I had a chance to get some questions answered by Mike Murphy (Dig Deep) over at Blueshirt Banter. Read on to find out what's going on with Rick Nash, and how the Panthers can win tonight's tilt.

It's been a while, but we're bringing back link posts! Formerly known as Shrapnel, I give you the first edition of Cannon Blasts.

The Jackets are back home from a grueling Western Canadian road trip, book-ended with games in Ottawa and Toronto. The Jackets are coming off a dismantling of the Leafs, and look to continue their winning ways tonight against former Central Division rival Nashville.

Jackets Links

Nathan Horton is back to practice (Blue Jackets Official Site)

Two Ryans, both former WHL stars, key to success for the Jackets (The Province)

Dan Kamal's Take on the Current State of Affairs (FS Ohio)

Stinger trolls Gnash prior to tonight's game. What a beauty. (Stinger's Twitter)

Some incredible CBJ concept sweaters from everybody's favorite jersey site. (Icethetics)

Hockey Links

The big news from the NHL this week is the announcement of a new media deal for broadcast rights in Canada. This deal gives exclusive rights to the league to Rogers Sportsnet, while TSN is left with nothing but the CFL and World Juniors as their big-ticket products. Sportsnet will give a very small chunk of the pie to CBC, to maintain the Hockey Night in Canada brand Canadians know and love.

Here's a great take on the matter from Scott Stinson at The National Post.

Greg Wyshynski gives his thoughts on the new TV deal. (Puck Daddy)

Noted Jacket-killer Martin Erat has again requested a trade. With his salary dipping to $2.25 million next year (thanks, CapGeek) would the Jackets be interested in his services? The price tag would likely be fairly low. I say give it a shot. (NHL.com)

The Erie Otters of the OHL made a big move, trading for Vancouver first rounder Brendan Gaunce. This is a solid boost for the Otters, who are led by phenom Connor McDavid and Columbus prospect Oscar Dansk.(THN)

The first of the Stadium Series sweaters has been revealed. My take? I like it. (Icethetics)

The Jackets are back at home, and they welcome an old division foe to town.

Nashville Predators at Columbus Blue Jackets

November 27, 2013 - 7:00 pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 -- TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: On The Forecheck
SBN's Predators vs Blue Jackets coverage
Tickets

Hey, you! I know you! I know you!

The Jackets come back home off a huge win to cap off a strange, strange road trip, and an old familiar foe comes to town. The big question for the Jackets will be: can they build off of Monday's game? Can they take the lessons from that--ya know, that you *can* play for 60 minutes and dictate play to a better team--and bring it home to a team with which they're more familiar?

We shall see.

The Preds aren't the same team we've seen in the past. There's been some roster turnover (hey, it's noted Jackets-killer Viktor Stalberg!), and Pekka Rinne is out with his strange e coli issue in his hip. That said, after last year's implosion, the Preds have rebounded nicely (don't they always?) and are playing decent enough hockey again. They don't score (shocker), and their defense has struggled much more without Rinne, but they're finding ways to win. It's just what they do, people. That said, they're still on the outside looking in in the juggernaut West.

Their scoring is low, and Shea Weber is their leading goal scorer; that's generally not the best thing to have a defenseman leading your team in goals. That said, Weber's not the normal defenseman. Speaking of, as much as we've enjoyed Ryan Murray, we'll also get our first look at Seth Jones tonight. I'm interested to see the big man play. He has nine points in 24 games so far, including five on the Power Play.

For Columbus, the injury train keeps on rolling. Sean Collins finally caught up with the team, and with Jared Boll moving to IR Collins will be here for a bit. The Jackets--obviously--will be icing the same lineup again that they had on Monday. Makes sense. Of note: Jack Skille, fresh off his first point with Columbus, has a pretty decent career body of work against Nashville: four goals on 17 shots, two assists, and 12 hits in nine career games against the Preds. Count me among those who, while wishing Boll a good recovery, isn't in a hurry to see Boll back in the lineup over Skille.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(9-12-3, 21 Points; 7th division, 13th conference)

Nashville Predators
(12-10-2, 26 Points; 6th division, 11th conference)

Season Series

11/27/13 - Nashville at Columbus
03/08/14 - Columbus at Nashville

Head to Head Stats

Nashville		Columbus
2.33 (24)	GPG	2.54 (18)
2.79 (20)	GAPG	2.92 (23)
21.0% (9)	PP%	19.0% (15)
83.5% (12)	PK%	78.7% (23)
Shea Weber, 7	G leader	Ryan Johansen, 8
David Legwand, 15	A leader	James Wisniewski, 16
David Legwand, 19	Pts leader	James Wisniewski, 18
Rich Clune, 54	PIM leader	Brandon Dubinsky, 40
6-7-1	Road/Home	4-6-1
11/25 vs. Phoenix, W 4-2	Last Game	11/25 @ Toronto, W 6-0
5-5-0	Last 10	4-3-3

The Jackets are back at home, and they welcome an old division foe to town.

Nashville Predators at Columbus Blue Jackets

November 27, 2013 - 7:00 pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 -- TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: On The Forecheck
SBN's Predators vs Blue Jackets coverage
Tickets

Hey, you! I know you! I know you!

The Jackets come back home off a huge win to cap off a strange, strange road trip, and an old familiar foe comes to town. The big question for the Jackets will be: can they build off of Monday's game? Can they take the lessons from that--ya know, that you *can* play for 60 minutes and dictate play to a better team--and bring it home to a team with which they're more familiar?

We shall see.

The Preds aren't the same team we've seen in the past. There's been some roster turnover (hey, it's noted Jackets-killer Viktor Stalberg!), and Pekka Rinne is out with his strange e coli issue in his hip. That said, after last year's implosion, the Preds have rebounded nicely (don't they always?) and are playing decent enough hockey again. They don't score (shocker), and their defense has struggled much more without Rinne, but they're finding ways to win. It's just what they do, people. That said, they're still on the outside looking in in the juggernaut West.

Their scoring is low, and Shea Weber is their leading goal scorer; that's generally not the best thing to have a defenseman leading your team in goals. That said, Weber's not the normal defenseman. Speaking of, as much as we've enjoyed Ryan Murray, we'll also get our first look at Seth Jones tonight. I'm interested to see the big man play. He has nine points in 24 games so far, including five on the Power Play.

For Columbus, the injury train keeps on rolling. Sean Collins finally caught up with the team, and with Jared Boll moving to IR Collins will be here for a bit. The Jackets--obviously--will be icing the same lineup again that they had on Monday. Makes sense. Of note: Jack Skille, fresh off his first point with Columbus, has a pretty decent career body of work against Nashville: four goals on 17 shots, two assists, and 12 hits in nine career games against the Preds. Count me among those who, while wishing Boll a good recovery, isn't in a hurry to see Boll back in the lineup over Skille.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(9-12-3, 21 Points; 7th division, 13th conference)

Nashville Predators
(12-10-2, 26 Points; 6th division, 11th conference)

Season Series

11/27/13 - Nashville at Columbus
03/08/14 - Columbus at Nashville

Head to Head Stats

Nashville		Columbus
2.33 (24)	GPG	2.54 (18)
2.79 (20)	GAPG	2.92 (23)
21.0% (9)	PP%	19.0% (15)
83.5% (12)	PK%	78.7% (23)
Shea Weber, 7	G leader	Ryan Johansen, 8
David Legwand, 15	A leader	James Wisniewski, 16
David Legwand, 19	Pts leader	James Wisniewski, 18
Rich Clune, 54	PIM leader	Brandon Dubinsky, 40
6-7-1	Road/Home	4-6-1
11/25 vs. Phoenix, W 4-2	Last Game	11/25 @ Toronto, W 6-0
5-5-0	Last 10	4-3-3

The Nashville Predators are on a roll these days, having won 5 out of their last 6 games after stomping their old punching bag, the Columbus Blue Jackets, by a 4-0 score.

Marek Mazanec earned his 2nd shutout by making 19 saves, and several players chipped in on the scoresheet, with Matt Cullen & Nick Spaling each getting a goal and an assist, Ryan Ellis & Gabriel Bourque earning two assists each, and Mike Fisher & David Legwand each scored goals as well.

The Predators (13-10-2, 5th in the Central Division) won't have much time to celebrate, however, as they come home immediately for a game tomorrow night against the Edmonton Oilers.

Shopping for a new Nashville Predators jersey this holiday season? Use my Price Comparison Tool at HockeyGearHQ and find the best deal available!

Random Observations

• None! I was on the road all evening, so share your observations in the comments, kids.

Boxscore - Game Summary - Event Summary - Fancy Stats

Roll the video highlights...

More from On the Forecheck

Follow @ForecheckerFollow @SBNationNHL

• Wednesday's Dump & Chase: Wassup, Columbus?
• Patric Hornqvist Injury: Out for Monday vs Phoenix, Hopefully Back Later This Week
• Tuesday's Dump & Chase: Good Game Last Night; Bad Game Next?
• The Week Ahead for the Nashville Predators
• Monday's Dump & Chase: Preds Get Back in the Saddle

The Jackets recent run of Jekyll and Hyde play continued tonight, with the monster showing his ugly face against the Preds.

I cannot say that I care what becomes of Hyde; I am quite done with him. I was thinking of my own character, which this hateful business has rather exposed.- Robert Louis Stevenson

Yeah, I've had enough of this Hyde thing too.

I'll take the Jekyll that we've seen of late though, like the 6-0 win over the Leafs just two nights ago, but I, like every other Jacket fan, want to see success on a more consistent basis. It doesn't have to be 6-0 every time, but at least bring the effort every game. "Never outworked?" Come up with something else, because that promise has been broken.

There was some good news leading up to this game, with Artem Anisimov in the lineup. He took a hell of a hit from Dion Phaneuf on Monday, and it certainly looked like he may have been seriously injured. On this night he started the game with Matt Calvert and Cam Atkinson. The trio were generally ineffective, but that could have been said for any player wearing a Columbus sweater.

It was all Preds for the first twenty minutes. The Jackets caught a break midway through the opening period, when after Bob made a save, the puck dropped to his right side. David Legwand was there to hack at the rebound, and would have likely deposited his second chance into the net, but the ref called the play dead.

Seconds later though, after some very good puck movement, the Preds took a one-goal lead. Ryan Ellis wired a beauty slap-pass down low to Matt Cullen, who one-timed the puck past Bobrovsky.

1-0 Predators: Cullen- Ellis, Spaling

The Jackets have shown an ability to bounce back after a goal-against with strong shifts so far this season, but that was not the case tonight. It was all Preds with the exception of one play late in the period, when Calvert found himself behind the Nashville defense, but couldn't solve Marek Mazanec.

With thirty-one seconds left in the opening frame, Atkinson was whistled for hooking. The Jackets killed the first quarter of the penalty to head to the room down by a single goal, but seconds into the second period the Preds connected while up a man.

After a poor line change by the Jackets, the puck made its way to Mike Fisher in the slot, where he wasted no time firing the puck past Bobrovsky.

2-0 Predators: Fisher- Bourque, Josi

The poor play by the Jackets continued. The line juggling began at around the seven minute mark of the period, and the Preds had all of the momentum. Passes were going nowhere, and battles were lost.

Speaking of lost battles, the Jackets lost another behind the Columbus goal. The Preds gained possession, and passed the puck to Legwand, who was waiting in front of the net.

3-0 Predators: Legwand- Stalberg, Bourque

Yeah, that Stalberg.

The lone bright spot on the night was the play and energy of Jack Skille. He was great against Toronto, and continued that tonight. He really brought it, and late in the period he generated a rare scoring chance, and drew a penalty. The Jackets failed to convert, however.

The Boo Birds were in full effect to close out the period.

Two minutes into the final frame the Jackets lost yet another puck battle, and once again it ended up in the back of the Columbus net. This time it was Nick Spaling firing a hard wrister past Bob. Mercifully, this was the end of the scoring for the Preds.

4-0 Predators: Spaling- Cullen, Ellis

Midway through the third, the Jackets finally started to establish their forecheck. After another strong shift by Skille- moved to a line with Anisimov and Calvert-the Jackets actually showed a bit of a heartbeat. It didn't last long though, as the Preds went back to the powerplay to sap the little momentum gained.

The Jackets earned a late powerplay, but Mazanec stood tall to maintain the clean sheet.

FINAL SCORE: 4-0 Predators

Standard Bearers:

1. Marek Mazanec wasn't really tested, but a shutout is a shutout.
   
2. If only every Jacket brought it like Jack Skille tonight.
   
3. Ellis/Cullen/Spaling/Bourque with two points each.
   

Bottom of the Barrel:

1. Energy level of the Jackets. Where was the hustle?
2. Injuries. Sure, this is a bit of a cop-out, but the Jackets are almost AHL-caliber at this point, with so many of their top guns out of the lineup.
   
3. He's been great this year, but Ryan Johansen was nowhere to be found tonight.
   

Check out Extra Skater for the Advanced Stats for this game.

The Jackets are back at it on Friday at home against the Oilers.

Everything went right for the Oilers in Nashville. Today, the circus travels to Columbus.

	@
8-16-2, .730 p/g	Ranks	9-13-3, .840 p/g
Western Conf: 14th		Eastern Conf: 13th
28th	P/G	25th
26th	ST	27th
29th	ES	24th
29th	Goal	23rd

Nationwide Arena

The opposing view: The Cannon

Top Story:

• Ilya Bryzgalov posted a shutout, and the Oilers got goals from Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins en route to a 3-0 victory over the Predators in Nashvillle last night.  Oh, you should've seen it. Bryzgalov looked solid, the defence held it together, and all four lines were rolling.  Arcobello was back in the lineup, he only led the freaking team in Corsi. Next time someone tells you the fourth line doesn't matter, it's your job, nay, it's your duty to hit them in the nose with a rolled up newspaper and get right in their face and shout NO.

The Oilers are saying:

"Shutouts are always fun... The team played well.  They had a couple chances, but that's what the goalie's for.  I have to make the saves"

That's Oilers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov on the team's 3-0 victory over the Predators last night.

Let's break it down.

• "Shutouts are fun" - good.
• "The team played well" - correct
• "They (Nashville) had a couple chances" - true
• "that's what the goalie's for" - affirmed
• "I had to make the saves" - demonstrably true

Bryzgalov made new friends last night.  Fans had to like what they saw, I'm sure MacTavish had to have been pleased.  I'm not recommending fans get too far ahead of themselves in regards to Bryzgalov, but his first game in an Oiler sweater was quite encouraging.  While the Oilers were on a three game winning streak last week, Coach Eakins left his lines untouched.  Devan Dubnyk started all of those games, and based on last night's performance, it will be interesting to see whether or not Eakins turns to Bryzgalov on back to back nights.

The Opponent is saying:

It looked like we lacked some energy, it looked like we lacked another step.  But, that's not an excuse, you got to find a way, and whether it's digging down to find more energy or managing the puck better, or defending harder, or better, there's a way to win the game tonight...and we needed to find that way, and we didn't help ourselves with a couple of penalties.

That's Columbus coach Todd Richards on the Jackets' 4-0 loss to Nashville on Wednesday.

It's nice to hear another team's coach try and explain away another putrid loss.  The Jackets were able to amass just nineteen shots against Nashville on Wednesday, and Coach Richards went with the line about needing more 'energy'.  We've heard this one before with a little variant called 'level of compete', but either way, it's nice having the shoe on the other foot every now and again.

Of note:

OPERATIONAL FLOW CHART FOR SCRATCHING MARK ARCOBELLO

1. Are you going to scratch Mark Arcobello?  If 'no', you may stop here.  If 'yes', please proceed to 2.
2. Please smash your face into a brick wall and go back to 1.

Projected Lines & Pairings:

The Edmonton Oilers

Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Nail Yakupov - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky

Ryan Smyth - Boyd Gordon - David Perron

Jesse Joensuu - Mark Arcobello - Ryan Jones

Andrew Ference - Jeff Petry

Nick Schultz -  Anton Belov

Denis Grebeshkov - Justin Schultz

Ilya Bryzgalov

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Columbus Blue Jackets

Boone Jenner - Ryan Johansen - Nick Foligno

Matt Calvert - Artem Anisimov - Cam Atkinson

R.J. Umberger - Mark Letestu - Blake Comeau

Sean Collins - Michael Chaput - Jack Skille

Jack Johnson - Fedor Tyutin

James Wisniewski - Ryan Murray

Tim Erixon - Dalton Prout

Sergei Bobrovsky

obligatory snide comment about the fourth line

HOT TAKES!

• Oilers played a complete game in Nashville last night. All games are complete in the sense that they're usually about 60 minutes in length (save for those that go into overtime), but the Oilers didn't look bewildered last night. Ilya Bryzgalov played well in his Oiler debut, and it wouldn't surprise me too much to see him again tonight.
• Marian Gaborik will be out for a few more weeks. This means he'll be out tonight.
• The Jackets claimed winger Corey Tropp off of the waiver wire. Previously with the Sabres, the Jackets might have him on the line tonight with Michael Chaput and Jack Skille. Guess we'll have to wait and see to figure out that mystery.
• These lines are subject to review, ridicule, and much adjustment. Check back for updated lines as they become availabe.

The Edmonton Oilers

Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Nail Yakupov - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky

Ryan Smyth - Boyd Gordon - David Perron

Jesse Joensuu - Mark Arcobello - Ryan Jones

Andrew Ference - Jeff Petry

Nick Schultz - Anton Belov

Denis Grebeshkov - Justin Schultz

Ilya Bryzgalov

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Columbus Blue Jackets

Boone Jenner - Ryan Johansen - Nick Foligno

Matt Calvert - Artem Anisimov - Cam Atkinson

R.J. Umberger - Mark Letestu - Blake Comeau

Sean Collins - Michael Chaput - Jack Skille

Jack Johnson - Fedor Tyutin

James Wisniewski - Ryan Murray

Tim Erixon - Dalton Prout

Sergei Bobrovsky

Another game, another Jekyl and Hyde fork in the road. Which team will show up tonight against Edmonton?

Edmonton Oilers at Columbus Blue Jackets

November 29, 2013 - 7:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WWCD 102.5 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: The Copper and Blue
SBN's Oilers vs Blue Jackets Coverage
Tickets

Programming note: I'll be joining the Lowdown with Lowetide program on TSN 1260 in Edmonton at 1:00 PM EST today to chat about the game tonight. Give us a listen if you can!

I don't even know how to preview these games anymore, people. The Jackets are 3-3-0 in their last six games. In their three wins, they've outscored their opponents 12-2. In their three losses, they've been outscored 17-2, and have been shut out twice.

One of those shut-outs came in embarrassing fashion 10 days ago against this very same Oilers team. Will the Jackets show some pride and come out and avenge that loss? The Oil played last night in Nashville--the very same team that just shut us out 4-0 on Wednesday--and came away with a convincing 3-0 shut-out win. So, by the transitive property... oh, hell, I'm not going there.

And there's the rub: despite their dreadful overall record, the Oilers are playing pretty good hockey of late. They're 4-1-0 in their last five, and have outscored their opponents 18-3 in the four wins (the one outlier was a 5-1 clunker in Chicago, but hey, it's Chicago, right?).

So, yeah, the Jackets can't have this thing where they just decide not to show up for an entire game happen again to them tonight, or they're going to get skated out of the barn again. The Oilers are scoring goals like crazy of late, and frankly, their defense has turned a pretty major corner. They've cut their team goals-against by about a half-goal in their last four outings, and that includes that five goal outburst by the Hawks.

The Jackets certainly have the advantage of fresher legs and not having had to travel, but that doesn't seem to mean anything these days. One game they're world-beaters, the next they don't even show up. It's been every-other for the past six, so they're due for a good one. That said, this Oilers team gives them all kinds of fits, no matter what the records are.

In roster news, Sean Collins is back in Springfield, as the newly-claimed Corey Tropp will get his first Blue Jackets start tonight on the fourth line. Brandon Dubinsky skated this morning, but is still on IR. Nikita Nikitin skated normally in morning skate and looks to be back in the lineup. Tim Erixon is back to Springfield. Sergei Bobrovsky gets the start, and with Ilya Bryzgalov having played last night in Nashville for the Oilers the smart money's on Devan Dubnyk in net for them tonight.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(9-13-3, 21 Points; 7th division, 13th conference)

Edmonton Oilers
(8-16-2, 18 Points; 7th Division, 14th Conference)

Season Series

11/19/13 - Columbus 0 at Edmonton 7
11/29/13 - Edmonton at Columbus

Head to Head Stats

Edmonton		Columbus
2.58 (19)	GPG	2.44 (22)
3.38 (29)	GAPG	2.96 (23)
20.0% (12)	PP%	18.6% (15)
83.0% (14)	PK%	78.2% (23)
Jordan Eberle, 9	G leader	Ryan Johansen, 8
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 14	A leader	James Wisniewski, 16
Jordan Eberle, 22	Pts leader	James Wisniewski, 18
Luke Gazdic, 57	PIM leader	Brandon Dubinsky, 40
5-8-2	Road/Home	4-7-1
11/28 @ Nashville, W 3-1	Last Game	11/27 vs. Nashville, L 4-0
4-6-0	Last 10	4-3-3

Another game, another Jekyl and Hyde fork in the road. Which team will show up tonight against Edmonton?

Edmonton Oilers at Columbus Blue Jackets

November 29, 2013 - 7:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WWCD 102.5 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: The Copper and Blue
SBN's Oilers vs Blue Jackets Coverage
Tickets

Programming note: I'll be joining the Lowdown with Lowetide program on TSN 1260 in Edmonton at 1:00 PM EST today to chat about the game tonight. Give us a listen if you can!

I don't even know how to preview these games anymore, people. The Jackets are 3-3-0 in their last six games. In their three wins, they've outscored their opponents 12-2. In their three losses, they've been outscored 17-2, and have been shut out twice.

One of those shut-outs came in embarrassing fashion 10 days ago against this very same Oilers team. Will the Jackets show some pride and come out and avenge that loss? The Oil played last night in Nashville--the very same team that just shut us out 4-0 on Wednesday--and came away with a convincing 3-0 shut-out win. So, by the transitive property... oh, hell, I'm not going there.

And there's the rub: despite their dreadful overall record, the Oilers are playing pretty good hockey of late. They're 4-1-0 in their last five, and have outscored their opponents 18-3 in the four wins (the one outlier was a 5-1 clunker in Chicago, but hey, it's Chicago, right?).

So, yeah, the Jackets can't have this thing where they just decide not to show up for an entire game happen again to them tonight, or they're going to get skated out of the barn again. The Oilers are scoring goals like crazy of late, and frankly, their defense has turned a pretty major corner. They've cut their team goals-against by about a half-goal in their last four outings, and that includes that five goal outburst by the Hawks.

The Jackets certainly have the advantage of fresher legs and not having had to travel, but that doesn't seem to mean anything these days. One game they're world-beaters, the next they don't even show up. It's been every-other for the past six, so they're due for a good one. That said, this Oilers team gives them all kinds of fits, no matter what the records are.

In roster news, Sean Collins is back in Springfield, as the newly-claimed Corey Tropp will get his first Blue Jackets start tonight on the fourth line. Brandon Dubinsky skated this morning, but is still on IR. Nikita Nikitin skated normally in morning skate and looks to be back in the lineup. Tim Erixon is back to Springfield. Sergei Bobrovsky gets the start, and with Ilya Bryzgalov having played last night in Nashville for the Oilers the smart money's on Devan Dubnyk in net for them tonight.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(9-13-3, 21 Points; 7th division, 13th conference)

Edmonton Oilers
(8-16-2, 18 Points; 7th Division, 14th Conference)

Season Series

11/19/13 - Columbus 0 at Edmonton 7
11/29/13 - Edmonton at Columbus

Head to Head Stats

Edmonton		Columbus
2.58 (19)	GPG	2.44 (22)
3.38 (29)	GAPG	2.96 (23)
20.0% (12)	PP%	18.6% (15)
83.0% (14)	PK%	78.2% (23)
Jordan Eberle, 9	G leader	Ryan Johansen, 8
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 14	A leader	James Wisniewski, 16
Jordan Eberle, 22	Pts leader	James Wisniewski, 18
Luke Gazdic, 57	PIM leader	Brandon Dubinsky, 40
5-8-2	Road/Home	4-7-1
11/28 @ Nashville, W 3-1	Last Game	11/27 vs. Nashville, L 4-0
4-6-0	Last 10	4-3-3

A Biblical Oilerpretation Favorite

History merely repeats itself. Whether it's being competitive, or retooling, or rebuilding, or anything else, if a man is destined to lose, he'll lose. Sometimes they'll say, "We're trying something new! A new plan!" but it's actually old; there's nothing new about it. People forget the past both good and bad, and men destined to lose most certainly won't remember the mistakes that brought them to where they are now.

Edmonton Oilers @ Columbus Blue Jackets

Nationwide Arena, 5:00 p.m. MST
Television: Sportsnet

Visiting Team Scouting Report: The Blue Jackets lost to the Oilers 6-0 last week, which is basically all you need to know about how bad the Blue Jackets are this year. With their three best forwards (Marian Gaborik, Nathan Horton, and Brandon Dubinsky) not scheduled to play tonight, Columbus has very little firepower left, and this should be a very winnable game for the Oilers. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that, even though they're playing the second of back-to-back games, this is a game the Oilers should win.

Expected Lineups:

Edmonton Oilers (8-16-2):

Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Yakupov - Gagner - Hemsky
Smyth - Gordon - Perron
Jones - Arcobello - Joensuu

Grebeshkov - J Schultz
Ference - Petry
N Schultz - Belov

Bryzgalov

Columbus Blue Jackets (13-10-2):

Jenner - Johansen - Foligno
Calvert - Anisimov - Atkinson
Umberger - Letestu - Comeau
Tropp - Chaput - Skille

Johnson - Tyutin
Wisniewski - Murray
Nikitin - Prout

Bobrovsky

By The Numbers:

• Taylor Hall led the Oilers in shots in their last game with five. That brings his season total to 60 and gives him 3.16 shots per game, a slight decline from the 3.42 shots per game he averaged last season. Both numbers are very good, but it would, of course, be great to see Hall continue improving year over year.
  
• The Blue Jackets actually have a better record on the road (5-6-2) than they do at home (4-7-1) so far this season. Surprisingly, that's true of about one third of the teams in the league including Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, New York, Dallas, Colorado, Vancouver and Edmonton.
  
• Ilya Bryzgalov's save percentage with the Oilers is a bright and shining .978. If he can sustain that, we'll be cheering our way to a Stanley Cup!

The Lightning come up on the wrong end of a defensive struggle, getting shut out by Pittsburgh 3-0, ending a seven-game home winning streak and continuing two years of woes against the Penguins.

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 in front of 19,605 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum Friday afternoon.

Well, there simply isn't much to say about this one: the final score is a little misleading in terms of how tightly competitive this game was as the Lightning and the Penguins engaged in a defensive battle. Pittsburgh capitalized on the few opportunities they had while Tampa Bay did not.

Pittsburgh got the only goal in the first period, which would turn out to be the game winner, with Chris Kunitz scoring at 6:53 on assists from Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.

The Lightning got more opportunities to generate offense in the second period but were unable to convert and the 1-0 Penguins lead held up into the second intermission.

At 8:27 of the third, the Penguins' Brandon Sutter scored a power play goal that only went in because it  deflected off of Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman. Crosby and Jussi Jokinen were credited with assists.

The Penguins capped the scoring with an empty netter at 18:17, scored by Kunitz and assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Crosby. Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury picked up the shutout win, stopping all 21 shots he faced. His counterpart, Ben Bishop, held off 26 of 29 shots.

The Lightning will be in action again on Tuesday, December 3rd, when they travel to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets.

Game notes:

• The Lightning haven't beaten Pittsburgh since November 17, 2011, a streak of eight games.
• Pittsburgh came into tonight's game with a winning percentage of .929 when scoring first, second best in the NHL. The Lightning were ranked third with a .923 mark.
• Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh will meet for the third and final time this season on March 22 in Pittsburgh.
• The Lightning honored Fran Powers as the 13th Lightning Community Hero of the year during the first period of tonight's game. Powers, who received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, will donate the money to the Powerstories Theater. In 1998, Powers was riding her bike across the United States when she asked herself ‘Why was she here on earth?" After asking herself that question, she realized that she wanted to help girls who were severely lacking in confidence, as well as adults, and give them a boost through story telling. Her vision was to create an outlet for those whose true stories would otherwise go untold, and change lives in the process. Powers opened Powerstories Theater to provide that platform for relief for women who have struggles in their daily lives. Through her productions, Powers positively affects the lives of thousands of middle school girls and women, especially those who lack self-esteem and communication skills. The theater she opened provides women an avenue for their voices to be heard through story-telling. The performers and audiences both receive a powerful gift - that they are all living a unique and valuable life.

If you watched this game without some sort of commitment that forced you to, such as writing a post-game summary, then I'm not sure why you didn't change the channel. You should have.

Off the start, I'd like to thank our resident post-game writer @OilFanInYYC for picking tonight of all nights to be unavailable to write the post-game. This morning, it looked like a sweet chance to have something positive to write. Oilers have won 4 of 5, playing the lowly Blue Jackets, the game is an early start time...great! Little did I know.

The Lowlights

The Story

Well, the Oilers were terrible early, terrible in the middle, and started terrible late, but sprung to life in the final few minutes to put two on the board and at least put a mild scare into Columbus before flaccidly wilting away without a huge push in the final 120 seconds.

A few things worth pointing out. Throughout the entire first period, the two teams basically traded opportunities to let the other team take control of the game. Neither group was good, but the Oilers were worse and managed to come out down a goal.

The second period started in truly legendary fashion. before the 90 second mark of the period, Nick Schultz took a penalty, followed by another one only 12 seconds later as Jeff Petry was called for putting the puck over the glass. With two of the team's top penalty killing Dmen (by ice-time) in the box during a 3v5, obviously Andrew Ference was (the remaining regular PKer on the blueline) was going to see a lot of the kill time. And that's what happened, until Ference took a rather unnecessary holding penalty during the 3v5 to extend the two-man disadvantage to well over two minutes and put all three of the team's primary penalty killing defencemen in the box.

What's that you say? Sounds like a scenario where the Jackets may be likely to score? Well you would be right.

By the end of the 2nd, it was 4-0 CBJ and Coach Eakins made a change in goal for the third despite the score not really being the fault of Ilya Bryzgalov. I don't blame him for making the switch, and while you can't lay this game at the feet of Bryz, it may have been a good idea to have started Dubnyk in the first place.

Just after the mid-point of the third period, Sam Gagner somehow scored from the corner behind the goal line to break the shut out and Jordan Eberle added a PP goal on a very nice wrist shot to make the score look far more generous to the Oilers than the game should have been.

The entire night, the Oilers players were missing one another with passes, mis-reading one another's routes and throwing passes in front or behind each other and basically looking like a team who didn't know how to communicate with one another.

On top of it all, Boyd Gordon appeared to injure himself on a play where he crashed into the net during a penalty kill (at least, to my eyes, that's where it happened) and left the game. No word yet on the extent of his injury or if he will miss any time.

Honestly, its gotta be pretty difficult to get beaten that badly by a team as poor as these Blue Jackets have shown to be through two meetings with the Oilers this season. They weren't remotely impressive, but it was still enough to mop the floor with the Oilers tonight.

Was Twitter At Least Fun?

Not especially. But there were a few things that were mildly entertaining...

I don't like to criticize non-players in my posts if I can avoid it, but I thought this was quite funny...

Didn't hate that period from Edmonton...Bobrovsky was good, probably would be a tie game more often than not with those chances.

— Dan Tencer (@dantencer) November 30, 2013

Is Dan Tencer trolling Oiler fans tonight? He's had two comments

already that make it seem like he's watching a different game...

— Alan Hull (@alanhull) November 30, 2013

Other than that, nothing much to smile at tonight.

I will leave you though with this to try and end on a brighter note. Here is what the legendary Ben Massey's post-game would have looked like tonight:

@alanhull umm ur welcome?

— Zsolt Munoz (@OilFanInYYC) November 30, 2013

@alanhull@OilFanInYYC@Lord_Bob FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

— Derek Blasutti (@dawgbone98) November 30, 2013

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With a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Edmonton still fresh in their minds, the Jackets got their revenge with a 4-2 victory against these same Oilers.

There were a handful of storylines leading up to this game, including the Bobrovksy-Bryzgalov matchup in net, the debut of Corey Tropp in a Jackets uniform, and the fact that this game served as an opportunity for the Jackets to exact revenge on the Oilers for the 7-0 beatdown delivered upon them ten days prior.

They did just that.

They got their pound of flesh, but they did it the hard way. The Jackets committed seven penalties, but luckily the only goal scored by the Oilers while up a man was in garbage time.

The first penalty came just twenty seconds into the game, when Boone Jenner was called for interference. The Jackets killed it off, thanks to tenacious forechecking, led by Matt Calvert. Calvert's speed and energy was sorely missed while he was on the shelf.

In addition to his excellence on special teams, Calvert earned an assist on the opening goal of the game. During a line change, he gathered the puck inside of the Oilers' blueline. He waited for reinforcements, passing the puck down low to Ryan Johansen. Johansen drifted toward the slot, wiring a wrister past Bryzgalov.

1-0 Jackets: Johansen - Atkinson, Calvert

Though the Jackets had the lead, the opening period was very evenly-matched. The shots after one were 8-7 in favor of Edmonton, but the Oilers blocked ten shots to the Jackets one.

Please allow me a moment to offer up my thoughts on Jody Shelley as a member of the game broadcast team:

He's terrific.

Shortly into the middle period, Nick Schultz was called for tripping. Moments later, Jeff Petry joined him in the box after flipping the puck over the glass. The parade continued, when Oilers captain Andrew Ference was sent to the sin bin for holding with 26 seconds left in the five-on-three.

It was crucial for the Jackets to take advantage of this opportunity, and they did just that. Calvert threw a puck on-net, where it was redirected by Artem Anisimov for a two-goal lead. This was not without minor controversy however, as it appeared that the goal was scored prior to Petry's penalty expiring. This would mean that the 1:48 remaining on Ference's call would still be on the board, and the Jackets would remain on the powerplay. After some consultation with the off-ice officials after the Anisimov goal, it was determined that Petry's penalty had expired, meaning Ference could return to the ice and the teams would be five-on-five.

2-0 Jackets: Anisimov - Calvert, Tyutin

Random thought of the evening- the Oilers are one of the best-looking teams in the league. Going back to their classic sweaters was an excellent decision. They also had one of the best third sweaters ever, in my opinion- bring back the Todd McFarlane thirds!

The Jackets continued to pressure the Oilers, and were winning battle after battle, unlike the game against the Predators on Wednesday. The effort was there, from all four lines. Bob had settled down after some first period rebound issues, and the Jackets were in control.

Midway through the second, the Oilers' Justin Schultz was called for interference. The #Jennerator received the puck below the goal line from Johansen, who was working the half-wall. Jenner fed Nick Foligno in front of the net, who got a quick shot off. Bryzgalov made the initial save, but Foligno got another crack at it and stuffed into the net.

3-0 Jackets: Foligno - Jenner, Johansen

The cheers of "Booooooooone!" always puts a smile on my face. What a thrill for the young man every time the crowd honors him that way.

In the loss to Nashville, Jack Skille was the Jackets' best player. Since his most recent call up, he's delivered high-quality minutes on the fourth line, chipping in offensively, bringing energy, and forechecking. On this night, he was bringing it again, and after receiving a pass from the newly-acquired Corey Tropp in the defensive zone, he booked it up-ice, and fired a beautiful wrister past Bryzgalov to put the Jackets up by four.

4-0 Jackets: Skille - Tropp, Prout

The assist by Tropp was his first point as a Jacket. I thought he brought a lot of energy, and at times he showed flashes of skill. This may prove to be a shrewd acquisition by Columbus brass.

After an uncharacteristically good second period, the Jackets started the third period facing a new goaltender, as the Oilers elected to put Devan Dubmyk in the cage, replacing Bryzgalov.

The OIlers got on the board midway through the period. Shortly after killing a Blake Comeau penalty, the Jackets allowed Sam Gagner to get off a sharp-angle shot, which beat Bob.

4-1 Jackets: Gagner - Hemsky, Grebeshkov

The Jackets took four penalties in the final frame, but it wasn't until the last penalty that the Oilers were able to convert. Taking all of the penalties was going to catch up with them eventually, and Jordan Eberle was the beneficiary. He was left alone, and after receiving a cross-ice pass, he fired a perfect wrist shot past Bob to halve the score.

4-2 Jackets: Eberle - Nugent-Hopkins, Schultz

Edmonton pulled Dubnyk late in the period, but couldn't cut into the lead.

Final Score: 4-2 Jackets:

Standard Bearers:

• Ryan Johansen was in beastmode, again.
  
• Matt Calvert is a huge part of this team- his PK ability, speed, forechecking, nose for the net...he does it all.
  
• Props to Corey Tropp for his first point as a Jacket.
• Jack Skille continues to shine.
  

Bottom of the Barrel:

• Perhaps not deserving of an appearance in this section, but The Jekyll and Hyde show continues, but tonight the beast was not to be found. Let this please be the end of the current trend of good showings followed by huge disappointments.
  

For the advanced stats for tonight's game, be sure to check out the terrific work at Extra Skater.

The Jackets are back at it in Boston tomorrow night.

Mercyhurst forward Daniel Bahntge had a hat trick as the Lakers defeated AIC for their third win in four games.

Holy Cross upset Boston College, 5-4, in the most shocking result of the Friday night college hockey schedule. The Crusaders jumped out to a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes before hanging on for dear life in the final seconds to preserve a significant win for the program.

Elsewhere around college hockey Greg Carey's goal and three assists lifted St. Lawrence past North Dakota, 5-2, to keep UND in the doldrums. Dave Hakstol's team is now winless in four straight games and sits three games below .500 on the season.

The Big 10 Hockey Conference began league play on Friday night with Minnesota downing Wisconsin, 4-1, and Michigan holding off a pesky Ohio State team in overtime, 4-3.

Let's take a look at the top performers from Friday night in NCAA Hockey:

Daniel Bahntge, Jr., F, Mercyhurst - The Westlake, Ohio native had a hat trick as Rick Gotkin's team defeated American International, 6-3, in Atlantic Hockey action. Mercyhurst has now won three of four and is 5-2 in its last seven.

Greg Carey, Sr., F, St. Lawrence - The Hobey Baker Award finalist from a year ago continues to pile up ridiculous numbers. The Hamilton, Ontario native had a goal and three assists as Greg Carvel's team defeated North Dakota, 5-2. Carey now has 10 goals and 18 assists in just 15 games this season for the 8-5-2 Saints.

Mike Barrett, Fr., F, Holy Cross - The Orland Park, Ill. native had two goals and an assist as the Crusaders upset heavily favored Boston College in Chestnut Hill. Junior goaltender Matt Ginn stopped 34 of 38 shots, including several point-blank opportunities for the Eagles in the closing seconds to preserve the win. "It's pretty big. [BC] is an excellent team and an excellent program," said head coach Paul Pearl following the game when asked of the significance of the achievement. It was the first time an Atlantic Hockey team had defeated Boston College. Holy Cross is no stranger to milestone victories for its conference. The Crusaders were the first Atlantic Hockey team to win an NCAA Tournament game in 2006 when they upset Minnesota.

Seth Ambroz, Jr., F, Minnesota - The Columbus Blue Jackets property had two goals as the Gophers pushed past Wisconsin, 4-1, in the first ever conference game for the Big 10.

Greg Noyes, Sr., D, RIT - After only winning once in the first ten games the Tigers have won two straight, including last Saturday's upset of St. Lawrence. Noyes, a Lucan, Ontario native, had two goals as Wayne Wilson's team won, 5-2, at Sacred Heart on Friday evening. He also registered an assist in the game.

Sam Rendle, Jr. D, Bemidji State - The Beavers battled back from a 4-1 deficit to tie Miami on Friday night. Tom Serratore's team scored three unanswered goals in the third period, including Rendle's with just 43 seconds to play. The Grand Rapids, Minn. native scored the key goal as BSU had pulled its goaltender for the extra attacker.

Alex Petan, So., F, Michigan Tech - MTU is now 4-2-1 in its last seven games after starting 1-6-1. Mel Pearson's team went to Alaska and won, 3-2, on Friday night thanks to two goals from Petan, a small, but crafty forward out of the BCHL.

Nick Sorkin, Sr., F, New Hampshire - Dick Umile was not pleased after his team lost 6-3 to Harvard on Tuesday night. The Wildcats bounced back from that setback with a 6-2 win at Colorado College. Sorkin had two goals to increase his season total to 10. The Rockville, Md. native had just 14 goals in his first three seasons in Durham.

Brett Switzer, Jr., F, Bentley - The Calgary, Alberta native scored two goals as Bentley upset Air Force in Colorado Springs for the team's third consecutive victory.

More from SBN College Hockey

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• Holy Cross Upsets Boston College
• Big Ten Hockey: Minnesota defeats Wisconsin 4-1 for first-ever B1G win
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Jeff Cox covers college and junior hockey, NCAA recruiting, NHL Draft prospects and the AHL for SBNation. Follow him on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.

The Jackets were in full Jekyll mode last night against the Oilers. Tonight they're in Boston hoping the monster doesn't show itself.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Boston Bruins

November 30, 2013 - 7:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WWCD 102.5 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Blue Jackets vs Bruins coverage
Tickets

The Jackets and Bruins meet for the final time this regular season tonight in Boston, with each squad looking to build off of victories yesterday.

The Jackets need to bring the same intensity and work ethic as last night. On paper, these teams are massively mismatched, so to steal a win on the road the Jackets must play their grinding style and take advantage of turnovers and powerplays.

Ryan Johansen is in full beast mode, and I look for him to continue to lead the team while Marian Gaborik, Brandon Dubinsky and Nathan Horton remain sidelined. It's a shame that Horton didn't have an opportunity to face his former club this year.

I thought the fourth line, led by Jack Skille, was great again last night. With Jared Boll and Derek MacKenzie also out of the lineup, Skille, Michael Chaput and newcomer Corey Tropp have to give the Bruins fits whenever they hop on the ice.

At the time of this writing, starters haven't been officially announced, but given the fact both teams played last night a battle of the backups makes sense.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(10-13-3, 23 Points; 7th division, 13th conference)

Boston Bruins
(17-7-2, 36 Points; 1st Division, 1st Conference)

Season Series

10/12/13 - Boston 3 at Columbus 1
11/14/13 - Columbus 2 at Boston 3 (OT)
11/30/13 - Columbus at Boston

Head to Head Stats

The Jackets were in full Jekyll mode last night against the Oilers. Tonight they're in Boston hoping the monster doesn't show itself.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Boston Bruins

November 30, 2013 - 7:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WWCD 102.5 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Blue Jackets vs Bruins coverage
Tickets

The Jackets and Bruins meet for the final time this regular season tonight in Boston, with each squad looking to build off of victories yesterday.

The Jackets need to bring the same intensity and work ethic as last night. On paper, these teams are massively mismatched, so to steal a win on the road the Jackets must play their grinding style and take advantage of turnovers and powerplays.

Ryan Johansen is in full beast mode, and I look for him to continue to lead the team while Marian Gaborik, Brandon Dubinsky and Nathan Horton remain sidelined. It's a shame that Horton didn't have an opportunity to face his former club this year.

I thought the fourth line, led by Jack Skille, was great again last night. With Jared Boll and Derek MacKenzie also out of the lineup, Skille, Michael Chaput and newcomer Corey Tropp have to give the Bruins fits whenever they hop on the ice.

At the time of this writing, starters haven't been officially announced, but given the fact both teams played last night a battle of the backups makes sense.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(10-13-3, 23 Points; 7th division, 13th conference)

Boston Bruins
(17-7-2, 36 Points; 1st Division, 1st Conference)

Season Series

10/12/13 - Boston 3 at Columbus 1
11/14/13 - Columbus 2 at Boston 3 (OT)
11/30/13 - Columbus at Boston

Head to Head Stats

A finely tuned Boston Bruins machine methodically dispatched the Blue Jackets, who again failed to generate offensive pressure. Unlike their Boston counterparts, the Jackets lack the structure to dictate the pace of play and convert that structure into goals.

Entering this contest against the Bruins, the "Jekyll & Hyde" theme that has predominated thus far in the young Blue Jackets season was foremost in the minds of most observers.  Having played a solid game against Edmonton at home, would the Jackets be able to avoid the inconsistency that has plagued alternate games of late?

In truth, the answer is more complicated than a simple "Yes"or "No".   Sure,  the 3 - 1 loss was certainly contributed to by some of the now-familiar demons -- turnovers in the defensive zone, coasting instead of skating and the maddening reluctance to put shots on net.  However, the tendency to place the credit/blame for wins and losses solely on the team you are following is an incomplete analysis.  Make no mistake, the Boston Bruins are a skilled, physical and coherent club, playing at the top of their game. Clubs like this make other teams look bad, simply through their consistent ability to translate structure into scoring.  Such was the case in the TD Garden.

As Go The Legs, So Go The Jackets

In the early stages of this one, the Blue Jackets matched Boston in skating and energy.  The lack of whistles made this a game of consistent action, and early chances by Matt Calvert and Jack Skille were frustrated by sound defensive plays. However, after about five minutes of skating, inertia overcame the Blue Jackets, who once again became spectators to the game -- with predictable results.

While Boston has a deserved reputation for the ability to play a physical game, the real key to the Bruins' success is the structure.  With tons of experience and an equal measure of familiarity, the Bruins are able to move as a unit through all three zones, maintaining the spacing between forwards and defense, extending opposing defenses.  They instinctively know where each player is on the ice, and they leverage that knowledge to considerable advantage.   While this is a goal state for Columbus, only time (and some coherence to the lineup) can make this a reality.

At the 9:02 mark of the first, the Bruins put on one of their frequent displays of possession prowess.  Dougie Hamilton tapped the puck to Patrice Bergeron at the  along the right half-wall.  Bergeron sent a relatively harmless looking ice-scooter toward the net, just as Louis Eriksson cruised in front of Curtis McElhinney.  McElhinney never saw the puck, and it nestled quietly into the net, between the pad and the post, giving the Bruins the early lead.

The Bruins' structure also contributed to their second tally.  After Ryan Johansen went off for hooking at the 14:36 mark, it took Boston all of 22 seconds to convert.  They won the face-off, worked the puck around to David Krejci, who levered a nifty diagonal pass to Torey Krug at the point.  Krug fired a shot/pass that found the stick of a largely unmolested Milan Lucic at the right post, who deflected the puck into the net, past a defenseless McElhinney.  Could Umberger have been tighter on Krug?  Could Tyutin have been closer to Lucic?  Sure.  But it was the speed with which the transition took place that enabled the goal, catching the Blue Jackets' PK unit sliding to respond. That's structure.

At the end of the opening frame, the Blue Jackets trailed 2 - 0, and had mustered only two shots on net.  That pretty much tells the story.

The Best of the Rest

The second period was a much better period from the Blue Jackets' perspective -- more skating, more opportunities, and a better overall quality of play.  Still, that nagging structure created multiple chances for the Bruins. McElhinney was up to the task, however, making several solid saves throughout the second and third stanzas.

At the 8:34 mark of the second, Dalton Prout took matters into his own hands, throwing the gloves down with Milan Lucic. It was a noble battle, with perhaps a decision to Lucic, but the point was to energize the team.  Rimer and Davidge made much of Prout's admonition to the bench of "Let's go!" as he skated to the box.

At the 18:34 mark of the second, more misfortune came the Blue Jackets' way, courtesy of the officiating crew.  Nick Foligno became entangled with Dennis Seidenberg along the right wing boards.  Seidenberg then proceeded to level a shoulder/elbow combination to Foligno's head - undetected by the officials.  Foligno understandably took exception to the hit, and went after Seidenberg with some zeal, requiring some considerable effort by the linesman to restrain him.  The result was a two minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a 10 minute misconduct to Foligno -- and nothing to Seidenberg.  As Foligno was one of the key contributors throughout the night, this one hurt.

Despite the improved effort, the Blue Jackets still managed only seven shots in the second, and followed that with a paltry five shots in the third.  While that's a symptom of what has been plaguing Columbus in their bad games, it's also an attribute of what Boston does very, very well.  The Bruins allowed the Rangers just 19 shots on Friday, so this is not an uncommon experience for their opponents.

The Bruins' final tally came on a bit of a fluke play at the 2:15 mark of the final frame.  Milan Lucic let a point shot loose, which struck either the stick or skate of a retreating Jack Johnson.   The puck arced through the air, over the head of an unsuspecting McElhinney, and into the net.  3 - 0, and the fat lady was in good voice.

The bright spot for the Blue Jackets continues to be special teams.  After killing six of seven extra man chances against Edmonton, the PK unit squashed five of six against the Bruins.  Meanwhile, the power play unit has now converted on three of its last seven chances, including the only goal of this night.  After Dougie Hamilton went off the ice for tripping against Johansen, the Blue Jackets put together a coherent power play effort.  After a clear by Boston, Tyutin led the charge up ice, with Umberger to his right and Johansen trailing.  The entry with speed created space, and the puck ended up on the stick of Johansen across the middle.  Johansen fired a wicked wrister past Johnson for his tenth of the season, finally putting the Jackets on the board. However, the Blue Jackets would pull no closer.

Putting It All Together

Again, this one is tough to categorize.  While certainly not the Blue Jackets' best effort, Boston has been making a habit of neutralizing the opposition this season.  They are 7-2-1 in their last 10, and a gaudy 12-3-2 at home.  So, give credit to a good team, playing well.

Still, the Blue Jackets need to find a way to dictate the pace, rather than react to what is happening around them.  Getting players like Nathan Horton and Brandon Dubinsky healthy will be a big help, without question.  However, there is a fundamental lack of confidence -- particularly in the offensive end -- which needs to be overcome. Columbus has not put 30 shots on goal in ten games (ironically, the last time was against Boston), and fails to get the message that putting the puck on net is always a good thing.

There is perhaps something to be said for the leadership issue as well.  No, I'm not advocating bringing Prospal back, as many would urge.  While Prospal is unquestionably a great leader, this club needs organic leadership that will be here for the long haul.  At Prospal's age, he would be a very temporary insertion, and at this point would likely be more disruptive than beneficial.  He was able to thrive in an abbreviated season last year, but even then was noticeably lagging in third periods of games.  There are some solid potential leaders in the locker room -- Dubinsky and Foligno probably foremost among these.   While I adhere to my belief that the fans have no role in who a captain should be, I think the fact of the need for a captain is a subject of legitimate debate.

The Blue Jackets are suffering from a lack of structure on the ice -- in direct opposition to the type of game that Boston displayed.   There seems to be little understanding of where given players will be at any particular moment -- in all zones.  This breeds hesitation, which results in lost opportunities.  Certain players completely disappear in games such as this, where the opponent is able to exert consistent, structure pressure.  Atkinson is a prime example here.  Others panic, dumping the puck into No Man's Land, rather than being patient and making a play.  Prout and Johnson are key culprits in this regard.  I think it's time for somebody to get the "C".  Sure, it's not the panacea that will solve all issues, but it's an important step to that end.  It provides some needed off-ice structure to the club, and would undoubtedly also provide a needed emotional lift.

Of course, the lack of structure and consistency on the ice has to inevitably call into question the quality of the leadership behind the bench as well. That's a debate for a different day, once the roster is healthy and some games as a complete unit are under their belts.

In the meantime, the club needs to focus on composure, puck possession and shooting.  They also need to avoid the minor penalties that have afflicted them for the past few games.  While the PK is performing admirably, there is an exhaustion factor to being shorthanded so often, and the rash of penalties late in the Edmonton game undoubtedly impacted the energy we saw in Boston.

Tampa Bay comes to Nationwide on Tuesday, and the next chapter in the adventure begins.