Jackets Downed by Blackhawks
April 6, 2009 by J. Justin Boggs
Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock has referred to a game recently as “hard-bizarre,” but there may be no words to describe Sunday’s tilt with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blue Jackets picked up a critical point to remain in sixth place following a 1-0 overtime loss to the Blackhawks Sunday in Nationwide Arena. The two teams rematch on Wednesday and there is a good chance the Blue Jackets will be able to clinch their first ever Stanley Cup Playoff berth.
"This is what it takes for non-established teams like us trying to establish a territory in the league,” Hitchcock said of the tough game. “This is what it takes to get in (to the playoffs). There is one hell of a price to pay to get in. We're trying to teach guys how high the price is and we’re getting a lot on the job training right now. It impressed me. We really wanted to win this game badly and we acted accordingly."
"What a hockey game. Both teams played hard, the pace was incredible,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “I don't know how many times we had five or six minutes of play without faceoffs or stoppages. The pace just never stopped.
Sunday’s game was a game of missed opportunities by both teams’ offenses. The game was rather fast paced with lots of shots, but many of those shots were blocked or just went wide of the net. Chicago attempted 46 shots on net, however 21 of them were blocked by Columbus’ defense.
Despite the spirited pace of the game, neither team allowed many odd-man rushes until the four-on-four overtime period. Blue Jackets defenseman Kris Russell had a wacky breakaway opportunity which was turned aside by Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to keep the game scoreless a minute roughly one minute into overtime.
Nearly a minute later, Blue Jackets forward Rick Nash had the puck stolen away from him by Chicago’s Andrew Ladd who tipped the puck to Kris Versteeg who skated in on Columbus goalie Steve Mason alone for over 150 feet. His breakaway opportunity beat the stick of Mason and the Blackhawks skated off the ice with the victory. "We're making it hard on ourselves,” Nash said. “We played a solid game; we just couldn't bury our chances. Both goalies were good. We couldn't find our way to the net, and Mason kept us in the game."
Line combinations changed due to injury
Blue Jackets forward Kristian Huselius was injured during Saturday night’s 5-4 shootout loss to Nashville and was scratched from playing in Sunday’s game. R.J. Umberger was moved to the top line to play with Nash and center Manny Malhotra. The trio had no time to practice and gel after Saturday’s game. Their lack of chemistry was noticed as the line only had a total of five shots.
To make matters worse was that not having on Umberger on the second forward line meant that their line had trouble meshing as well.
“I didn’t think the Malhota line had the chemistry that when we put on paper would have,” Hitchcock said. “They spent too much time looking for each other rather than just playing their own game. We anticipated it being more of an attack line where they would go in straight lines.”