Ohio Jones
Game on...
CD - COlumbus
The St. Louis Blues put the boots to a listless Columbus squad last night in St. Louis, thrilling the capacity 21,000 crowd with a 4-0 win.
For the third (or fourth, depending on how you're counting) game in this series, Columbus got off to a slow start and were dominated in the first period, outshot 14-4. Only through Marint Brodeur's strong play were the Jackets only down 1-0 after 20 minutes, on a goal by Daniel Alfredsson.
For the second period, it seemed a more spirited Jackets squad showed up, but still they were edged in shots 11-9, and for the first time in these playoffs, they were massively outhit. The physical contests all went in favour of St. Louis, and it showed as the Jackets got progressively more and more frustrated. Columbus began taking sloppy penalties - mostly highsticking - and while their PK was once again flawless, it left their top defensive players tired when 5-on-5 play resumed, resulting in another Blues goal late in the period by Vincent Lecavalier.
That goal proved to be the backbreaker, and the Jackets never got back in the game, allowing the Blues a 13-7 edge in shots in the third period, and two more goals from Scott Walker and Joe Thornton. Nikolai Khabibulin was never seriously tested, but stayed focused in turning away 20 Jackets shots for the shutout.
The Jackets' top two lines, which had been among the most dominant in the playoffs to date, were not only shut out, but were each on the ice for two goals against. Henrik Sedin and Chris Gratton's lines yet again proved their worth in their own end, but weren't able to pick up the scoring for the faltering top units.
"There's no excuse for it", a sombre Mike Modano intoned following the game. "We've just handed them momentum and confience heading into another home game. They played well, but we beat ourselves. There's just no excuse for not showing up, and we didn't show up tonight. We have to be better."
An obviously agitated Mike Babcock worked to restrain his irritation. "Obviously we can't coast into these games confident that we'll always be able to come back and win it in the second and third periods. We're facing a great team with stars at every position, we took them lightly and we got embarassed. But we'd won 6 (or 7) consecutive games coming into (last night), including 2 (or 3) against this team. We can beat them, we know we can beat them, we just need to be prepared to do the work. I think you'll see a different team next game."
When asked if the officiating had something to do with the loss, Babcock shook his head. "The officials didn't tell us to drag our feet in the first and third periods. The officials didn't stop our guys from going into the corners. We didn't skate, we didn't hit, we lost. If we got more penalties called against us, we earned them with sloppy play."
A rueful grin crept across his face. "Heck, the way our special teams are playing, I wish they had given St. Louis more powerplays - we would have stood a better chance of winning the game." This last was obviously a shot across the bow of Modano and Slava Kozlov, whose powerplay units have been inneffectual iagainst the Blues vaunted defence.
Captain Brendan Shanahan seemed to take the loss personally. "We let Chicago embarass us to start the first round. We came back to win the next four games. We have a lot of pride in this room: we're not going to take this lying down."
Jackets fans will see tonight.
Milo Minderbinder
Columbus Discoverer
The St. Louis Blues put the boots to a listless Columbus squad last night in St. Louis, thrilling the capacity 21,000 crowd with a 4-0 win.
For the third (or fourth, depending on how you're counting) game in this series, Columbus got off to a slow start and were dominated in the first period, outshot 14-4. Only through Marint Brodeur's strong play were the Jackets only down 1-0 after 20 minutes, on a goal by Daniel Alfredsson.
For the second period, it seemed a more spirited Jackets squad showed up, but still they were edged in shots 11-9, and for the first time in these playoffs, they were massively outhit. The physical contests all went in favour of St. Louis, and it showed as the Jackets got progressively more and more frustrated. Columbus began taking sloppy penalties - mostly highsticking - and while their PK was once again flawless, it left their top defensive players tired when 5-on-5 play resumed, resulting in another Blues goal late in the period by Vincent Lecavalier.
That goal proved to be the backbreaker, and the Jackets never got back in the game, allowing the Blues a 13-7 edge in shots in the third period, and two more goals from Scott Walker and Joe Thornton. Nikolai Khabibulin was never seriously tested, but stayed focused in turning away 20 Jackets shots for the shutout.
The Jackets' top two lines, which had been among the most dominant in the playoffs to date, were not only shut out, but were each on the ice for two goals against. Henrik Sedin and Chris Gratton's lines yet again proved their worth in their own end, but weren't able to pick up the scoring for the faltering top units.
"There's no excuse for it", a sombre Mike Modano intoned following the game. "We've just handed them momentum and confience heading into another home game. They played well, but we beat ourselves. There's just no excuse for not showing up, and we didn't show up tonight. We have to be better."
An obviously agitated Mike Babcock worked to restrain his irritation. "Obviously we can't coast into these games confident that we'll always be able to come back and win it in the second and third periods. We're facing a great team with stars at every position, we took them lightly and we got embarassed. But we'd won 6 (or 7) consecutive games coming into (last night), including 2 (or 3) against this team. We can beat them, we know we can beat them, we just need to be prepared to do the work. I think you'll see a different team next game."
When asked if the officiating had something to do with the loss, Babcock shook his head. "The officials didn't tell us to drag our feet in the first and third periods. The officials didn't stop our guys from going into the corners. We didn't skate, we didn't hit, we lost. If we got more penalties called against us, we earned them with sloppy play."
A rueful grin crept across his face. "Heck, the way our special teams are playing, I wish they had given St. Louis more powerplays - we would have stood a better chance of winning the game." This last was obviously a shot across the bow of Modano and Slava Kozlov, whose powerplay units have been inneffectual iagainst the Blues vaunted defence.
Captain Brendan Shanahan seemed to take the loss personally. "We let Chicago embarass us to start the first round. We came back to win the next four games. We have a lot of pride in this room: we're not going to take this lying down."
Jackets fans will see tonight.
Milo Minderbinder
Columbus Discoverer
