Thursday, January 24, 2013

Gallos' Six-Pack for Game 3: Phoenix Coyotes

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The Columbus Blue Jackets took to the road to play the Phoenix Coyotes in the first of back to back games, and lost 5-1.  Steve Mason started in goal, and the first period ended scoreless.  Not a work of art, but a good road period.  As Craig Hartsburg said during his in game interview with Natalie, both teams are checking well and waiting for the other guy to make a mistake.  The CBJ scored first during the first half of the second period when Brassard cycled the puck out high and Tyutin blasted one home with Derek Dorsett cruising the slot and making traffic.  Phoenix countered with two goals, one off a turn over, the other when a seemingly bad pass bounces to the D-man and is hammered home by Ekman-Larsson.  Once the third period started, the Blue Jackets unraveled, became disjointed, and started giving up goals.


Stick tap to Light the Lamp

1.  This adult beverage goes to John Davidson, for his interview at the first intermission.  This is the type of thing that is a HUGE addition to the franchise.  You also have to remember that the other announcers are going to interview JD too, every time he's in their building.  And every time he does one of those interviews the credibility of the organization takes a jump.  I liked his perspective, that 'you have to improve, but you have to recognize that everyone else is trying to improve too".  Good stuff.

2. My second beer for the evening goes to Assistant Coach Keith Acton, for telling Natalie in an interview how bad our defensive zone breakouts were.  Unfortunately, it only got worse as the night went on.

3. My third beer of the evening goes to Steve Sullivan for his hat trick.  What can you say?

4. My fourth beer of the evening goes to Antoine Vermette who dominated in the face off circle.  Had you done some of that last year in a Blue Jackets uniform you might still be here.  Of course if you had the choice of being coached by Dave Tippett or Scott Arniel, you'd obviously take the former.

5. My fifth and sixth beers of the evening strangely had a hole in the bottom of them when I got them out of the fridge, probably stolen by an enterprising Coyotes fan.  It was that kind of night.  Plus I didn't want to give any more beers to Coyotes players, in spite of the fact that they earned them.

The CBJ came out hustling in the first period, but couldn't get anything past Mike Smith, the starting 'Yotes goal tender.  He was injured, and replaced by Jason LaBarbera, who stoned the CBJ after giving up the one goal in the second.  Steve Mason's fragile confidence shattered in the second period, and by the latter part of the third period he couldn't stop pucks that he had good looks at.  The only good thing you can view out of this game is that Curtis McElhinney is returning to play in Springfield, and if I had to take a chance on passing  Mason or CMac through waivers, I'd definitely take that chance on Mason.  We don't have a 1 and a 1A goal tender situation.  We have a 1 and a distant 3.  The good news is that we got CMac from the Yotes in the Vermette trade, so we got something out of that.  Perhaps he would make a reliable 2.

Did the BlueJackets get out worked tonight?  You betcha.  It was bone ugly.  Best forget it as soon as possible.  We'll find out what that means tomorrow night.

GO JACKETS!!

7 comments:

  1. The first 2 games were the last ones we'll be proud of this season.

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    1. Oh for Gawd's sake, was it really worth it to make the effort just to post that?

      It was a bad game, no denying that, but to assume that any team, ANY team, is not going to have a few is just idiotic.

      Delete
  2. Three games in and we are the 8th seed. Better start than the Flyers....Go Jackets.

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  3. I can't believe some people. One loss and it's time to throw in the hat. I guess if he was a Philly fan, he'd be slitting his wrists, considering they lost their first 2 games. Or maybe I'm thinking of L.A. Anyway, point is one bad game does not a season make. Bob has been very good in goal. Overall, the team is playing hard. Yeah, that doesn't guarantee wins, but if you play hard and your goalie keeps you in the game, you're going to win games. So, Anonymous, take a chill pill.

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  4. Author's Note: As I pondered this post throughout the day, I wondered if I was too hard on Steve Mason. Written with the bile still fresh in my throat, I wasn't in a very forgiving mood. It was refreshing to see the players stick up for Mason, and call out their own play. For there just didn't seem to be that many blocked shots, that I noticed. Maybe I'm just not that observant.

    Mason is trying to be the number 1 guy. Fox Sports had a great camera angle on Sullivan's second goal. He had time and space in the high slot. Advantage shooter. A great look at the net, with no traffic so he could pick his hole. Advantage shooter. And he had the goal tender moving, advantage shooter. On the other hand, Mason appeared to have a clear look at the puck. To be the number one guy, you need to make the GREAT save on that. You need to stone Sullivan's third goal at the post. Saving the average stuff, but never making the great save is not the path to the number one spot. He just seemed too frantic. If he can settle down and just play the puck calmly and coolly he's got a shot at some of those. Easy for me to say, I know. So in the end, his teammates did not play well in front of him, but he didn't do much to bail them out either. The goal tender has to be your best penalty killer. He wasn't.

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    Replies
    1. To say, "Mason sucks" because the team lost the game isn't fair in my book. To say that Mason did not play well...and his lack of good play was a contributing factor in the team's loss? That's eminently fair.

      And sadly, I wonder if the team simply does not have faith in him and, like a losing quarterback in football, just isn't playing as hard for him. It took a while to get to this point, but here we are.

      Delete
  5. Mason needs to go to Springfield and play a lot of games and gain some confidence, he cannot do that here. If some team is dumb enough to claim him on waivers, that's great for us! McElhinney deserves a shot here, he certainly couldn't be any worse than Mason.

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