BLUE JACKETS
?What?s my line?? new game for Jackets
Gallant decides to make wholesale changes to shake up meek offense
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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Gerard Gallant spent his summer doing what all NHL coaches do when they?re not cleaning their golf spikes or cracking lobsters. He juggled lines in his mind?s eye until something clicked.
When the Blue Jackets play their next game, against the Blues on Thursday night in St. Louis, Gallant will put on ice the product of his summer fancy.
The lines, left to right, at practice yesterday:
Nikolai Zherdev-Sergei Fedorov-Anson Carter;
Fredrik Modin-David Vyborny-Rick Nash;
Jason Chimera-Manny Malhotra-Dan Fritsche.
Jody Shelley-Alexander Svitov/Gilbert Brule-Steven Goertzen.
"Obviously, I didn?t see David Vyborny at center, and I didn?t see Carter (acquired in September)," Gallant said, "but when I was horsing around, this is how I saw the lines."
Gallant has done a lot of line juggling. Carter, for instance, has played with five centers, including Mark Hartigan, now with Syracuse of the American Hockey League.
The Blue Jackets have scored fewer goals (28) than any other team in the league, and they were supposed to be an offensive dynamo. They have lost seven of their past nine games.
"I like every one of those guys I?ve played with, and I?ll go with whatever we have," Fedorov said. "The purpose is to try something else. I think it?s a normal circumstance after a loss."
There?s a little more weight to the latest changes, because there?s a lot of shifting involved. Zherdev goes from right to left wing, Nash from left to right, Vyborny from right to center.
These are the team?s top threats and, one might say, they?re being moved from more comfortable positions.
Gallant looks at it differently.
"The top six are the guys who should be comfortable playing there," he said. "I would have loved to have had it that way from game one, but some guys weren?t playing well and some guys were hurt. But I like the look of our team now, except for the fact that (injured defensemen) Duvie Westcott and Bryan Berard are out of the lineup. I like the makeup of the forwards."
Rather than experimenting with Malhotra and Svitov among the top six, Gallant has put his scorers together and, by extension, reassembled his third-line energy guys and fourth-line physical guys. Position ? left wing, right wing, center ? is secondary.
Zherdev has played a lot of left wing in his career.
"He might even prefer it," Gallant said.
Nash played right wing in Europe during the lockout and was amenable to a switch. He?s in the midst of one of the longest goalless streaks of his career, nine games, and is amenable to anything.
"I wouldn?t say it?s eating me up right now," he said, "but it?s frustrating because I want to help the team win."
Vyborny prefers the right wing, and he?s not a world-class faceoff guy, but he?s not a stranger to center.
"I don?t really care as long as we play good offense," Vyborny said.
Carter is now back among the top six, which is where everyone envisioned him when he signed a free-agent contract on the eve of training camp.
"We?ve got to play a few together before we can say how it goes," Carter said.
"But the main thing is we?ve got to win some games. We can?t do the same things over and over and lose and just accept it."
This is more than a line juggling. The aim is to more clearly define roles, to remove the muddle.
"You can mix and match the top six, but this is pretty close to what I had when I was thinking about it over the summer," Gallant said. "This is where I think people belong."
marace@dispatch.com
OILERS 4 BLUE JACKETS 1
Oilers? quick scores knock Jackets flat
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire watches the puck sail into his goal in the second period.
Maybe it?s time for the Blue Jackets to bring back that overweight, shirtless guy. Not to dance; to play forward. A night after flexing their muscles in a win over lowly St. Louis, the Blue Jackets looked fragile and slow last night in a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Nationwide Arena. A crowd of 16,902 was unusually quiet. There wasn?t much to cheer after Edmonton took a 2-0 lead with two goals in the first 2:18 of the second period. "That took a lot out of us," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "It shouldn?t have. But it did."
Oilers left winger Ryan Smyth, who loves playing against the Blue Jackets, had two goals. Ales Hemsky and Joffrely Lupul also scored for Edmonton, which had lost four in a row before it arrived in the Nationwide Wellness Center last night.
The Blue Jackets? only score was a power- play goal by Anson Carter midway through the second period.
Mostly, the Blue Jackets spent their night on the perimeter, firing odd-angle shots and only half-heartedly looking for rebounds. Their best line was the fourth line, with scrappers Jody Shelley, Alexander Svitov and Steve Goertzen.
"Our top guys didn?t show up tonight," Gallant said. "If we?re going to win, the top six guys have to be better than that. I thought we looked tired in the second half of the game."
Falling behind 2-0 so quickly in the second period stunned the Blue Jackets. And it?s how the goals were scored that made such a difference.
On the first shift of the period, the Blue Jackets had a prime scoring chance when Carter pounced on a rebound with goaltender Dwayne Roloson out of position. Carter?s backhand attempt might have been altered by hard-charging defenseman Jason Smith, but Carter?s shot hit the post and caromed away.
"You get a great chance on one end," Carter said, "and if you don?t bury it, it seems like it starts going the other way in a hurry. All you can hope for is a great save."
That?s what happened, minus the great save.
With speed, the Oilers started the other way. Hemsky led the rush, but instead of passing ? as is his preference ? he let loose a wrist shot that befuddled goaltender Pascal Leclaire, beating him stick side to the far post.
The Oilers made it 2-0 only 98 seconds later. After Jackets defenseman Anders Eriksson failed twice to clear the puck, Lupul was set up on the right dot and beat Leclaire stick side with a wrist shot.
"The first two goals hurt us," Leclaire said. "I?d like to see those two again. It was a tight game, and then all of a sudden it?s 2-0. I?ll take the blame for those two. Those two goals were the turning point, I think. That?s on me."
Smyth, who has 12 goals in 20 games against Columbus, scored off a rebound at 12:40 of the second period to make it 3-0.
Then came Carter?s goal, his second of the season and first since Oct. 9. Rick Nash and Sergei Fedorov played tic-tactoe, with Nash feeding Carter in the high slot for a wrister that tucked under the crossbar.
The Oilers got the goal back early in the third period.
At 2:07 of the period, Smyth got behind Svitov and finished off a three-on-two rush to make it 4-1.
It was a sobering night for the Blue Jackets (5-8-1), who haven?t won back-to-back games since Oct. 9.
"We have to find our way back to .500," defenseman Rostislav Klesla said. "We have to put wins together now. That?s what good teams do.
"We can?t just win one, lose one. We can?t get too far behind the pack (in the Western Conference)."
aportzline@dispatch.com
NHL
Blue Jackets seek consistency
Success depends on keeping it simple, doing the little things
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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Inconsistency is a subject that has cropped up on a consistent basis for the Blue Jackets, who followed a thumping victory in St. Louis with a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night in Nationwide Arena.
What is the key? Are they close to finding a groove?
"We?ve just going to try and keep in mind that when we?re successful, we do the little things right," captain Adam Foote said.
"Sometimes at home, we complicate the game. Everyone tries to do too much. It?s human nature. Especially when we?re down a goal ? we push the envelope too much instead of just trying to grind it out. I keep reminding guys, we?re successful when we play together."
The Blue Jackets are 5-8-1. As of yesterday, they had the same number of points as St. Louis and Chicago, their fellow dregs of the Central Division. Tonight, they play the Blackhawks in the United Center and there?s the obvious danger of slipping into last place in the division, and next-to-last (just ahead of Phoenix) in the conference.
The road game in Chicago doesn?t daunt them.
"Thursday in St. Louis, it was us against the world, and we didn?t care how we got the two points ? we were going to get them," right winger Anson Carter said. "At home, we feel the need to paint pretty pictures sometimes."
That?s one of the problems cited by a number of Blue Jackets. Traditionally a strong team within their friendly confines, they?re 3-4-1 in Nationwide Arena, alternating wins and losses, with what should be the strongest team that has been assembled here.
"Right now, we?re not playing the same at home," coach Gerard Gallant said. "We don?t have to force things or try to do cute things."
The Blue Jackets played a sterling first period, which was scoreless, Friday night. Then, the Oilers scored a couple of easy goals early in the second period. The Blue Jackets stopped going to the net, looked for the perfect play from the outside and exacerbated their difficulties.
"I feel we?re right there, close," Foote said, "but we?re two different teams ? when we?re down a goal, and when we?re up a goal. We?ve got to play our systems; there?s enough chances, enough time in a game, enough power plays to come back."
Rick Nash said, "We?re getting out-worked at home."
Their loyal fans are becoming restless. There was a smattering of boos as soon as the Oilers scored their second goal.
"We have some of the best fans in the league, and once we use them to our advantage, we?ll be a lot better off," Nash said. "We can hear (the boos). If I were up there in the stands, there are times I?d be booing, too. We owe them a better game."
Gallant has a slightly different view. He has been here for the duration and has a deep fondness and admiration for the faithful. He can feel their frustration, but his hope is that the fans will channel more positive energy when the Jackets hit a rough spot in the middle of a game.
"The fans are honest here," Gallant said. "They?ve put up for five years, and I understand that. But it?s easy to get down on people when they?re not going good. What I?m asking is they help the players out instead of booing the first bad play. If the result, or non-result, is there at the end of the game, I completely understand the booing."
They booed at the end of the game Friday night. The Jackets went back to practice yesterday, then flew to Chicago, looking to reclaim the weekend. With a victory, they?ll have four out of six points in a span of four days.
marace@dispatch.com
Swimmer;660493; said:
you are telling me the bugs are zero wins and twenty in the l column when you go strohs?
