|
Don't look now, but the Columbus Blue Jackets are 8-3-1 with a 3-0 win tonight over St. Louis. Pascal LeClaire records his 5th (!!!) shutout of the season, already matching a franchise record for shutouts in 1 season.
I have to say, I expected this team to come out and compete hard every night, but I didn't expect them to win this quickly. I know they won't keep up this pace (5-0-1 in their last 6 games), but its nice to see winning hockey in Columbus. Rick Nash is playing like one of the best 2-way forwards in the game (its like looking at what Hitchcock did for Mike Modano), scoring 10 goals, and probably our best PK'er right now (sans Pascal). I don't know what Hitch did to Nik Zherdev, but the kid is finally playing the game the right way, backchecking, working hard, and is getting rewarded for it, both on the stat sheet and in the TOI department.
Its just nice to see a TEAM game, where the entire roster works hard every shift, right down the lineup. The Jackets have the top PK % in the league (something around 94), and they're not just playing the trap either. They're playing smart, limiting second chances, hitting people, and getting great goaltending.
I'm hoping they can keep this up as they enter the stretch of divisional play, and can just keep getting points. Their upcoming game @ Detroit will be a big test to see where they stand against the Wings.
|