of the hardest working players on the team.