NHL Game Recap: Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Montreal Canadiens

Coming off of being blown out by the speedy Colorado Avalanche 5-1 on Saturday night, having to face the red-hot Montreal Canadiens seemed like an accident waiting to happen. 

But once again, trying to predict which Columbus Blue Jacket team will show up is like trying to predict the stock market, except with even less accuracy.

The Blue Jackets showed far more jump than the Canadiens and came away with a relatively easy 3-0 victory that never seemed in doubt.

What was interesting was that it was the Blue Jackets that appeared to have more jump than the Canadiens. But even more amazing was that the Canadiens came out and tried to impose their will on the Blue Jackets, throwing shot after shot on net and out-shooting the Blue Jackets in the early going.

Then, when the Blue Jackets scored two goals within one minute and twenty three seconds of each other, you could see the energy being sapped from the Canadiens.

The Blue Jackets opened the scoring at 12:34 of the first period when Rick Nash ripped a wicked wrist shot on a rush via a feed from Jakub Voracek to make it 1-0. 

They then made it 2-0 when Derick Brassard buried a beautiful feed from Voracek who broke deep towards the net, feeding Brassard cross ice to a wide open net while on the power play.

The Blue Jackets completed the scoring when Kyle Wilson finished a two on one break with a pass from Jared Boll to basically ice the outcome.

Meanwhile, Mathieu Garon stopped all 29 of the shots he faced to record the shutout.  However, while the Canadiens may have missed some opportunities to close the gap, Garon once again displayed the steady game that the Blue Jackets so desperately needed in net.

Here is an analysis of the Blue Jackets performance tonight summarized by what went right, what went wrong and what needs to be improved upon:

The Good:

Mathieu Garon: Garon might not have been spectacular, the Canadiens might have missed on some prime scoring chances, but Garon made the saves that he had to. 

The old rule of thumb is that when a goalie pitches a shutout, as Garon did, he must start the next game. I do hope new head coach Scott Arniel abides by that golden rule, particularly in this case.

Derick Brassard: Brassard really appears to not only be settling into his role of centering the Blue Jackets top line, but he also finally seems comfortable letting the game come to him.

In short, Brassard's game finally resembles the Brassard of his rookie season, prior to it being cut short by an injury sustained during a fight. Brassard now has registered in his last five games, four goals and one assist. 

Jakub Voracek: Voracek's lack of scoring has mystified the Blue Jacket faithful, particularly after the solid finish he had towards the end of last season.

While a traditionally slow starter, getting him on the scoreboard is vital to getting the fast start the Blue Jackets need this season. Voracek registered his first multi-point game. More importantly, after registering only one assist in his first six games, Voracek now has four assists in his past five games.

Now, if he can notch that first goal of the season, the top line of Voracek, Brassard and Rick Nash can take the pressure off of the remaining lines, not to mention take the pressure off of the goaltenders. 

Rick Nash: The rumblings of Nash's worst start since the 2005-2006 season appeared to have been heard by the captain, as Nash opened the scoring with that lethal wrist shot. 

Nash also played with the type of jump that hasn't often been seen by the Blue Jackets leader. He is absolutely vital to any playoff aspirations this team will have, so getting on a roll would really pay dividends.

Kyle Wilson: All this guy does is have a nose for the net, notching his third goal in his past four games. Wilson has now registered three goals and three assists in eight career NHL games.

For a team which has always lacked secondary scoring, Wilson, claimed by the Blue Jackets due to a glut of scoring forwards within the Washington Capitals organization, might be that find that can strengthen that critical element for success.

Marc Methot: For the guy who always seemed to bear too much of the brunt for last season's defensive struggles—I wasn't one of them, mind you—Methot has easily been the Blue Jackets most dependable, most consistent, well-rounded defenseman during this young season. 

He has made many key blocks and broke up more than a few quality scoring chances by the Canadiens. 

Scoring the Game's First Goal: The Blue Jackets scored the first goal of the game for the fifth time this season. Additionally, they are now 5-0 when scoring the first goal of the game. For a squad who at times possesses a fragile psyche, how critical is it for the Blue Jackets to tally that first goal?

The Bad:

This section makes me very happy—nothing bad really comes to mind.

Room for Improvement:

I'm really splitting hairs, here, but the power play has to improve, overall. However, the Blue Jackets have scored a power play goal in four of the past five games after being held without a power play goal the previous four games.

Up next for the Blue Jackets is a trip to Phillips Arena to take on the Atlanta Thrashers.  Columbus has done very well against the Thrashers, so another victory could raise their record to an impressive 8-4 on the young campaign.