Columbus Comes Up Empty Again
By Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired

On Sunday, Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock called out certain players after the 5-4 loss to Chicago.

Three nights later, Hitchcock praised the play of Nikolai Zherdev for his play, but it wasn’t enough as the Jackets fell 4-2 to the St. Louis Blues in front of an announced crowd of 14,295 at Nationwide Arena.

Zherdev, who was kicked out of practice on Monday, was the best player on the ice, as well as fellow Russian Alexander Svitov, who scored one of the Jackets two goals.

“If (Nikolai) played like this every night, he’d be a first-team all-star and that’s what we expect,” Hitchcock said. “He’s a world class player, but he has to be a world class worker.”

With the game tied eight minutes into the third, the Jackets appeared to have scored the go-ahead goal off the stick of Anson Carter. The puck appeared to cross the goal line as it slid under the pad of St. Louis goaltender Manny Legace, but the on-ice official said no goal.

The video goal judge said that there inconclusive proof that the puck crossed the line, despite the Fox Sports Net cameras showed that it did. The play was similar to the overtime goal allowed in Minnesota back in January that cost Columbus a win.

“We never saw the puck cross the line at any time, which is why we initiated the review,” referee Dave Jackson said in a statement. “The video was inconclusive, so the call stood.”

Three minutes later, the Blues took advantage of a Jackets defensive miscue and scored on a rush. They added an empty net goal for the final score.

David Backes scored two goals, including the game-winner, to lead the Blues, while Bill Guerin also scored. Dallas Drake added an empty net goal. Guerin, who scored a hat trick Tuesday against San Jose, has seven points (five goals, two assists) in the last four games.

Rick Nash also scored for Columbus, snapping a seven-game goalless streak. Goaltender Pascal Leclaire made his first start after coming off the injured reserve and stopped 13 shots.

“I felt pretty good, but I could have played better,” Leclaire said. “I’ve worked hard to get back to where I was (before the injuries), but I’m not quite there yet.”

Nash scored on the team’s first shot on goal and it was a beauty. After Dan Fritsche and he battled for the puck on the boards, Nash skated across the goal line, faked out Legace, and put the puck in the empty net at 8:25.

Guerin tied the game with a just minute remaining in the first period when he took a cross-crease pass from Petr Cajanek and beat Leclaire’s extended stick.

The Blues took the lead when Backes hit a wrist shot through the legs of Leclaire at 13:07.

Svitov tied the game when he led a break-a-way and hit a slap shot from the slot that went top shelf at 17:45.

Backes scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection off a Jay McClement shot from the right point at 9:59 of the third.

From that point on, the Jackets had several good scoring opportunities, including one from Nash and another from Fredrik Modin late. With less than a minute to play Leclaire was pulled, but Columbus could not get a quality shot because St. Louis kept the puck on the boards.

“We’ve had a lot of great efforts, but unfortunately they scored on their chance in the third period,” Hitchcock said. “We made a poor decision to join the rush and out defensemen got caught up ice and that was the winning goal.”

Drake’s empty netter came with 14.5 seconds remaining.

Outside of the mental mistake that cost the Jackets the game, the defense played well, only allowing 17 shots on goal. Svitov and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen each had three hits, while Jody Shelley got his Valentine’s Day wish—a fight in the second period.

“When you only give up 16 or 17 shots on net, you’re in pretty good shape to win a hockey game,” Leclaire said. “It was a close game and Manny made some good saves and we end up losing on a bad goal.”

The Jackets host San Jose Friday at 7 p.m.