OK, so it's not a terribly big "digest" when it's only two games, but bear with me.

Something interesting from the game against the Ducks: With the exception of Aaron Johnson's slapper, every goal was scored within 15' of the goal. That speaks well of the Jackets driving to the net to put pressure on Hiller, but not so much about protecting Steve Mason in that game. What's surprising is that, at least early in the game, they seemed to make the same mistakes against St. Louis. Learn by doing, boys...

Best E/S Forward vs. ANA: Derek Dorsett (+5)

Worst E/S Forward vs. ANA: Rick Nash (-3)

Best E/S D-man vs. ANA: Aaron Johnson (+4)

Worst E/S D-man vs. ANA: Fedor Tyutin (-2)

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Best E/S Forward vs. STL: Samuel Pahlsson (+3)

Worst E/S Forward vs. STL: Rick Nash (-5)

Best E/S D-man vs. STL: James Wisniewski (+3)

Worst E/S D-man vs. STL: Fedor Tyutin (-6)

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Scoring Chances are honestly probably going back to the weekly digest format, as it's a little easier on my reduced writing time, but since it's a lazy Sunday here, I'm taking advantage.

As I mentioned last night, the Jackets let the Wild carry the play in the third period, but I give them credit - the chances for Minnesota in the third period were lower than I expected when I really looked at where shots were allowed from.

Best E/S Forward: Rick Nash / R.J. Umberger (+5)

Worst E/S Forward: Derek Dorsett (-3)

Best E/S D-man: James Wisniewski (+4)

Worst E/S D-man: John Moore (-2)

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Another catchup post to get you up to date on the scoring chances before we jump into tonight's game - Minnesota was surprising because of how close, on paper, this game was. Don't be surprised if tonight's matchup is similar. Dallas, on the other hand...the Jackets let themselves get dominated early, and despite the comeback effort, it showed.

Dallas' top line, in particular, had a very easy time of it, and the stats reflect that.

Best E/S Forward vs. MIN: Antoine Vermette (+1)

Worst E/S Forward vs. MIN: R.J. Umberger / Derick Brassard (-2)

Best E/S D-man vs. MIN: Fedor Tyutin (+1)

Worst E/S D-man vs. MIN: John Moore / Marc Methot (-2)

Best E/S Forward vs. DAL: Vinny Prospal (+8)

Worst E/S Forward vs. DAL: Rick Nash (-5)

Best E/S D-man vs. DAL: Fedor Tyutin / Aaron Johnson (+2)

Worst E/S D-man vs. DAL: John Moore (-3)

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I gotta be honest - catching up after a road trip sucks! To help get the data, I'm skipping the pretty charts, but you still get lots of numbers...many of them big red minuses. Joy!

Best E/S Forward vs. SJS: Sammy Pahlsson / Derek Dorsett: (+4)

Worst E/S Forward vs. SJS: Colton Gillies (-6)

Best E/S D-man vs. SJS: Brett Lebda (0)

Worst E/S D-man vs. SJS: Aaron Johnson (-7)

Best E/S Forward vs. LAK: Derick Brassard (+6)

Worst E/S Forward vs. LAK: Sammy Pahlsson (-5)

Best E/S D-man vs. LAK: John Moore / Aaron Johnson (+3)

Worst E/S D-man vs. LAK: David Savard / Grant Clitsome (-4)

Best E/S Forward vs. ANA: Antoine Vermette (+7)

Worst E/S Forward vs. ANA: Ryan Russell / Derek Mackenzie (-3)

Best E/S D-man vs. ANA: Grant Clitsome (+3)

Worst E/S D-man vs. ANA: John Moore (-2)

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Stacking the Jackets' last two back to back games, even in review, is a pretty thick crap sandwich. In two games, I think the Jackets perhaps scraped together 40 minutes of respectable NHL hockey, and I'm not even completely certain about that.

The numbers, as you'd expect, are not pretty.

Best E/S Forward vs NSH: Jared Boll / Tomas Kubalik (+1)

Worst E/S Forward vs. NSH: Samuel Pahlsson (-3)

Best E/S D-man vs NSH: Marc Methot / John Moore (-1)

Worst E/S D-man vs. NSH: Remaining D corps (-2)

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Best E/S Forward vs TBL: Derek Dorsett / Derick Brassard (+4)

Worst E/S Forward vs. TBL: Rick Nash / Antoine Vermette (-1)

Best E/S D-man vs TBL: Brett Lebda / Fedor Tyutin (+3)

Worst E/S D-man vs. TBL: John Moore / Aaron Johnson (+1)

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As promised, here's a nice wrap up of the scoring chances from the Thursday night home game and last night in Detroit.

Something that I have to admit surprised me from both games was how low the scoring chances for the opponents were in both games. The Jackets were badly outshot in Detroit, and didn't look so great vs. Nashville either, but kept both teams around a dozen chances for the entire game.

If this lasts for a few more games, I think we may finally be seeing the Jackets' defense do a solid job of protecting the dangerous areas and forcing opponents to take shots from bad areas of the ice, reducing the workload on their goaltender.

Of course, this also assumes the team can get their defense back to full health some day...and perhaps get the offense rolling again.

Best E/S Forward vs. NSH: Vinny Prospal / Rick Nash (+5)

Worst E/S Forward vs. NSH: Colton Gillies / Derek MacKenzie (-3)

Best E/S D-man vs. NSH: Fedor Tyutin / Nikita Nikitin (+8)

Worst E/S D-man vs. NSH: David Savard (-4)

Best E/S Forward vs. DET: Samuel Pahlsson / Jared Boll / Derek MacKenzie (+1)

Worst E/S Forward vs. DET: Derick Brassard / Ryan Russell / Rick Nash / Antoine Vermette (-2)

Best E/S D-man vs. DET: Fedor Tyutin / Marc Methot (0)

Worst E/S D-man vs. DET: Everyone else (-1)

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As I've noted, it's a lot more fun to do these when the Jackets are walking away with a win.

It also doesn't hurt when the Jackets do a good job of limiting the chances - after a first period that was completely dominated by the Oilers, the home team pulled even in the second period, and locked down in the third.

Best E/S Forward: Ryan Russell (+3)

Worst E/S Forward: Ryan Johansen / Antoine Vermette (-4)

Best E/S D-man: Fedor Tyutin (+4)

Worst E/S D-man: John Moore (-4)

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After a game right out of the Wild, Wild, West, the second half of the back to back vs. San Jose was a much tighter affair, with heavier checking and a surprising tendency by the Sharks to slip into the trap at times.

Unsurprisingly, chances were much more limited, and Columbus' tendency to spend so much time on the PK really cut into their efforts.

Was Columbus playing better? Absolutely. Did they get enough chances to really put pressure on Thomas Greiss? No, I don't think they did, but that's also partly their own fault.

Best E/S Forward: Rick Nash (+5)

Worst E/S Forward: Samuel Pahlsson (-2)

Best E/S D-man: John Moore / Fedor Tyutin (+3)

Worst E/S D-man: Aaron Johnson / David Savard (0)

These numbers are deceiving, though. San Jose didn't threaten the Jackets at even strength nearly as much as they did on the PP....

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