Columbus Blue Jackets Week in Review

After blowing a late two-goal lead to the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins, the Blue Jackets started this week with a visit to Washington to play Alex the Great and the Capitals.

Not normally a place you go to get back on track as a hockey team.

With two game-tying goals in the third period by Raffi Torres and a beautiful cross-crease pass in overtime by Rick Nash to R.J. Umberger, the Blue Jackets escaped with a win, though.

Up next, the Jackets had last year's President's Trophy (best overall regular season record)-winning San Jose Sharks coming into the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena.

After a somewhat boring and defensive game played by both teams, the Sharks wound up taking the extra point in a shootout on a goal by Dan Boyle, as Evgeni Nabokov stood tall, stopping all three shooters the Jackets sent his way.

The next night, the Jackets were in Atlanta to play the somewhat surprising Thrashers. The Jackets were once again lead by Raffi Torres and his two second-period goals.

It was not a pretty win, though, as being on the second end of a back-to-back caught up to the Jackets, as they were committing lazy penalties all night long—eight in total, including the last seven in the game.

The addition of Jan Hejda to the lineup and a strong outing from backup goaltender Mathieu Garon allowed the Jackets to kill off 6-of-8, though, and escape with a 4-3 regulation win.

Finally, the Jackets returned home for a Saturday night matchup against the early lottery pick front-runner Carolina Hurricanes.

The 'Canes came in losers of 11 straight games, including a loss to the two-win Leafs the night before.

It was a classic trap game and trapped the Jackets seemed to be, at least until the third period began. Trailing 1-0 going into the third period, the Jackets came out firing on all cylinders, as they scored three goals in a span of two minutes and 41 seconds, capped by Rick Nash's 11th of the season.

There was a scary moment the game, though, as 'Canes star goaltender Cam Ward was hurt early in the first period when Nash's skate inadvertently cut his thigh, leaving a puddle of blood in his crease.

Thankfully, Ward is said to be okay. Sadly, this likely will end any hope of him making the 2010 Canadian Olympic team.

The Jackets finished the week going 3-0-1 and picking up seven of eight points. While going undefeated in regulation is great, the more important stat is the Jackets holding these four teams to 2.75 goals against, which is half a goal below their season average of 3.25 goals a game.

Three Stars of the Week

Going undefeated in regulation obviously makes it hard to choose only three stars from a self proclaimed "team of 23," but these three players were the biggest difference makers of the week.

1. Raffi Torres

Torres notched four goals this week, including two two-goal games. Torres was the definition of clutch, too, with two of his goals being of the game-tying variety and one being of the game-winning.

After a injury-filled year last season, Torres is showing why general manager Scott Howson traded a former first-round pick for him two seasons ago.

He has eight goals through sixteen games this season, just four short of his total all of last season.

2. Steve Mason

Mason went 2-0-1 with a .920 save percentage and only gave up 2.67 goals against.

Mason pretty much stole the game from the 'Canes by making a couple of amazing saves in the first and second periods of the Jackets 3-2 win this past week. It is great news for the Jackets that Mason seems to be returning to his form from last season.

3. Rick Nash

Nash scored points in three of the Jackets' four games this week. In total, he had three goals and two assists for a total of five points.

The three goals are nice, but the best play of the week by Nash was his cross-crease feed to R.J Umberger in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Washington Capitals.

Nash is slowly becoming one of the best playmakers on the Jackets roster; of course, he can notch a few goals every now and then, too.

Unsung Hero of the Week

Jan Hejda has to be the Jackets' unsung hero for the week. He is never going to get a whole lot of national media coverage, but the numbers show for themselves why the Jackets need this defensive defensemen in the lineup.

In the absence of Hejda, the Jackets are 3-4-1 this season and are giving up 4.25 goals a game.

Since his return, the Jackets are giving up only 2.34 goals a game, a dramatic improvement. They are also a combined 6-1-1 when he plays.

The most important stat when looking at Jan Hejda is his plus/minus. He went plus-one in three games this week. He also put up an assist, showing he his able to chip in here and there on the offensive side of the ice, too.

Disappointing Stat of the Week

As the Jackets are playing great on the ice, the community of Columbus is focused on the arena issue and financial losses of the Blue Jackets.

There have been many public responses from both fans and Blue Jackets management. The majority of people within the city realize the substantial blow the Jackets leaving would have on the city.

Most people tend to talk about how the Jackets need help and have all sorts of ideas on how to fix the financial issues.

Only problem is, why are these same people not showing up to games?

The average attendance of the two home games this week for the Jackets was a disappointing 14,126, in an arena that sits more than 18,000 people. In a city where they can fill a football stadium with 100,000 fans, an arena seating 18,000 should not be too hard to fill.

The city of Columbus can honestly do much better than it has been doing as a hockey market.

In the past, the excuse has been that nobody wants to watch a losing team, let alone pay their hard-earned money to watch said team.

I suppose its time to tell all the fair weather fans to jump on the bandwagon, as this team has nowhere to go but up.