Wright Tops Off Victory With Hat Trick
By Greg Dew,  Columbus Wired (10/27/02)

In the early seasons of the existence of a franchise in any sport, skilled players are at a premium. Other teams have stronger and faster players across the board. As a counter, new teams have to concentrate on the fine points of their games to stand a chance.

Last night at Nationwide arena the Columbus Blue Jackets faced a team in the Los Angeles Kings with superior skills and dubbed one of the elite teams in the league by head coach Dave King. During the past two years the Kings own a 2-6-0-0 advantage against the Jackets including 7-1 triumphs each year.

With the skill level tilted in the Kings favor, the Jackets turned to mastering the face-offs to set the tone early for their 5-1 victory.

At 1:46 of the opening period, Andrew Cassels won a face-off to the right of Kings goalie Jamie Storr, fed Geoff Sanderson who wristed the puck past Storr for an early 1-0 lead.

Later in the period Mike Sillinger won a face-off of his own, this one to the left of Storr. Rick Nash’s shot off the initial pass was stopped but the tone had been set. The Jackets were winning the little battles early, had a 17-10 face-off advantage and a 1-0 lead.

Yet in this, the third installment of Blue Jackets hockey, the team is evolving into a more skilled unit.

Old stand-bys and new blood are mixing to form a deeper and more talented team.

The old guard of Tyler Wright and Sanderson were the first and second stars of the game, respectively. Wright earned his distinction by netting the first hat trick of the season for the Jackets.

Showcasing his value in all aspects of the game, Wright scored his first goal in the second with the teams at even strength. The second was short-handed and the third was a nice redirection in front of the net while on the power play.

Sanderson, meanwhile, is on a tear in the last couple of games. He is healthy after last seasons injury plagued year and the difference really shows on the ice. He has four goals and two assists in the last four games.

His speed and stickhandling really made a difference throughout last night’s game.

Likewise, Nash is a badly needed infusion of talent for the roster.  Although he wasn’t able to tally any points, he still drew awe’s from the crowd with his breathtaking drives through the King’s defense, his willingness to sacrifice his body to complete passes and his shots on goal.

The third star of the game was another newcomer. Hannes Hyvonen scored a goal and an assist while adding much needed size to the line of Cassels and Sanderson. That size enables him to fight in front of the net, ultimately leading to his goal, as he was able to poke in the rebound of a Cassels shot for a 3-1 lead.

“He’s got a great shot and he brings size and strength,” said King. “He’s starting to play with more confidence.”

Hyvonen’s goal was important coming off of the loss to the San Jose. In that game the Jackets let a lead evaporate as a more skilled team stormed back for the win. This time Hyvonen scored just over a minute after the Kings had cut the lead in half.

“We needed to protect the lead in the third tonight to get rid of the San Jose ghost,” said goaltender Marc Denis.

Another message has been sent. The team can learn from past mistakes. This time they closed the door rather than let a team back into the game. Young and old are learning and evolving on this edition of the Columbus Blue
Jackets.