Blue Jackets- Kings: Jackets Lose an Opportunity at Home

Dim the light

Dick Tarnstrom looked as advertised last night. He collected his first point as a Jacket on the PP, moved the puck well and was positionally solid. He basically made the play when he kept it in the zone on the Nash goal.

My biggest fear with Tarnstrom coming in is that he would we be Bryan Berard reincarnated.  Thankfully he looks far more defensively sound that Berard ever was.

Leclaire played well in his first start back since the injury. He did give up some pretty juicy rebounds a couple of times but overall he stopped 32 of 34 Kings' shots. Once again he didn't get much in terms of the goal support deparetment.

Decent crowd last night ringing in at 15,800+. Slowly but surely the fans are starting to believe again.

Ron Hainsey 6 shots and got most of his attempts through. Good game for him.

Overall, the team effort was okay. They really fell off in the second period but recovered in the 3rd. I know they just came off a long west coast trip, but this team has to dig and win a game like this.

Busted bulbs

Jackets let another point slip away at home no less. They have lost their last four at home going 0-2-2. That absolutely cannot happen to stay in this thing. The Jackets have got to start taking the 2 points at home. Believe it or not, they've actually looked better on the road.

Scoring, scoring, scoring. This team just cannot put the pucks in the net. They've only managed 13 goals over their past 8 going 2-3-3 in that stretch. When you are only averaging 1.625 goals a game, its no surprise to see that record. The Jackets have got to find a way to score more.

David Vyborny. He's just been horrendous out there. I don't even notice him anymore. I think this guy can use a couple of good scratches.

He's not alone though. When is the last time Gilbert Brule, Jiri Novotny or Manny Malhotra score?

Shootouts. Let me play captain obvious there:  we suck at them.

Cloutier. I have no idea how the Jackets do it but they tend to make every goaltender look like a Vezina trophy winner.

PK coverage on the second King's PP goal was bad. Big rebound by Leclaire and nobody decided to take Kopitar, and 4 Jackets just stood around watching.

3 bright lights on the night

1. Powerplay - two goals tonight

2. Chimera - Peca - Z line --- has been the best line for the Jackets for a the past few games as was again tonight

3. Tarnstrom - nice solid debut, collected and assist and you can see the good vision and decision making with the pucks

Jackets are back at home against the fading Chicago Blackhawks. Its a team that the Jackets should have a good shot at beating, but as LA showed last night, nothing's given to you in this league. The Blackhawks will be ready to play no doubt about it.

On an unrelated note, how scary was the slice to the Fliorda Panther's Richard Zednik's throat? That was a very scary moment but thankfully TSN.ca reported that Zednik had successful surgery and is resting comfortably.

-LTL