CBJ win 5-1. Sparse crowd last night. Jackets out shot them 35-17.
CBJ had 14 regulars in, Wild had 8. Mason in goal for the Jackets, backup Harding was in net for the Wild.
First goal was a from Torres. A Wild pass was broken up in the neutral zone and handed to a charging Pahllson. He shot from the circle to Harding's right who gave up a rebound right back into that area that Torres jumped on and buried.
Second goal was from Clitsome. Brassard took the puck along the wall and started a 2-on-2 down the right wing. Saucered a beautiful pass from just inside the blueline right between the defenders to Clitsome who had broken in just behind the d-man. Clitsome beat Harding high.
Third goal was all Vermette. Short-handed, he charged the pointman and deflected an attempted pass (maybe shot?) that caromed back outside the zone, leading to a breakaway. He deked a couple times and put it through Harding.
Fourth goal was a beauty from Nash. Sick toe-drag made the Wild defenseman look silly and then tucked it in near-side.
Fifth goal was on the power-play. I was on the wrong end of the ice and by that time was chatting with a friend I hadn't seen in a couple months, so I didn't get a good view. Dispatch said it was a sequence of beautiful passes. From the corner, Nash fed Juice in the slot who paused, then backhanded a no-look to Brassard who scored off the one-timer.
The Wild goal was off a defensive breakdown. Left a man wide open behind the net for a wrap-around. Not a bad goal by Mason, but I'd expect him to make that stop more times than not.
Multiple fights, particularly in the 3rd period. Blunden took on someone in the 2nd and had a decent fight of it. I'd call it a draw. Clitsome got into it with Kalus in the 3rd. Not many punches thrown, but Clitsome picked him up and body-slammed him on the ice. During a bit of a scuffle along the boards later, Boll got into with John Scott, a 6-8 258 lb monster. Boll held his own, despite the marked size disparity. I was glad to see it was broken up before either got taken down. While Scott and Boll were going at it, Picard tried his best to get into a fight, but whoever it was he was going after decided to go down and grab onto his knee. It was a Jeff Gundy-esque performance by whoever it was (Hilbert?)
All in all, it was a fun game. Great to see some hockey again. Mason was sharp when he was challenged. Power play didn't look particularly good. Had 1 minute plus of 5-on-3 and didn't even get a good look. PK was good.
Clitsome, despite the goal he scored and the 2-point take down, looked pretty bad out there. John Moore, on the other hand, looked good. Confident and able with the puck. I'm sure he needs to get stronger, but based solely on what my untrained eye saw in his 18 minutes of ice-time last night, I think he could at least contribute this season.
Tootoo as the local paper mentioned? That prick's long overdue for a back-of-the-head to the ice...
