On-ice accountability comes into focus after a costly penalty

As you might have heard, Barry Trotz was none too happy with Jason Chimera's overtime intereference penalty last night that led to the Blue Jackets' game-winning goal. Here (via RMNB) is a look at the infraction which, most favorably, could be characterized as unnecessary:

And here's what the Caps' head coach had to say about it postgame (with more here):

Trotz on Chimera's penalty: "Definitely unnecessary. We'll address that tomorrow with that individual."

— Alex Prewitt (@alex_prewitt) December 12, 2014

Chimera is having a rough season in many respects - his possession stats are terrible, his box car stats are no better, and while there are some mitigating factors there (including his deployment... maybe), one area that stands out and is largely inexcusable is how often he's marching to the penalty box. And really, it's not about the rate (which is actually below his career pace, even if it does lead the team) so much as the types of penalties he's taking.

Chimera generally isn't getting caught out of position and taking obstruction penalties (lazy penalties, perhaps, but not selfish) so much as he's taking unnecessary (there's that word again) penalties. To wit, Chimera is tied for the League lead among forwards in slashing minors. And interference minors. And holding minors (okay, there's obstruction). And throw in a cross-checking for good measure. Eight of those ten penalties have been non-coincidental, seven at five-on-five and then last night's four-on-four infraction.

It's also not the first time Trotz has been upset with Chimera for taking a bad penalty.

Discipline is a hallmark of a Barry Trotz-coached team, and right now, Jason Chimera isn't showing much discipline at all. It's no wonder, then, that Trotz seems to have settled on a candidate to sit in order to get Andre Burakovsky back in the lineup:

As Trotz was leaving, he was asked about Burakovsky. "I've got a good reason to put him in the lineup right now." REAL unhappy with Chimera.

— Alex Prewitt (@alex_prewitt) December 12, 2014

For a team that's all about "culture change," sitting a player for repeated selfish penalties would seem like a good place to hammer home some of the change they're looking for.

The Blue Jackets entertain the Penguins in the regular season debut for the two squads. Can Columbus conjure up the same mojo they showed in last year's playoff matchup?

Pittsburgh Penguins at Columbus Blue Jackets

December 13, 2014 - 7:00 PM EST
Nationwide Arena- Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog:  Pensburgh

Blue Jackets. Penguins.  Nationwide Arena.   The echoes of last April still resonate in the rafters.  Fast forward eight months, and while the Penguins are in their familiar lofty perch at the top of the standings, the Blue Jackets are in the midst of a recovery from a season long injury string, but have five consecutive wins coming into this one.  Scott Hartnell is the latest victim, as he started a two week stint on IR for a broken finger incurred in the Washington victory.  He is the third Blue Jacket to be so afflicted this season (Boone Jenner and Sergei Bobrovsky being the others), but Kerby Rychel has been recalled to fill the void.

The Penguins have their own  health issues.  Patric Hornqvist and Kris Letang just returned from injury, and Sidney Crosby will miss this one due to illness.  If the photos are any indication, mumps is a likely culprit.  Chris Kunitz remains out, and a survey of the other lines reveals few familiar names. One recognizable name is Blake Comeau, who is having a productive season for the Penguins, and will make his first trip back to Nationwide since signing his free agent deal in the off-season.

Pittsburgh is playing the second half of a back-to-back, having beaten the Calgary Flames last night, 3 - 1.  The Penguins were outshot, but Marc-Andre Fleury was solid.  Evgeni Malkin leads the club with 15 goals, and the Penguins boast the #2 power play unit in the league.  The Capitals held that same slot when they hosted Columbus on Tuesday.  No morning skate for Pittsburgh today, so the lineup is our best guess, figuring that Thomas Greiss will draw in for the net duties tonight.

No mysteries for what the Blue Jackets need to do in this one.  Stay out of the box, skate and put shots on net.  North-South hockey is the key, and they cannot allow themselves be intimidated by the Penguins' speed.  The crowd will be raucous for both sides, so this promises to be a fun one.

Interesting side note:  In its preview of this one, the Penguins' web site goes to great lengths to highlight its regulation success against Columbus, but makes nary a mention of the two playoff losses last season.  How soon they forget . . .

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets 
(11-15-2, 24Points; 7th division, 14th conference)

Pittsburgh Penguins
(19-6-3, 41 Points; 1st Division, 1st Conference)

Season Series

12/13/14 - Pittsburgh at Columbus
2/19/15 - Columbus at Pittsburgh
3/1/15 - Columbus at Pittsburgh
4/4/15 -- Pittsburgh at Columbus

Head to Head Stats

The Tampa Bay Lightning failed to convert on their scoring chances -- or their power play -- until it was too late, losing 4-2 to the Washington Capitals.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have hit a bit of a rut.

For most of the 2014-15 season's early going, the Lightning have been an offense firing on all cylinders.

On Saturday night against the Washington Capitals, some of the good fortune finally dried up. Braden Holtby wasn't tested with a ton of rubber, but he did face a handful of great scoring chances and kept nearly all of them out of the net while his team built a lead in front of him as the Caps defeated the Lightning by a final score of 4-2 at Verizon Center.

The Bolts started the game with a decent amount of offensive pressure and, had they managed to keep the game mostly played at 5v5, stood a good chance to earn two points against a strong Washington Capitals squad. But minor penalties would sting them all night long, starting with a couple early kills to minor penalty calls on Jonathan Drouin and Alex Killorn.

The Lightning appeared to take a 1-0 lead after killing off both penalties, but Steven Stamkos' apparent goal into a wide open net was waived off for goaltender interference to Ryan Callahan, who looked to be pushed by Caps defender Brooks Orpik into Holtby's path to get back into the net and in front of the Stamkos shot. There's no denying Callahan impeded Holtby from making a save; the question is, did he make a reasonable effort to avoid contact? And how much is Orpik to blame for putting Callahan in his own goalie's way?

With the goal wiped out,  the Lightning continued the parade to the box, and while the penalty kill managed a perfect 4/4 on the night, it wasn't without a handful of close calls and a constant shooting gallery on Ben Bishop.

A natural hat trick from Nicklas Backstrom split between the second and third periods, plus an anemic power play and more minor penalties prevented the Bolts from gaining any steam at 5v5 and kept the Caps in control until very late in the game.

Tyler Johnson added a late tally to break up Holtby's shutout bid after a nice transition play with Nikita Kucherov, who held the defense, and the eyes of Holtby, freeing Johnson to score up high over the Washington netminder's shoulder to bring the Bolts within two goals with four minutes remaining. The rally continued when moments later, a long jaunt into the Caps' end resulted in a gimme goal for Matt Carle, who snuck behind the defense and outwaited Holtby to bring the Lightning within a gol with 2 and half minutes remaining.

With Ben Bishop pulled for the extra attacker, the Lightning had a few looks towards Holtby in hopes of equalizing, including a hard shot from the right circle off the stick of Steven Stamkos. But, as the Bolts tried to regroup in the neutral zone, Jason Garrison and Valtteri Filppula collided with one another allowing Eric Fehr to scoop up a loose puck and add an empty-netter for the 4-2 final.

Game Notes

• The Bolts, now losers in four of their last six (twice to the Capitals, once each to the Blue Jackets and Buffalo Sabres), will have to regroup in time for a Monday night showdown on national TV with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lost 4-3 in a shootout to Columbus on Saturday.
• The Lightning power play is struggling:

  #tblightning power play 4-for-28 in last eight games, including tonight's 0-for-4

  — Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) December 14, 2014

• Nicklas Backstrom's natural hat trick was no fluke, as he was making nice plays through the neutral zone and around the Lightning net for much of the night, scoring off the rush and from around the net during in-zone offense. Alex Ovechkin finished with two assists as the Lightning defense shifted to try and take away the Caps captain.
• Braden Holtby finished the night with a .929 save percentage, but very easily could have had a shutout if not for a few late conversions by the Lightning. Aside from the disallowed goal, he didn't put himself out of position and played great for much of the night, including a highlight-reel save on Ryan Callahan's trickling shot, sweeping it off the goal line and covering it.
• The 5v5 game was actually controlled pretty well by the Lightning, particularly after a dog of a first period. The problem was there wasn't nearly enough of it, and 5v5 play was so inconsistent and broken up that the Bolts had no chance to press an advantage at evens. Staying out of the box has to priority for this team moving forward, not just because opposing teams will convert on power plays but because the Lightning base their success on strong even-strength play.
• Jon Cooper commented on the disallowed goal, making the case that Holtby took himself out of the play and Callahan's contact was inconsequential:

  Cooper's point is, take every other player out of it, Holtby doesn't recover in time: "I don't know how that's not a goal."

  — Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) December 14, 2014

The Jackets renewed acquaintances with the Penguins, and nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, but an incredible PK and a strong shootout performance lead to their sixth straight win in December.

The last time these teams met in Columbus, it was the end of the Blue Jackets' season. While I think most fans would argue that the Blue Jackets took a big step against the Penguins during their playoff series, the fact remains that they won, and we lost.

With Columbus finally putting together a lineup that vaguely resembled their intended roster, and Pittsburgh missing the top line of Sidney Crosby (mumps? Maybe? Except maybe not. But it probably is), Chris Kunitz (Foot), and Pascal Dupuis (illness), it was arguably a bit of a push on paper, but the Pens still had Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang to lead their offense.

Things started off right where this team left off after Thursday's OT win, with Boone Jenner drawing a penalty on his first shift, and some nice work by the power play to cycle the puck and pull Thomas Greiss out of his net. That gave Nick Foligno a wide open shot, and he buried it, giving the home team the early lead, and silencing the usual plague of locusts Pittsburgh faithful.

1-0 Columbus (PP) - Foligno (14) from Jenner (6) and Savard (5) @ 3:02

The Jackets kept up the pace initially, but David Savard had a bit of a rough period, first getting called for a hold on Brandon Sutter, and then a tripping call against Sutter on his next shift, but the PK stood up during both shorthanded situations, doing an excellent job of keeping the Penguins from getting good pressure around Sergei Bobrovsky.

Columbus got some good energy off the back to back kills, and put a few more shots on Greiss, but weren't able to find a second goal. They settled for turning up the physical play, and it wasn't long before the Pens responded in kind.

It all kicked off when Steve Downie started chirping Brandon Dubinsky and Dalton Prout, and after Dubi landed a hard hit on the alleged human being, Downie responded by going after Prout, while Pittsburgh's Bobby Farnham attempted to engage Dubinsky.

I say attempted, because Jordan Leopold apparently wasn't having any of that, stepping up in front of Farnham and engaging with a vengeance. Apparently this was Leopold's first NHL fight - but given the way he put Farnham on the ice and kept wailing on him until the Refs broke in, I have a feeling he's learned a few things about the fine art of bar fights along the way.

Meanwhile, Prout and Downie round 1 was a fairly anticlimactic affair, but as the linesman separated them, Downie apparently said something incendiary, and they went back at it against the Pittsburgh bench.

Once they were separated for a second time, the penalties started being counted out, and eventually we'd see Leopold and Farnham receive fighting majors, Dubi a charging minor, and both Downie and Prout received a pair of roughing minors and a 10 minute misconduct for their troubles.

The PK dispatched the Penguins power play after all that, and just a few minutes later the teams would head to the locker rooms for the first intermission.

The second period would open much like the first, with the Jackets drawing an early power play, and just over  a minute into the power play, Nick Foligno would draw a crosschecking call from Kris Letang, opening the ice up for a 5 on 3, but Greiss made some truly impressive stops, including a bit of glove robbery on a Jack Johnson shot that looked like a guaranteed goal.

After that kill, the Pens gave the Jackets some trouble at even strength, but Bob was equal to the challenge, and it wasn't too long before things boiled over once again - this time with Corey Tropp and Bryan Rust mixing it up for what would end up as offsetting roughing calls, and not long after that dust had settled, Steve Downie was going after Dubinsky again, and this time Dubi obliged him with a frank exchange of views.

Both players landed a couple hits, but it wasn't much of a fight - oddly enough, I'm fairly sure that several of the bouts which resulted in roughing calls had more action than this, but it ended with both players getting a fighting major. Good for Dubi for stepping up, but at the same time, I can't help but feel like trading our best shutdown center for, well, Steve Downie, is a trade you don't want to make.

After the fight, things began to settle, and unfortunately the team slowed down a bit too much. A bit of sloppy forechecking at the top of their defensive zone allowed Blake Comeau to walk down to the far circle and fire a shot that tucked just between Bob and the post to even things up.

1-1 Tie - Comeau (10) from Martin (6) & Klinkhammer (1) @ 15:06

That tying goal brought the visiting fans out of their nap,  but full credit to Jackets fans in attendance tonight, who shouted right back, and the period would come to an end with a pretty full plate of cheers and adrenaline to take into the third.

The Jackets came out firing in the third, opening up a 9-4 advantage on the shot clock before drawing another power play, this time from a Simon Despres boarding call after a hit on Foligno, but almost before the power play had begun, Craig Adams managed to post up on James Wisniewski and steal the puck, bouncing it off the boards and into the neutral zone, where he grabbed it and skated up out on an odd man rush with Kris Letang.

Kevin Connaughton got back and attempted to take away the passing lane, but Adams was able to out wait him and send the puck over to Letang, who snapped home the shorthanded goal.

2-1 PGH (SH) - Letang (6) from Adams (3) and Goc (1) @ 07:22

That goal took a lot of steam out of the building and the team, and though they had a couple of decent shots at Greiss, the power play could not find a tying goal.

Fortunately for the fans in Columbus, that wouldn't be the story of the night.

Boone Jenner was tearing down on Greiss on a breakaway when he was brought down from behind, and the wave of excitement when the referee pointed to center ice for a penalty shot was probably felt all the way down on Park St.

Jenner went in slow, looked off, changed up his speed at the last second, and fired, bringing the fans to their feet with a roar.

2-2 Tie - Jenner (6) PENALTY SHOT @ 12:05

Both clubs went at it, and an extended Pittsburgh possession would come to an odd and abrupt end when Sergei Bobrovsky lost his stick, moved to retrieve it, and caught Blake Comeau with the edge of his stick blade as the former Jacket tried to skate past it. Comeau took an impressive swan dive, and the referees would call Bob for a trip and Comeau for embelishment, putting the teams at 4 on 4 with just over under three minutes to play.

Things looked a bit of a preview of OT when, finally, Jack Johnson got his time to shine. Following up Brandon Dubinsky on a rush into the Pittsburgh zone, he got into a clear shooting lane before taking the pass, winding up into the faceoff dot, and hammering a blast that put Columbus back on top.

3-2 Columbus - Johnson (2) from Dubinsky (2) and Savard (6) @ 17:49

Two minutes and change left to play, a late go-ahead goal, and a roaring crowd behind you SHOULD be a recipe for a dramatic win. Indeed, it looked like they might just pull it off when the Penguins pulled Greiss for the extra attacker, but this team seems completely incapable of finding an empty net lately.

Two long range attempts went for icing calls, and after each team took their time outs (during one of which Steve Downie said something else while the Ref was in earshot, which earned him a game misconduct and a trip to the dressing room), it came down to Brandon Dubinsky taking a draw in his own zone against Evgeni Malkin with less than 20 seconds left in regulation.

The Pens won the faceoff and began to cycle, and while the Jackets did a good job of containing Malkin and Comeau on the left side of the ice, they completely failed to keep track of Letang, the extra skater, who casually drifted down to the right half wall, and eventually put himself in position for a wide open shot that beat Bob cleanly, because of course it did.

3-3 Tie - Letang (7) from Ehrhoff (8) and Malkin (21) @ 19:49

Going to OT was a bit of a mixed bag - after all, the team did at least get a point out of this game - but it really shouldn't have gotten there in the first place. The news got even worse when Cam Atkinson was called for a....somewhat weak...hooking penalty, forcing the Jackets to stop one of the best power plays in the NHL in a 4 on 3 situation.

Remarkably? They did it.

Not only did the Jackets kill the penalty, but they would manage to draw their own power play with just over a minute and change left in the extra period, and while they got some good puck movement, they just simply ran out of time, leaving this game to be decided by a shootout.

For the first round, Cam Atkinson came over the boards, and took a few pages out of Jenner's book, using a nice stutter move to change speeds before sniping it past Greiss to get Columbus on the board, while Malkin would shoot first for Pittsburgh. Geno tried to pull his fellow countryman out of position to the right, but Bob was right with him, and kicked his left leg out at the perfect moment to deny the shot.

In the second round, Ryan Johansen stuck with what was working, and went left, head faked, then burst to the right after Greiss committed to the lunge, tucking the puck into a wide open net for the 2-0 lead.

Unfortunately, Kris Letang would shoot second for the Penguins, and it was just his night - driving wide and then dekeing back in, he made two quick puck handling moves, then snapped a wrister up and under the crossbar to keep the Pens alive.

Nick Foligno would be given the chance to end it, but seemed to lose the handle midway through his attempt, tried to turn that into a spin move (WHY?) and just really couldn't control his shot. That meant it was Brandon Sutter vs Sergei Bobrovsky with the game on the line as he picked up the puck for his shot.

Like Malkin, Sutter tried to get Bob to bite as he went right, trying to tuck the puck in past his leg pads, but Sergei Andreyevich wasn't having any of that. He was locked into the zone, and kicked the puck away, tying a bow on the team's sixth win in a row.

Final Score: Blue Jackets 4 - Penguins 3 (SO)

Standard Bearers

• Boone Jenner - God damn, son. Is there anything that Boone didn't do? Drawing penalties, tying the game, setting up the power play goal, it was pretty much a complete game for him.
• Jack Johnson - JMFJ was getting the puck on net all night, and probably should have had a goal during the five on three, if it hadn't been for Greiss pulling a rabbit out of his hat. His defense was even surprisingly not terrible! Quite a night for him.
• Sergei Bobrovsky - Would Bob like to have a couple of goals back? Yup. Was he there when the team needed him most? You're damn right he was.
• Ryan Johansen - That SO goal was fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilthy.

Bottom of the Barrel

• Nick Foligno's SO attempt - Seriously, whaaaaat the hell was that. Made even worse by the fact that your teammates gave you a freaking blueprint on how to score against Greiss tonight. All you had to do was go in slow, fake hard left, then pull right! That's it!
• Jack Skille - After some great play over the last three games, Skille really didn't seem to have much tonight, including a couple of missed opportunities off the rush.
• Empty Nets - Seriously, this team cannot hit an empty net. How about they run a few 200 foot shot drills, huh?

It wasn't pretty, and I am pretty sure my heart actually stopped during the OT power play, but it's a win - and the Jackets continue to pull themselves out of their November hole with a December to Remember. Now it's time to hit the road, and go give the Red Wings some holiday headaches.

The Blue Jackets have cleared some of the logjam at the blue line by trading D Tim Erixon to Chicago in exchange for Jeremy Morin.

Everyone expected that the Blue Jackets would probably move a defenseman sooner or later - with a blueline that already included James Wisniewski, Dalton Prout, Jack Johnson, Jordan Leopold, Ryan Murray, Fedor Tyutin, and David Savard, there wasn't much room for guys like Cody Goloubef or Tim Erixon to make an impact - something that got even more complicated with the acquisition of Kevin Connaughton.

Even with all the injuries this season, the defense has been a position of relative strength, and the news that both Tyutin and Goloubef could return this week made it clear that something had to give.

It seems that something was Tim Erixon, who now finds himself on the way to Chicago, while the Jackets pick up the somewhat disgruntled Jeremy Morin in a straight up trade.

Morin was a 2009 second round pick, 45th overall, who made news recently by asking the team to play him or trade him - looks like they chose the latter.

Morin has bounced pretty heavily between Rockford of the AHL and the big club, but while in the AHL he's produced at a near point a game pace over the last two seasons, while in Chicago he was mostly put into an energy line / checking role. Still, he had 5 goals and six assists in 24 games last season, and has the ability to put up a bunch of PIMs as well.

A lot of the vibe on twitter this morning is concern that the team made another Tropp / Boll type pickup, but I'm a little more optimistic - even back to his draft year, Morin got praise for his sniping shot and offensive ability. Cross your fingers, but this might be a very similar move to the acquisition of Mark Letestu - taking a guy who had been unable to play to in the right role because of the depth of his original team. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see Morin given the opportunity to play in the top six.

The team reports that Morin is on the way to Columbus today, and will practice with the team on Monday. Don't be shocked if we see him inserted into the lineup against Detroit.

Mumps continue to spread, raining teddy bears in Florida, Brayden Point's on schedule, and more in your Monday Quick Strikes.

• "They've been growing together the past few seasons, getting better," Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "It's going to be a good challenge for us, to see where we're at." Fleury calls the Lightning a measuring stick team. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
• The mumps have struck again, this time claiming Sid the Kid. Crosby will sit out of tonight’s game against the Lightning and continue to be evaluated on a daily basis. [ESPN]
• Also regarding the mumps, Rangers centre Derick Brassard has been suspected of contracting the disease. [NY Daily News]
• It's raining Teddy Bears, again! The Florida Everblades, theLightning's ECHL affiliate, hosted their Teddy Bear Toss Saturday night in a 5-4 win over the Indy Fuel. The Blades also decked out in teddy bear themed jerseys. [Puck Daddy]
• Canada’s world junior roster has been filtered to 25 players. Besides the injured Connor McDavid (of course), Lightning prospect Brayden Point also made the cut. [CBC Sports]
• Looks like someone forgot to put a no-trade clause in his contract. The Chicago Blackhawks traded forward Jeremy Morin to the Columbus Blue Jackets for defenseman Tim Erixon on Sunday. [Chicago Tribune]
• Nicklas Backstrom had plenty to add to his lid collection after his first regular season career hattrick Saturday night. Fun fact: Backstrom currently has 524 points in 524 games. [Russian Machine Never Breaks]
• A lot of interesting things about Zdeno Chara you probably never knew. [The Hockey News]
• In an unfortunate event, a propane-fueled ice resurfacer leaked at a hockey rink in Madison, Wisconsin before a junior league game, sending 81 people - both players and fans - to the hospital from carbon monoxide poisoning. [Wisconsin State Journal]
• Goalie Tomas Vokoun is calling it a career. [On the Forecheck]

The Blue Jackets entertain the Penguins in the regular season debut for the two squads. Can Columbus conjure up the same mojo they showed in last year's playoff matchup?

Pittsburgh Penguins at Columbus Blue Jackets

December 13, 2014 - 7:00 PM EST
Nationwide Arena- Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog:  Pensburgh

Blue Jackets. Penguins.  Nationwide Arena.   The echoes of last April still resonate in the rafters.  Fast forward eight months, and while the Penguins are in their familiar lofty perch at the top of the standings, the Blue Jackets are in the midst of a recovery from a season long injury string, but have five consecutive wins coming into this one.  Scott Hartnell is the latest victim, as he started a two week stint on IR for a broken finger incurred in the Washington victory.  He is the third Blue Jacket to be so afflicted this season (Boone Jenner and Sergei Bobrovsky being the others), but Kerby Rychel has been recalled to fill the void.

The Penguins have their own  health issues.  Patric Hornqvist and Kris Letang just returned from injury, and Sidney Crosby will miss this one due to illness.  If the photos are any indication, mumps is a likely culprit.  Chris Kunitz remains out, and a survey of the other lines reveals few familiar names. One recognizable name is Blake Comeau, who is having a productive season for the Penguins, and will make his first trip back to Nationwide since signing his free agent deal in the off-season.

Pittsburgh is playing the second half of a back-to-back, having beaten the Calgary Flames last night, 3 - 1.  The Penguins were outshot, but Marc-Andre Fleury was solid.  Evgeni Malkin leads the club with 15 goals, and the Penguins boast the #2 power play unit in the league.  The Capitals held that same slot when they hosted Columbus on Tuesday.  No morning skate for Pittsburgh today, so the lineup is our best guess, figuring that Thomas Greiss will draw in for the net duties tonight.

No mysteries for what the Blue Jackets need to do in this one.  Stay out of the box, skate and put shots on net.  North-South hockey is the key, and they cannot allow themselves be intimidated by the Penguins' speed.  The crowd will be raucous for both sides, so this promises to be a fun one.

Interesting side note:  In its preview of this one, the Penguins' web site goes to great lengths to highlight its regulation success against Columbus, but makes nary a mention of the two playoff losses last season.  How soon they forget . . .

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets 
(11-15-2, 24Points; 7th division, 14th conference)

Pittsburgh Penguins
(19-6-3, 41 Points; 1st Division, 1st Conference)

Season Series

12/13/14 - Pittsburgh at Columbus
2/19/15 - Columbus at Pittsburgh
3/1/15 - Columbus at Pittsburgh
4/4/15 -- Pittsburgh at Columbus

Head to Head Stats

The Jackets had arguably the worst November in team history. Even still, are they out of the playoff race?

The Blue Jackets are currently riding a six-game winning streak which, outside of the first week or so of the season, is the first sign of optimism all year. After continuing to endure a rash of injuries almost unheard of in the annals of NHL history, the team reached their nadir of 6-15-1, and were firmly planted at the bottom of the standings.

The winning streak has changed things, of course. But, what about those standings? The biggest thing in the Jackets' corner is the fact that their division is pretty dreadful. Columbus weathered a bad start least season, righted the ship, and made their way into the playoffs as a Wild Card. Can this season's team somehow do the same?

Better yet, could they even make it in as the #3 seed in the Metro?

Let's look at the standings and see what we can find out.

Current Metropolitan Division Standings

There's not really much there to get excited about if you're Columbus, right? Well, maybe, and maybe not. If you look just at the point-per-game number, Columbus is in sixth place at best. That said, in their last six games, they've shown that they are capable of being a good enough team to beat playoff teams both at home and on the road, and they've given us a glimpse of the team we saw last spring.

It's impossible to extrapolate accurately based on a snapshot of point-per-game numbers, so the reason I also included each team's last 10 games record is to illustrate how teams are trending. Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh, and largely irrelevent to the discussion. The Rangers are back to playing good hockey, and while the Islanders' pace has slowed a bit they've been consistent all season. Other than that? A lot of mediocrity. The division really seems to have three tiers right now: the good teams (Pittsburgh, Islanders), the decent teams (Washington, Rangers), and the streaky teams (Philly, New Jersey, Columbus). Carolina looks like they're all aboard the tank express, so we'll excuse them from the rest of the conversation.

The larger point is this: there are five teams behind the "good" teams that are not too far apart in terms of points per game. Only a quarter of a point per game separates them from each other. We've seen that Columbus can beat all of those teams, but we've also seen them lose to two of the more mediocre teams when they're not playing well.

All of this is just a fancy way of saying: it's wide open past the top two right now.

What about last year? Well, the Jackets--eerily--found themselves sitting at 12-14-3 through 29 games, or basically one point ahead of where they are right now. More importantly, how did the Metro standings look then?

Metropolitan Division Standings - Saturday, December 7, 2013

Huh. Last year, the division actually started out worse than this year. But, just the same, Columbus found themselves only a handful of points out of a playoff spot, though again way down in seventh place. This time, the PPG stats were much more closely bunched, and no one had really pushed themselves out of it except the Islanders. (Also fun, look at the team standings. Carolina and the Isles were flipped, but every other team was in the exact. same. spot.)

So, what does all of this mean? Nothing, really, except to say that there's no way this is over, not by a long shot. At this point last season, the three non-Pittsburgh teams that made the playoffs from the division sat in 4th, 5th, and 7th place, respectively. And, they weren't in any better shape--really--last year than this. In other words, if what we've seen of late is closer to the "real" Blue Jackets, they're probably capable of fighting their way back into things.

What if we look at some larger trends? This is in NO way scientific or a prognostication of any kind, but Columbus is fairly unique this season in that they've had a six-game winning streak preceded by two losing streaks of nine and six games. They've been basically all over the map. However, since ending the big nine-game losing streak that coincided with the huge injury wave (also known as The Dark Times), Columbus has posted an 8-5-1 record. That's good for 17 points in 14 games, or 1.21 points per game. Again, this isn't scientific, because that 8-5-1 run is composed of a two-game winning streak and a six-game winning streak on either ends of an 0-5-1 stretch.

Let's look at it another way. You can break the season up into three or four subsets to get a sense of how the team is/was playing, and look at a few numbers. I break it into the following three groups, with the final (current) group having two "sub-groups" that are: a) the last nine games to not only include some losses to get a better statistical picture, but because I thought Columbus played well for most of those games, even the losses, and b) the win streak

Group 1 - The Start (first six games, team starts off 4-2-0)
Group 2 - The Dark Times (everybody gets hurt, the team eats it raw to the tune of 0-8-1)
Group 3 - The Resurgence? (aforementioned 8-5-1 run to present)
Group 3a - The Recent (the last nine games, 6-3-0)
Group 3b - The Streak (the six game winning streak)

Here's how it stacks up, using the following stats: EV Corsi % (the percentage of even-strength shot attempts in a game by the Jackets); EV Goal Differential (goal differential at even strength); ST Goal Differential (special teams goal differential, i.e. [PPG-SHGA] - [PPGA-SHG]); Shooting Percentage; Save Percentage (all numbers from war-on-ice.com)

Okay, okay... what does all of this junk mean??

Well, it shows what I think most of us have seen and felt: this team fell off a cliff when everyone got hurt, and then, slowly, but surely, has climbed their way back out of the chasm to where we thought they could/would/should be. There is one trend that is alarming, and that's the EV Corsi % number, which is steadily declining. That's obviously not good, but I think there's a ghost (pepper) in the machine. Note that the team's EV goal differential has steadily improved since The Dark Times, and is actually plus-five during the win streak even though the Corsi % number is the worst of the groups.

That Florida Game.

It's the total outlier, here. Notice as well that the Jackets' team save percentage is IN-SANE during that stretch (actually second best in the entire league). That 55-shot game in Florida, man. To get a better sense of how the team is performing at EV over The Recent and The Streak, we need to look at the data and see how much That Florida Game messes with the numbers for such small sample sizes.

Turns out, it's a lot.

Keep in mind, all of this reflects ONLY the even-strength numbers. During The Recent (nine games), the Jackets got out-attempted 405 to 300. That -105 number was third worst in the league over this date range. The chart above reflects that number as such: 300 / (300+405) = 42.6%

During The Streak, it's even more pronounced. The Jackets had 188 shot attempts against 270 for their opponents (188 / (188+270) = 41.0%). Their -82 was third worst in the league. AND THEY WON ALL SIX OF THOSE GAMES.

To quote Vince Lombardi, what the hell is going on out there?

Oh, yeah. That Florida Game.

In that game alone, the Jackets got out-attempted at even strength 71 to 26. Holy balls, man. That's an EV Corsi % of 26.8%, which I don't have to tell you all is terri-bad. That said, it's also the reason those Corsi % numbers are so low even over stretches where the Jackets have played well, and especially during The Streak when they've outscored their opponents at EV by a five-goal margin. Oddly enough, in fact, they out-scored Florida at EV in that f**king game!!

Let's take those numbers out of the other two percentages, and see if we can't get a better look at how the team is trending:

The Recent w/o Florida - CBJ out-attempted 334 to 274. 274 / (274+334) = 45.1% CF
The Streak w/o Florida - CBJ out-attempted 199 to 162. 162 / (162+199) = 44.9% CF

Back to the point, you say? Right.

The Jackets are playing better of late. It still needs to be mentioned that those EV Corsi % numbers aren't good, and are not where the team needs them to be overall, but they are trending back in the right direction, at least. Whether or not The Resurgence? is the new normal, one can't really say. That said, I don't think it's impossible that the team might finally be finding itself, when you look at how the numbers have rebounded over these last 14 games as the team's gotten healthy and gotten some confidence.

I'll stop short of predicting how many points are needed to make the playoffs, but let's suppose that the Jackets can continue to play at that 1.21 PPG clip that they've enjoyed during The Resurgence?. That would give them roughly 64 points earned the rest of the way, and would finish them at an even 90 points. Would that be good enough? It's too hard to say.

But what isn't too hard to say is that, looking at history and at trends, the Jackets clearly still have a path to the post-season. Whether they can walk that path is entirely up to them at this point.

Red Wings News

Duff: Franzen, Tatar ill but it’s not mumps | Windsor Star
Whew! Babcock thinks that they will both play tonight against the Blue Jackets.

Jimmy Howard And Petr Mrazek Holiday Goalie Masks [PHOTO] " CBS Detroit
Both of their helmets are somewhat creepy and bizarre.

Red Wings taking precautions against NHL mumps outbreak | Detroit News
The Wings are offering their players booster shots against the mumps if they want them.

Red Wings Can't Solve Enigmatic Shootout | MiHockey
I know why we cannot win in the shootout: we do not have Todd Bertuzzi anymore.

NHL News

Slava Voynov kicked, choked, bloodied wife according to police | Puck Daddy
I think the title speaks for itself here. I wonder how quickly the NHL will react to this.

Dallas Eakins fired by Oilers - SBNation.com
This was coming from a mile away. Craig MacTavish is temporarily taking over as head coach.

81 people hospitalized after Zamboni leaks carbon monoxide in hockey rink | For The Win
Wow. An ice resurfacer leaked the carbon monoxide into the rink.

Power Rankings: Soaring Ducks on pace for 120 points | The Hockey News
The Red Wings were ranked 11th, with the Anaheim grabbing the first spot and the Oilers finishing last.

Taylor Hall is un-coachable, will be on trade block: Report | Puck Daddy
Well then...Since it's Edmonton I'm not too surprised, but this is unexpected. At least the Oilers should get a good return for Hall.

Sens owner: We’re the ‘smart ones’ for avoiding free-agent busts | ProHockeyTalk
If you were so smart, why have you not won a Stanley Cup yet?

Report: Longtime NHL goalie Tomas Vokoun retires - CBSSports.com
Vokoun missed all of last season due to blood clots. He was an often underrated goaltender. Congrats on a great career!

Denver, Minnesota front-runners for Stadium Series game next season - SBNation.com
Minnesota seems like a good choice, and Denver isn't a bad option either.

Let's Go Red Wings!

7:30p ET, Joe Louis Arena

Detroit, Michigan

TV: Fox Sports Detroit

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket

Blue Jackets Blogs: The Cannon

This has been a really rough stretch of games for Detroit in the past week. The shimmering strength of special teams is all that has really kept them alive. However, the biggest problem now? Detroit hasn't scored an even-strength goal in their last 140 minutes played. That is a very big problem.

Good News? We get Justin Abdelkader back tonight. He's the glue man. He's one of those players who makes an impact at even strength, so I think this could be a big addition for them right now. The last time Detroit saw Columbus this season, they routed them 5-0. I think Detroit is well overdue for a game with 3+ goals scored. Let's make it happen, cap'n.

The Expected Lineups

Forwards

Defensemen

Goaltenders

Scratches: Brian Lashoff

Injuries:Stephen Weiss (shoulder), Johan Franzen (sick, day-to-day)

Forwards

Defensemen

Goaltenders

• The Red Wings are 56-25-1 all-time in the regular season against the Columbus Blue Jacket.
• Good chance we might see Danny DeKeyser make his return tonight. No news has come of Xavier Ouellet being sent down as of now.
• The Red Wings desperately need to come out with a win tonight. Also, that would mean no stupid tweets from the Blue Jackets twitter account!

The Jackets are currently riding a six-game winning streak. They go on the road to face a Red Wings team that handed them one of their worst losses this season. Can they rectify that tonight?

Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings

December 16, 2014 - 7:30 pm EST
Joe Louis Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Winging It In Motown

Ugh. These guys again. Last time we saw the Wings, it was a colossal shit fest the likes of which we really haven't seen this season. It sent the Jackets into another tailspin of 0-5-1, which has only now been fixed with a six game winning streak. So, there's that.

The Red Wings have been very, very good at home, though they've struggled a bit of late having lost three straight (0-1-2). That said, they simply dominated the Jackets last time out.

For the Jackets, Fedor Tyutin looks like he'll be back, skating with Dalton Prout. By bringing Tyutin off of IR, Kerby Rychel has been sent down to Springfield to make room. With the addition of Jeremy Morin as well, this is not surprising. To that end, it looks like Morin will be making his CBJ debut tonight, as well. The guess seems to be that Tyutin draws in with Dalton Prout, and Kevin Connauton sits in favor or Jordan Leopold.

All of this shuffling aside, the Jackets have shown that they can play with the big boys of the East over this six game stretch, and that will need to continue tonight. They need to stay out of the penalty box, even with the marked improvement of late on the penalty kill. They need to keep Sergei Bobrovsky as clean as possible. They need to continue to win at even strength, as while their Power Play has been good, the Wings' PK has been out of this world this season. The Jackets will have to win this game at even strength.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(12-15-2, 26 Points; 7th division, 15th conference)

Detroit Red Wings
(17-7-7, 41 Points; 1st Division, 3rd Conference)

Season Series

11/18/14 - Detroit 5 at Columbus 0
12/16/14 - Columbus at Detroit
03/12/15 - Columbus at Detroit

Head to Head Stats

The Jackets are currently riding a six-game winning streak. They go on the road to face a Red Wings team that handed them one of their worst losses this season. Can they rectify that tonight?

Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings

December 16, 2014 - 7:30 pm EST
Joe Louis Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Winging It In Motown

Ugh. These guys again. Last time we saw the Wings, it was a colossal shit fest the likes of which we really haven't seen this season. It sent the Jackets into another tailspin of 0-5-1, which has only now been fixed with a six game winning streak. So, there's that.

The Red Wings have been very, very good at home, though they've struggled a bit of late having lost three straight (0-1-2). That said, they simply dominated the Jackets last time out.

For the Jackets, Fedor Tyutin looks like he'll be back, skating with Dalton Prout. By bringing Tyutin off of IR, Kerby Rychel has been sent down to Springfield to make room. With the addition of Jeremy Morin as well, this is not surprising. To that end, it looks like Morin will be making his CBJ debut tonight, as well. The guess seems to be that Tyutin draws in with Dalton Prout, and Kevin Connauton sits in favor or Jordan Leopold.

All of this shuffling aside, the Jackets have shown that they can play with the big boys of the East over this six game stretch, and that will need to continue tonight. They need to stay out of the penalty box, even with the marked improvement of late on the penalty kill. They need to keep Sergei Bobrovsky as clean as possible. They need to continue to win at even strength, as while their Power Play has been good, the Wings' PK has been out of this world this season. The Jackets will have to win this game at even strength.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(12-15-2, 26 Points; 7th division, 15th conference)

Detroit Red Wings
(17-7-7, 41 Points; 1st Division, 3rd Conference)

Season Series

11/18/14 - Detroit 5 at Columbus 0
12/16/14 - Columbus at Detroit
03/12/15 - Columbus at Detroit

Head to Head Stats

Minnesota fell in the polls while several players and commits spend their holidays representing Team USA.

Minnesota went down in all the rankings despite being off from playing hockey last weekend.

Besides dropping a spot in the SBN Power Rankings, the Gophers fell from 7th to 8th in the USCHO poll and 6th to 8th in the USA Hockey/USA Today poll.

In the Pairwise, the only "poll" that matters at the end of the season (as it mimics the criteria which the NCAA uses to decide the 16 team NCAA Tournament field), Minnesota (9-4-1, 1-0-1-0 Big Ten) fell from 9th to 11th. Part of the drop has to do with the volatile nature and changes a single game/weekend can make. That will lessen throughout the year although other factors will also come up over time.

(For example, Friday's win by Denver over UND by itself moved the Gophers up 2 spots (from 10 to 8) and dropped North Dakota from 6 to 11. UND then moved back up to 8 with a win Saturday.)

Polls-wise, the off weekend gave time for perception to catch up to the numbers.

The Gophers don't have the same issues that Chris Dilks pointed out for Penn State in terms of quality competition, but, like the Nittany Lions, conference play will not help as much as Minnesota would like.

World Junior A Challenge

Three Minnesota commits are in Saskatchewan this week in the World Junior A Challenge. Forwards Tommy Novak (River Falls, WI/Waterloo - USHL), Tyler Sheehy (Burnsville, MN/Waterloo - USHL) and defenseman Ryan Zuhlsdorf (Edina, MN/Sioux City - USHL) are each suiting up for Team USA, which is looking for its third consecutive World Junior A Challenge gold.

The Americans opened up by shutting out Switzerland 7-0 Monday. Novak, listed as an "A" prospect (projected to go in the first round) by NHL Central Scouting, went five hole in the period to score Team USA's second goal of the game. He nearly added a second goal with a second period tip before settling for an assist.

Sheehy had the other one.

Novak, Sheehy, Zuhlsdorf and Team USA will face Canada East today (December 16, 2014) at 3:30 p.m. CT. If the US wins, it will then play Thursday in the semifinals. If the US loses, it will play Wednesday.

Novak and Sheehy, who had three points (1G-2A) in USA's 6-3 exhibition win over Canada West, signed letters of intent to play at Minnesota last month. Both are expected to come to Dinkytown for 2015-16. Zuhlsdorf, eligible for the 2015 NHL Draft, is at least a year later.

In addition to the three future Gophers, there are 7 more Minnesotans on the Team USA roster: Forwards Brock Boeser (Burnsville/uncommitted), Shane Gersich (Chaska/North Dakota commit) and Mason Bergh (Eden Prairie/Colorado College); and defensemen  Mitch Reinke (Stillwater/Michigan Tech), Blake Hilman (Elk River/Denver), Charles Curti (Mound/Yale) and Hayden Shaw (Woodbury/North Dakota).

The World Junior A Challenge runs in Kindersley, SK, CAN until December 20th and features six different teams (including two separate Canadian ones). Team USA's roster is comprised solely of players in the USHL. The tournament gives many players eligible for the 2015 NHL Draft (mixed with some 2014 draftees) a chance to shine on the international level.

Waterloo forward Brock Boeser has Minnesota among finalists

Boeser, a teammate of Novak (who he called "one of most skilled guys I know") & Sheehy and also playing in the World Junior A Challenge, is down to three schools - Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minnesota - after re-opening his college commitment last month. The Burnsville native previously was committed to the Badgers.

Boeser was on The Pipeline Show out of Edmonton on Saturday. You can listen to the whole interview (and I recommend you do), but here are his own words about where he is with the recruiting process.

The Pipeline Show: I've seen reports that you are going to Wisconsin. I've also been texted that you are currently uncommitted, but can you update me on that? Are you in fact a Wisconsin recruit?

Brock Boeser: No, I actually de-committed about I'd say 3-4 weeks ago. I just wanted to take a step back and open up my options and just make the right decision for me.

TPS: Interesting. I know one of the options - I don't know if you're considering it - but the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL hold your CHL rights. Is that one of the options you're considering?

BB: It is not.

TPS: Okay. Very good. Can you explain what your situation is then? You're still going the college route, not necessarily to Wisconsin, but are the Badgers still a possibility?

BB: Yep. They are. I'm looking at the Badgers, North Dakota and Minnesota.

TPS: I don't know if you can share your thoughts on it, but what would be the tipping point? What's going to be the deciding factor for you?

BB: I'd say just the best campus because I'm a school guy and also the best development for me that's going to get me to the next level and be successful.

Like his teammate Novak, Boeser was rated an "A" prospect by NHL Central Scouting.

It's rare for a player of Boeser's caliber to not be committed to a school at this point in time. Even rarer is one that has de-committed the season before hitting campus and isn't using the CHL as a negotiating ploy.

Several people have asked to compare college hockey recruiting to football and basketball and it's not that easy to do. Players come in at different times and different ages (one reason why in hockey players go by their birth year rather than graduation year - i.e. Robin Höglund and Jack Glover are both in the same year of college yet Glover is nearly three years younger). There are various leagues and countries. US high school isn't a large factor outside Minnesota and New England.

For the most part the best players in an age group commit early. Just look at the number of teams which have '99 and '00 birth dates in the pipeline. But if you want a comparison, the good people at Over the Boards gave one.

Boeser is hockey's equivalent of a 5-star recruit, one of rare few still available the season prior to arrival. Decommitted from Wisconsin.

— Over The Boards (@OTBPuckWatch) December 14, 2014

The 6'0.5", 193 lbs Boeser leads the Black Hawks and is tied for eighth in the USHL in goals with 12 in 21 games.

He had a hat trick off PP goals in exhibition, goal in Switzerland game right after a PP expired (assisted by his Waterloo teammates playing on same PP unit).

U17 4 Nations with Lindgren

The World Junior A Challenge isn't the only international tournament going on right now. Minnesota commit Ryan Lindgren is among the players suiting up this week for the United States in the U17 4 Nations tournament, which begins with a game today against Russia.

Lindgren, a 5'11", 194 lbs defenseman from Minneapolis, is one of 4 Minnesotans on the team.

The 4 Nations tournament runs through December 20th in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Team USA is made up of 20 full time members, including Lindgren, of the US Under-17 team from the National Development Program.

WJC camps starting up

As mentioned in the last notebook, World Junior camps are beginning in preparation for the December 26-January 5 tournament in Toronto and Montreal, Canada. Hockey Canada has already been going to the point where players have been sent home.

Tuesday is opening day of Team USA's WJC preliminary camp in Boston. 30 players, including Gophers Hudson Fasching (Buffalo Sabres draft pick) and Ryan Collins (Columbus Blue Jackets), are there as head coach Mark Osiecki has to cut down to 23 before the tournament begins. The Americans will practice at Walter Brown Arena and play an exhibition Fruday against BU before heading north to Canada.

(Our own Josh Kummins is in Boston covering the camp - here's his Day 1 report.)

If you want to watch the US WJC team versus Boston University, the game will be streamed online for free.

Freshman forward Leon Bristedt will partake in defending silver medalist Sweden's camp in Canada.

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

Nathan Wells is a college hockey columnist for SB Nation. You can also follow him on Twitter -- Follow @gopherstate

In a game of playoff-level intensity, the Blue Jackets brought sixty five minutes plus of effort and notched a thrilling 1- 0 shootout victory over the Detroit Red Wings. It's a December to Remember.

The Blue Jackets took their six game winning streak into The Joe on Tuesday night, hoping to find Lucky Seven.  They did so in spades (keeping the metaphor working), playing their most complete game of the season in an extremely hard-fought 1 - 0 shootout victory that tested the cardiac health of every fan in Central Ohio.  Here's how it went down.

Period One:  Familiar Jousting

The initial frame was what you might expect from a Columbus - Detroit contest.  Relatively tight play through the neutral zone, with little quarter given to either side.  Early on, the Blue Jackets were guilty of being mesmerized by the Detroit possession and flow game.  That period of spectating resulted in a couple of decent chances, which Sergei Bobrovsky negated.  The Blue Jackets then woke up, and started to move the puck with pace.  Newly acquired Jeremy Morin seemed to fit right in, and showed good hockey sense, some speed and a shot on goal.  Jack Skille was very visible, and Jack Johnson was playing with a lot of speed for the fans in his home state.  In his return after missing thirteen games, Fedor Tyutin looked solid.

The Blue Jackets received the only power play for the period, which was stymied by the Detroit penalty kill unit.  However, Columbus played smart hockey by staying out of the box, and were very responsible defensively.  They communicated well on the ice, provided support and were appropriately aggressive on the forecheck, without over-committing.

Detroit had a 7 - 6  edge in shots for the period, and a 7 - 5 advantage in the face-off circle, reflective of the tight quarters provided on the ice.  (Speaking of tight quarters, the most amusing image from the TV broadcast was Jody Shelley being wedged into the narrow  (17.5") gap between the two benches.)  Oh yeah, the Blue Jackets led in hits (19-5).  Yawn . . . , the Blue Jackets' mission was to gain more possession time, work the puck from low to high, and keep the responsible defensive play in effect.

Entering the second period, the Blue Jackets' task was to keep the defensively responsible play going, while increasing the possession time in the offensive zone, getting the low-to-high game working, and bothering Jimmy Howard's sight lines.

Period 2:  Different Pace, Same Result

After an excruciating tight opening period, the two clubs came out of the locker room as if they wanted to tally 30 shots on goal . . .each . . . in this period.  Brandon Dubinsky had a laser heading high glove  just 13 seconds in, but Howard snagged it to deny the opportunity.  The Red Wings then came down the ice and put four shots on goal in sequence, the last being a point blank opportunity from a totally unchecked Justin Abdelkader.   Bobrovsky negated that chance with a beautiful blocker save.  Shortly after that, Columbus came down the four abreast with speed.  After the initial shot was blocked, Jeremy Morin took the puck below the net, faked a wrap-around move, stepped to his left, and zipped a backhand pass to Nick Foligno in the high slot.  Foligno zinged one . . .off the goalpost.  And so it went, for each team.

The Blue Jackets got another power play opportunity at the 10:36 mark, which provided more chances, but still no scoring. Immediately thereafter, Ryan Johansen was tagged with a  phantom hooking call..  Detroit did what they are known for -- maintain possession for extended periods of time, and create chances.  Once such chance right in front of the net was denied by Bobrovsky in a magnificent save.  No further damage was done. The Blue Jackets got one more chance with the extra man as the period wound down, and made some noise, but could not score.  They would start the third with 24 seconds remaining on the power play.Shots were 14-12 for Detroit for the period -- precisely double each team's output in the first. Face-offs stood at 17 - 12 after two.  No, I will not tell you what the hits numbers were.

Through two periods, this was a well-played hockey game for both sides.  It seemed increasingly likely that the smallest of miscues would dictate the final outcome here. Who would take advantage of that opportunity?

Period Three . . .and Beyond:  Play It Again, Sergei

As good as the first two periods were in terms of quality of hockey, stunning saves and excruciating tension, the third was better.  There were zero goals, zero penalties.  Just twenty minutes of solid, shifting play that kept your eyes fixed on the screen, and the hands gripping the armrests.

This period was not as tight as the first, not as loose as the second.  Much of the critical play occurred within a few feet of the respective blue lines, as neither club was giving up easy entries into the offensive zone.  The pucks were pressured ferociously along the boards, and neither goalie surrendered any meaningful second chances.  Detroit had their best chance of the period at the 17:17 mark, when a rare defensive zone turnover created an opportunity to Bobrovsky's left. However, he made an unreal save to preserve the tie, and from that point the Blue Jackets really had the better of the play and the opportunities.  Jimmy Howard, however, was simply unreal.  He stifled Nick Foligno, Matt Calvert and Boone Jenner on separate opportunities, then caught a break when James Wisniewski inexplicably missed a wide open net from low to Howard's left.  That left Wisniewski disconsolately holding his head in his hands on the bench, while he received some reassuring stick taps from his teammates.  However, if you weren't fearing that the Hockey Gods were against us on this night at that point . . . well, you're lying.

Columbus won the shot battle in the third, 10 - 7, marking the first time in recent memory that they put back-to-back periods together with double-digit shots,  They also ended up winning the face-off battle 29 - 26 -- another indication that the club was growing stronger as the game went on.

Overtime is always a concern with the Red Wings, as the last thing they need is additional space in which to operate.  However, the mini-period was simply a microcosm of the rest of the game.  Detroit had a couple of early chances, then the Blue Jackets took control.  The Red Wings ended up with a 2 - 1 shot advantage, but the frame was truly a stand-off.  Coach Todd Richards vented a bit of anger as the officials simply allowed the OT to run out while Howard cradled a shot from the point by Foligno with about 5 seconds left, denying the Blue Jackets a face-off to Howard's right. No matter.

On the one hand, the shootout promised to be a lengthy affair, given the performance by the two goalies in the course of regulation.  On the other hand, when you're facing three guys named Pavel Datsyuk, Gustav Nyquist and Henrik Zetterberg, you don't necessarily have a warm fuzzy feeling inside . . .no matter who you have in net.  But this team appears not to care about reputation.

As polite hosts, Detroit allowed Columbus to take the first shot.  Cam Atkinson came in with speed, but made a too-predictable backhand-forehand move that Howard easily stuffed.  The Red Wings led off with Datsyuk, who put a double-delayed backhand move on Bobrovsky before roofing the puck over the sprawled net minder.  Round 1 to Detroit.

Ryan Johansen was up next, and he came in with his smooth motion, slowly seeming to glide to a stop.  He appeared to be making the same forehand-backhand-forehand move that had undressed Thomas Greiss last game.  Howard thought so as well, as he moved to the backhand side, then reached back for the upcoming forehand.  Except it never came.  Johansen simply parked the backhand upstairs, for another filthy shootout marker.  Nyquist was next up for Detroit, and he also slowed, but elected to fire a snapper to Bobrovsky's glove side.  He tried to cut it too fine, however, and the shot rang off the post.  Round 2 to Columbus.

Boone Jenner was the anchor man for the Blue Jackets, and he did not disappoint.  He came in with speed, measured Howard , then roofed a forehand over Howard's right arm.  2 - 1 Blue Jackets, with Henrik Zetterberg taking the puck at center ice.  He skated in on Bobrovsky, faked a slap shot, then quickly moved to his left.  Bobrovsky beat him there, however, and the pad save secured the victory and the shutout. Lucky 7 was theirs.

A Team Victory

This one was truly about 19 guys playing their hearts out, and everybody contributed.  Cam Atkinson was insane in all three zones.  Brandon Dubinsky, Boone Jenner & Nick Foligno . . . of course.  Ryan Johansen may have played the best game he has ever played without taking a shot -- simply by consuming attention, moving the puck, and being responsible for the full length of the ice. Brian Gibbons, Jack Skille, Matt Calvert and Jeremy Morin were all solid contributors all night long. Even the fourth line had some solid shifts.

This was without a doubt the best defensive game of the season.  The Blue Jackets seemed to embrace the return of Fedor Tyutin to the fold, and he was a solid as ever.  Jack Johnson and James Wisniewski also played terrific games. Not error-free, mind you, but every mistake was more than atoned for by some significant play elsewhere on the ice.  Dalton Prout played one of his best games, and David Savard was reliable and sure.    That about everybody?  No?

Oh, of course. Bob.  It always comes back to Sergei Bobrovsky, who was simply stellar.  In his post-game remarks, Todd Richards demurred to the suggestion that Bob was "outstanding", noting that he was "good", but would have to look at the film.  Sorry, Todd, that's just not credible.  I don't care how much you watched or did not watch the game, Bob was flawless.  He had a great effort in front of him, with a club that almost had a rare case of outshooting the opposition (Detroit held a 30-29 final edge), but he deserved his First Star.

If you wanted to find any fault with this one, it was that the forward lines just do not seem to have much chemistry.  The Atkinson -- Dubinsky -- Calvert line is a carry-over from last year, but the others had trouble getting in sync.  Part of this was due to Detroit's stingy defense, of course, but there were also lots of times where the lines simply were not on the same page.  With all due respect, Todd Richards needs to abdicate the throne of The Great Tinkerer and revert to some more tried and true combinations, such as putting Johansen and Foligno back together.  Still, that's a nitpick, and it shouldn't detract from a great, great win.

As a consequence of the win, combined with a Philadelphia loss, the Blue Jackets climbed over both the Flyers and the New Jersey Devils, into fifth place in the Metro.  With 28 points, Columbus now sits just 2 games below .500 and five points behind Washington, who lost to Florida in a marathon shootout.  With New York leading Calgary 4 - 1 as this goes up, it is likely that Columbus will sit six points out of the third place slot  -- and the automatic playoff berth -- when the dust settled for the evening.  Not bad for a club that was getting last rites just a couple of weeks ago, eh?

This was a big win folks, and one that everyone -- players, coaches, fans -- can be proud of The Blue Jackets put together a total team effort and beat a top club playing in top form in their barn.  It doesn't get much better than that.  The Capitals are up next at Nationwide on Thursday.  Let's continue the December To Remember.  Stay tuned.

After a couple of nights off to think about their three-game losing streak, the Wings welcomed Columbus to town for a chance to get back on the right track. Unfortunately, it didn't work like that as they got shut down by Sergei Bobrovsky, losing 1-0 in a shootout.

Box Score Here

The reffing standard was garbage again and it was not consistent. Henrik Zetterberg got boarded by a cross-check with no call and Detroit's only power play opportunity came on a bit of a weak hook. Columbus got three tries. Obviously, neither team scored on the power play. Shots were 30-29 in favor of the Wings.

Howard was winning the goalie battle against Bobrovsky until the shootout. Both goalies got lucky to have a player miss an open net and both made a big number of flashy saves. I hate to see Howard have to take a loss for shutting out the other team.

Guide to plus/minus adjustments

The Goals

LOL

The Penalties

1st Period 9:44 - Daniel Cleary (tripping) against Corey Tropp: Tropp is coming up through the neutral zone as Cleary makes a stick-jab to try and get the puck away instead of playing the body. Tropp trips up and Cleary sits down. Minus for Cleary.

2nd Period 10:36 - Kyle Quincey (tripping) against Matt Calvert: Columbus gets just the second power play of the game to this point as a blocked clear turns into a potential scoring chance. Quincey gets a step behind his man and uses his stick to slow the guy down. He uses his stick too well though and goes to the box for tripping. I'm going to give Quincey a minus for the trip and DeKeyser a minus for the turnover that lead to it.

2nd Period 12:50 - Ryan Johansen (hooking) against Luke Glendening: Immediately after the Quincey penalty ends, the Jackets take one as Glendening gets good position on Johansen to get a clear and has to fight through a stick in his hands to do so. Glendening will earn a plus.

2nd Period 18:24 - Jonathan Ericsson (hooking) against Boone Jenner: Riggy badly misplays a sky-puck, allowing Jenner to get position on him and threaten a breakaway. Ericsson reaches out to slow him down and sits for a hook. Minus for Ericsson. What a stupid play.

Total Adjustments

Full Season Chart Here

Possession Metrics

Even-strength Corsi numbers provided thanks to NHL.com via War-On-Ice.com.

The great equalizer in fancystats is goaltending and that made a huge difference in this game. DK and Quincey certainly did look like the worst pair out there, but I wasn't aware it was that bad. Quincey was generally the problem on that group, but DK didn't have a very good night either. Of course, only one forward line consistently drove possession, so this was a pretty uninspired night all the way around.

This helps put a little context on why only one line was really driving possession, it was the line that was given the most-favorable starts (Datsyuk went 7-of 15 in the dot).

Check out more from war-on-ice.com, including the visualized shift chart here.

Final Say

Detroit has to find a way to get goals at even-strength. They also need to find a way to make sure Ouellet stays in teh lineup. Abdelkader looked good in his return and i was pleasantly surprised with how well Tatar played after reports were that he was battling an illness.

Corsi Timeline from Hockeystats.ca

Columbus has been one of the most active teams in the NHL this season. Might another deal be in the works?

A few weeks ago, rumors were flying that Edmonton and Columbus were close to making a trade.  Artem Anisimov was said to be headed to Canada, though the Oilers may have been trying to acquire Ryan Johansen as well.  That deal ultimately fell through and Anisimov is now on IR for a couple of months.

Last night, Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch tweeted (reported?) that the front office for the Blue Jackets may have an interest in the Boston Bruins.

#CBJ GM Jarmo Kekalainen is in St. Paul for tonight's #mnwild vs #Bruins tilt. Must be advance scouting for NYE game. #yuhhuh

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 18, 2014

#CBJ asst GM Bill Zito was at a recent #Bruins game in Boston. Again, advance scouting 12/27 game, surely.

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 18, 2014

Boston's cap situation is pretty dire while the Jackets have plenty of space.  One would have to think the Bruins would be looking to unload a hefty contract or two, but nearly all of their players making north of $2 million have some kind of no-trade or no-movement clause.  In return, they would probably be expecting an inexpensive player, prospect(s), or pick(s).  Cam Atkinson, a BC guy himself, and Matt Calvert are both inexpensive compared to some of Boston's current forward contracts.  Would a simple one-for-one flip make sense?  Who knows if that is what the front office is looking towards or if Porty is just yanking our chains.

Now, there is an NHL roster freeze for ten days which starts at midnight on Friday.  So the odds of a deal being struck in the near future seem pretty low.  Then again, Jarmo and company have pulled off some pretty "out of the blue" moves so far.

To recap: Both Jack Skille and Adam Cracknell were picked up off waivers at the start of the season.  Jordan Leopold was acquired from St. Louis in exchange for a 5th round pick (this was slightly obvious as it came on the heels of Fedor Tyutin going on IR).  Kevin Connauton was then picked up off waivers from Dallas.  Finally, Tim Erixon was sent to Chicago in exchange for Jeremy Morin.  Jerry D'Amigo was also sent to Buffalo for Luke Adam, though neither player has seen time in the NHL yet this season.

Stay tuned to see if anything comes from this.  Or, really, until midnight because then there's a roster freeze.

The Jackets look to match a franchise record eighth straight win, against a familiar foe with an 8 all their own.

Washington Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets

December 18, 2014 - 7:00 PM EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Japers' Rink

Riding a winning streak always breeds confidence. Add in the fact that you have a goaltender playing out of his mind, and a mediocre division, and the fact that the Jackets are still alive for a playoff spot after such an atrocious start breeds even more.

Columbus is coming off arguably their best performance on Tuesday in Detroit, and with a goalie riding a .950 save percentage over a seven game winning streak, they welcome the Capitals to Nationwide to play them the second time in eight days. The Jackets won in overtime in DC last Thursday.

The big key? Staying out of the penalty box. To a man, all the players I talked to noted how terrible the three-penalty start last week was, and how they can't afford to give the league's top Power Play unit too many chances. The PK unit has been better of late, especially during the streak. "[The PK] is something that needs to be good, because it helps you win games," Nick Foligno said. "It's helped us win games and battle back in games. It's a big credit to every guy on our Penalty Kill and to our goalie as well."

But, they can ill afford to keep relying on that, especially against a team that's not overwhelming (not bad, mind you) at even strength but rains a fiery death on teams on the Power Play. "Hopefully we don't them as many chances as we gave them last game," Foligno said.

Columbus will be icing the same lineup from Tuesday, including newcomer Jeremy Morin and newly healthy Fedor Tyutin.

The Caps are playing well of late, despite losing in the epic 20-round shootout the other night in Florida. They're no doubt hungry for some payback after last week's loss to Columbus.

Todd Richards indicated that there would be no lineup changes. Richards also noted that, while obviously the team would like to score more goals, they have to keep playing defense first. Tonight, especially.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(13-15-2, 28 Points; 5th division, 12th conference)

Washington Capitals
(14-10-6, 34 Points; 4th Division, 10th Conference)

Season Series

11/11/14 - Columbus 2 at Washington 4
12/11/14 - Columbus 3 at Washington 2 (OT)
12/18/14 - Washington at Columbus
01/27/15 - Washington at Columbus
03/03/15 - Washington at Columbus

Head to Head Stats