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Who knew that money talked so loud? The dollars that Mike Commodore put on the board did the trick as the Columbus Blue Jackets skated to a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes (well, maybe more of a Tropical Storm). For the first time this season the Blue Jackets won the second game on the road of a back to back; and they did it in “Hitch” fashion.
Heavy forechecking seemed to be the name of the game as the “Canes came out fast and furious from the drop of the puck. It took a while for the Jackets to get their legs under them as the biscuit stayed in their zone quite a bit initially. It was a fast paced game until 9:26 of the 1st. Michael Peca fishes the puck out from behind the net of Hurricane net-minder Cam Ward, dishes it backhand to a pinching in Mike Commodore, who one-times it past Ward to put the Jackets up 1-0. This was Commodores’ first trip back to Carolina since being traded to the Ottowa Senators. I’d say money well spent.
Kristian Huselius kept the pressure on 9:14 into the 2nd by netting a power play goal, with the assist from Rick Nash and Kris Russell, to go 2-0. In the 3rd, RJ Umberger scored the first Blue Jacket 5 on 3 goal (PP) of the season, with assists going to Fedor Tyutin and Kristian Huselius. Dennis Seidenberg scored the lone goal for the Hurricanes (unassisted) 6:29 into the 3rd. Manny Malhotra (with Rick Nash and Jan Hejda) gave the Blue Jackets the insurance goal at 10:36. Kristian Huselius scored his second goal, and third point of the game, on an empty-netter at 16:19 to ice the game for the Blue jackets.
Steve Mason was simply HUGE in goal tonight stopping 26 of 27 shots faced. The talk of him in the running for the Vezina is not far-fetched by any stretch of the imagination. At this point of the season, the Calder is his to lose. If they make it past the first round of the playoffs, is the Hart out of the question?
As Coach Ken Hitchcock is fond of saying, every game is a playoff game. Tonights win gives the Blue Jackets a 4 game winning streak. This was the 2nd game of 6 games in 9 days. Columbus returns to Nationwide Arena Monday for another “must win” game against the Dallas Stars.
The Columbus Blue Jackets took the energy of the home crowd into Raleigh and came out the other side with a big win. Mondays’ game will be a “spirited” affair as the Blue Jackets look for redemption from the 7-3 shellacking they suffered at the hands of the Stars last time around. The puck drops at 7pm.
Carry The Flag!!!
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