Western Woes

The Columbus Blue Jackets picked up two of a possible eight points on a disappointing western road trip during which quality defense was sparse.

Through four games, the Jackets tallied 15 goals while allowing 22. At times, the offense was spectacular, scoring goals in large numbers. The defense and goal-tending on the other hand, struggled mightily at times, squandering 3 and 2 goal leads in consecutive games.

The Jackets have also allowed the first goal in 6 straight, a trend that must stop if they want to be successful on the road.

Here is this week’s midweek report.

Last Three:

At Edmonton:

After falling to Calgary 6-3 on Tuesday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets headed even further north for a late-night encounter with the Edmonton Oilers.

In a game in which Mathieu Garon got his second start of the year between the pipes, the Jackets gave up the first goal of the game only 58 seconds into the opening period.

The Columbus offense however, had an answer, scoring two goals in the first, and another two to open the second, to take a commanding 4-1 lead.

Kristian Huselius tallied his third and fourth goals of the season; Chimera and Torres also added goals.

But moments later, Dustin Penner would help cut into the Columbus lead, scoring his sixth goal of the season.

Late in the second, Columbus took three consecutive penalties, and killed off the first two, but was not able to withstand the pressure on the third, allowing the Oilers to close the gap to 4-3.

They say when it rains it pours, and in the third period it poured all over the Blue Jackets as they allowed three goals. Two of the three came on the power-play, the later of the two an empty-netter albeit.

Garon stopped 26 of 31 shots. Former Blue Jackets first round draft choice Gilbert Brule missed his second consecutive game because of the flu.

At Anaheim:

On a day where all 30 NHL teams were in action, the Blue Jackets were led by captain Rick Nash who posted two goals and an assist while leading Columbus to their only win on the four game trip.

The two teams traded first and second period goals to reach a 2-2 tie before Jakub Voracek connected on two consecutive goals; both assisted by Antoine Vermette late in the second.

After allowing the Ducks the re-tie the score at four in the third, Fedor Tyutin slapped in the game winner on a shot from just inside the blue line.

Nash added an empty-netter with 16 second remaining to seal the 6-4 victory.

Mason played well in this one, denying Anaheim when it counted.

Blue Jackets Center Samuel Pahlsson skated for 19 and a half minutes, but was pointless against his former team.

At Los Angeles:

The Kings struck early and often in this one, jumping out to a three- goal lead before Antoine Vermette got the Jackets on the board late in the second.

The biggest story of this game may have been the dirty hit L.A.’s Rob Scuderi laid on Columbus’ Jason Chimera. Tuesday, the NHL announced it fined Scuderi an undisclosed amount for the low blow.

Steve Mason appeared to struggle, stopping only 19 of the 25 L.A. shots. The absence of Jan Hejda, who is +8 on the year, also may have contributed to the defense’s struggles.

The Youth:

The young offensive firepower of Jakub Voracek was on full display in Calgary and Edmonton, tallying two goals and two assists in the two games.

Nikita Filatov skated in all three games after sitting out the pervious three. He averaged 6.7 minutes of ice time but did not record a point.

Steve Mason recorded his first point of the year however, an assist on Rick Nash’s empty net goal against Anaheim.

Power Play Watch:

Columbus was 1-4 on the PP against Edmonton, 0-2 at Anaheim, and 1-4 against L.A. for a total of 2-10.

This brings the season total to 9-38, or 24%.

The Kill:

After entering Thursday night’s game with the leagues best penalty kill, things went downhill quickly, killing only 5-8 at Edmonton, 0-2 against Anaheim, and 2-4 vs. L.A.

In the three games, the Columbus PK was abysmal, allowing seven power play goals, after giving up only one in the previous seven games.

The season total is now 34-42, or 81%, dropping 15% in just three games.

Although the defense itself was sub-par when down a man, the real problem may be the fact that they were forced to play that way eight times in one game.

Leading 4-2 against Edmonton, Columbus took three consecutive penalties, finally surrendering a goal on the third, after killing off their 28^th and 29^th consecutive penalties.

Central Race:

Despite the losses, the Blue Jackets remain in second place in the central with 12 points.

Chicago leads the division with 15, while St. Louis, Detroit, and Nashville have nine, eight, and seven points respectively.

Columbus leads in goals per game average with 3.3, while Chicago leads in goals against with an average of 2.4.

Injury Report:

According to their official site, the Blue Jackets have placed Andrew Murray on the injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 20.

Murray is suffering shoulder problems and is expected to be out until mid-November.

Jan Hejda and Fredrik Modin both remain on the IR with knee injuries and Jared Boll is listed as questionable for the Oct. 28 match against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Defenseman Mike Commodore made his fist start of the season Saturday night at Anaheim after missing the first eight games due to a nagging groin injury.

Up Next:

The Blue Jackets come back home for two games to face Phoenix and Pittsburgh before heading east to take on Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Nov. 1.

A young Phoenix team is led by winger Shane Doan, who has 10 points on the year.

The Blue Jackets will face the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night when Sidney Crosby and company bring their 9-2 record to Nationwide Arena.