It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again

Anton Forsberg at Development Camp this Year

That classic Yogi Berra line seems to fit the situation perfectly.  Much like last year's early season losing streak that forced the Jackets to play catch up in the new year, the CBJ lost last night to a veteran New Jersey Devils squad, to extend the Jacket's losing streak to 5 games. The Devil Wrenches pounced in the right moment with 2 quick goals in the third period to win the game.

Anton Forsberg made his first start as a goal tender in the NHL, and played well.  I thought he looked pretty solid, but he also got a lot more help from the guys in front of him than McElhinney got the night before.  The troops put in a pretty solid effort last night, but did not get rewarded.  Keep that going and the rewards will come.

Much like Vinny Prospal three years ago, Nick Foligno is emerging as the early season leader that is pulling the team forward by sheer will.  Nick had a goal last night, and another scary moment when he went to the dressing room after absorbing a Jack Johnson slap shot to the upper body.  He also got the second assist on the first goal (nice work by Gibbons to get it to Skille), and ended up taking a lot of faceoffs as well.

But two goals isn't going to do it on a lot of nights, <insert whine about officiating, either call the hooks or don't>, and it is unreasonable to expect a guy to pitch a 1 goal game in his first night out as a goal tender.  So problems remain.  A good defensive team focused on shutting down our top line last night, and they were successful, so while the secondary scoring picked up, the big dogs got shut down.

Tuesday we face a team that is perhaps even more hapless than we are at the moment, and it's at home, so that should help.  Reinforcements are coming soon, so as long as the effort remains things should be okay.

Wennberg won 57% of his faceoffs.  That is a marked improvement.  Well done.  He is going to be a pretty solid player, and I really liked the push back in his game last night compared to the night before.  All is not lost, but the wagons are definitely circled at the moment.  It's not about moving forward, it's about defending where we are for now.

GO JACKETS!!!