Over And (Almost) Out: Detroit Goes Up 3-0 On Columbus; Stuart Nearly Kills Umberger

Even though the series isn’t technically over, I think it’s safe to say the Columbus Blue Jackets can start shelling out deposits for tee times tomorrow morning after losing to the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Tuesday night and sinking deeper into the quicksand that is the franchise’s very first playoff run.

Click here for game highlights.

The Wings put on another clinic in front of 19,219 Blue Jackets faithful and showed the playoff greenhorns just what it takes to be a Stanley Cup contender. Hard work, determination, and a little bit of luck. Oh, and hitting. Bone-jarring, tooth loosening, snot bubble-inducing hitting, something to which R.J. Umberger can attest to thanks to this brain scrambling -- not to mention 100% clean and legal -- body check by Wings defenseman Brad Stuart. Have a look:

Incidentally Tuesday’s game was the first ever playoff proceeding at Nationwide Arena, but if Detroit continues to play like they have in their previous three meetings with Columbus -- and if Columbus continues to let the Wings steamroll them seemingly at will -- game 4 on Thursday night will be the last for quite a while.

Henrik Zetterberg scored a pair of goals and Thomas Holmstrom scored for the first time since January -- ultimately giving the boys from Motown a commanding 3-0 lead in the series -- but the story of the night is without a doubt the hit you just saw above.

Well, there was also Mike Commodore going after Dan Cleary in a poorly timed attempt at retribution, but the end result left something to be desired. Check it out:

But back to the Umberger hit. If you watch the replay closely you’ll see that he actually saw Stuart lining him up, but for some reason never made an attempt to get out of the way. I’m only speculating here, but I’m assuming Umberger poo-pooed the idea that Stuart was going to smoke him the way he did, and that in itself is a lesson the entire Columbus team can chew on for a bit.

Since game 1 the Blue Jackets have underestimated the Red Wings, almost as if they figured because they could skate with them during the regular season -- not to mention fill Detroit’s net with pucks -- that it was going to be the same story in the playoffs. Right? Wrong. Since that embarrassing 8-2 loss at Joe Louis Arena back on March 7 Detroit has won the last four meetings with Columbus by a staggering score of 16-2. That’s not exactly the stuff Stanley Cup-winning teams are made of.

The Blue Jackets are quickly coming to realize that fact, but unfortunately for them it looks like the light bulb clicked on a little too late.

Gobs of credit go to Umberger though; he came back from what looked like an evening of CAT scans and brought Chris Osgood’s 144:27 of shutout time to an end. Most others would have called it a night and soaked themselves in a nice hot bubble bath.

Thursday night is the moment of truth for the Blue Jackets. Will they finally put together a substantial effort against the defending Cup champs, or will their fight to get into the playoffs in the first place turn out to be nothing more than one big popcorn fart?

Poof.

Some Other Articles That You May Enjoy:
The Learning Curve
Ovechkin Nearly Kills Himself Trying To Make a Hit
Wings’ Stuart Walks Out of Glendale, Datsyuk & Lidstrom Out of ASG
Sharks Lose Third in a Row
Flames Unzip Blue Jackets 4-1
CBJ 23 Man Roster is Set

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