Clint is very busy this week, so I’m taking over for the game recap. The Jackets faced the Kings last night, and ended up getting their poop pushed in by the boys from LA. The final score was 6-2 for the bad guys.
Right from the get-go, the Jackets looked like crap. The Kings scored on their first two shots of the game, making one wonder what’s going through Mase’s mind right now. Across the board, many experts and fans alike thought that Mase was impervious to the dreaded sophomore slump, but let’s be honest, he hasn’t looked good this season at all. He has shown flashes of his 08/09 form, like on Saturday against the Ducks when he robbed Teemu Selanne in tight with a brilliant glove save. It wouldn’t shock me to see Mathieu Garon get the next start. That said, I am a fan of coaches letting a goalie work his own way out of a slump-he can’t do anything to fix his game sitting on the bench opening the gate.
It was 2-0 after the first, but the big story was “the hit”. I’m not a ref-basher, but I am going to stray from that for a moment. The decisions made by the officials in regards to the hit were complete idiocy. Take a look at it for yourself:
First of all, the hit was what my teammates and I used to call “torpedoing a guy”. You go in for a hipcheck, but you are so close to the ice that you end up just nailing a guy in his knees, obivously sending him ass over tea kettle. That said, here’s my issue:- the guy who made the hit- Rob Scuderi- wasn’t penalized. Guess who was? That’s right- Chimmer. The guy who’s face was a mess with blood. He got a 10 minute misconduct for being pissed off. Derek Dorsett was also penalized for going after Scuderi. Apparently he was a little too anxious getting on the ice. He was given a game misconduct and the Jackets were given a too many men penalty. I am ok with that, because you can’t leave the bunch to fight. Fair enough, but the fact that Chimmer was penalized and Scuderi not is the issue at hand.
At any right, the rest of the game was pathetic from a Jackets perspective. The only bright light was Antoine Vermette, who continued his hot play with another goal. Assists were from Commodore and Chimmer. It was a beauty re-direct past Jonathan Quick. That made the score 3-1, but before the second period ended Anze Kopitar potted a powerplay marker. I am again going to break character here and play the coulda-woulda-shoulda game. We could have drafted this guy, but instead we took Gilbert Brule. Just sayin.
About mid-way through the third Kristian Huselius scored for the Jackets, this time helped by RJ Umberger and Rick Nash. That made the score 4-2, but the Kings got two more goals from Alexander Frolov to make the final 6-2. The 6 goals against is no shocker. All four losses that the Jackets have suffered this season have seen the opposition score exactly 6 goals. Very troubling indeed.
To follow Clint’s format for game recaps, my whopping boy(s) for the night are Steve Mason and Sammy Pahlsson. I think it’s obvious why I am baggin’ on Mase, It pains me to do it to Sammy though. He has been rock-solid so far this season, coming as advertised and being a perfect third-line centre. Last night however, he wasn’t very sharp. I’ll chock it up to this game being the second of a back-to-back.
Mancrush of the night- The combo of Vermette and Jakub Voracek. The Killer Vees had another solid night, creating plays and controllling the puck for a majority of their shifts. I think it would be fantastic to pair them up with Nasher, give it a go in practice and see what happens. At this point, it would be like putting all of the Jackets’ offensive eggs in one basker, but it could lead to some serious offense.
The Jackets have a few days off before they face the Coyotes at home on Wednesday- here’s hoping that the bleeding stopped after the game last night, and the boys can right the ship.