The Blue Jackets had a chance to win ugly tonight. Instead it turned into an ugly shootout loss. Brenden Morrow scored from up close on a one timer to beat Fredrik Norrena with one minute and eleven seconds left in the third period to tie the score and send the game into overtime. The tying goal came as Dallas pulled their goalie for the extra attacker while the Jackets seemed content to sit back on their heels in the defensive zone and protect the lead. If that was the strategy, it backfired. After a scoreless overtime period Jussi Jokinen scored the only goal in the shootout to win it for Dallas.
The loss spoiled Jiri Novotny's first goal as a Blue Jacket. He scored a power play goal with less than twelve minutes left in the third period to give the CBJ a temporary 2-1 lead. But Dallas kept applying offensive pressure as the Jackets retreated defensively, trying to hold on.
Rick Nash had a goal and assisted on Novotny's goal. Nikolai Zherdev continued his strong play assisting on both Blue Jacket goals.
Chemistry continues to be a concern as the Jackets have yet to establish consistency in their line combinations. We'll see if Hitch keeps these lines together in Buffalo on Friday night. Hopefully the Jackets will score a few more goals so they don't have to feel the urge to sit back and protect.