Blue Jackets-Coyotes: Columbus Drops Precious Points

Well the boys scored first. In fact they scored just 21 seconds into off a nice Freddy Modin wrister. Scoring first is usually a lock for a 2 points for this squad right?

Not on this night.

After that early score it was all Phoenix. Really other than a few shifts by the Jackets, the Coyotes played harder and wanted this more than the Jackets. Sure the Jackets had a 1 goal lead heading into the 3rd but with the way Phoenix was playing it was no surprise that they tied it up and then went on to score two more goals to seal the win.

Final score: 4-2 bad guys.

That one hurt. It dropped the Jackets down to 11th in the standings while Phoenix surged ahead to grab that 8th playoff spot. It was a rare home game in the month of January and the Jackets squandered it.

Lit it up

Really nobody on the Jackets. I would say only Peter Mueller of the Coyotes had a stand out performance collecting 2 goals including the game winner. To think this kid was passed on by the Jackets for Derek Brassard. Granted Brassard is just now getting his feet wet while Mueller has played this entire season collecting 15g, 17a for 32 points -- that would be good for 3rd on the Jackets - yikes!!!

I will give OK Tollefsen and Rusty Klesla a bit of a nod here. For a defense that desperately missed Adam Foote I thought both of these guys played very well defensively. OKT also had a good fight and collected an assist.

Dim the light

Rick and Nik show definitely had an off night. Nash looked tired after his All Star stint. Z looked like he had a whole in stick that first period missed passes, mishandling the puck and generally looked off all night long. Z did collect a nice 1st assist on Chimera's goal though.

Freddy Modin had a nice goal to open the game. I thought he was the best forward on the ice. Using his big body to shield pucks, getting some solid scoring chances.

PK allowed 1 goal on 3 attempts.

Ron Hainsey logged a lot of ice time last night....lead the team with 26+ minutes.

Busted bulbs

Just not their night. They hits posts. The 'yotes had that flukey second goal. Pazzy couldn't come up with that big save in the 3rd. Jan Hejda got beat on a play he usually doesn't get beat on. Team was just out of sync all night long.

PP was dreadful. Really couldn't muster much on its two chances. In fact I only remember one good chance on that second PP and really that was it.

Team really missed Foote last night. Maybe he's a little more important to this squad than a lot of us give him credit for. The plus side is a good opportunity for Howson to see what this team would look like without him in the lineup which may come in handy trade deadline time.....or even as the organization decides if they want to throw a lot more money at Foote to keep him.

Not much out of Brassard last night. Pretty invisible.

David Vyborny. He's to the point now where he's just becoming a complete liability out there. Not adding any value to any aspect of the game. His confidence is completely shot. It won't be long until the last remaining original Blue Jackets follows Jody Shelley out of town.

3 bright lights on the night

1. OK Tollefsen - played his best game of the year for the Jackets...although that's a little scary when he's our best player
2. Freddy Modin - was our best forward and collected his 2nd goal
3. Rusty Klesla - he made a lot of those "little plays" in the defensive zone that stood out to me last night

So the Jackets drop to 25-21-6. Their next game is against the Nashville Predators in Nashville tomorrow night. The Jackets have rebounded well after losing tough games but this is "Darth Vader" we are talking about here and this is in Nashville. Road to the playoffs doesn't get any easier.

-LT.