Columbus Drops Sixth In A Row
By Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired

The Columbus Blue Jackets tried to give interim coach Gary Agnew a farewell present Wednesday night before he returns to a supporting role for the organization in the form of a win.

After leading with just over two minutes remaining in the game, Columbus blew the lead and ended up with a 4-3 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues 3-3 in front of 15,279 in Nationwide Arena.

The team announced before the game the hiring of Ken Hitchcock as the Jackets new coach. He will arrive in Columbus to lead a Thanksgiving Day practice.

Despite not getting a win in five NHL games, Agnew enjoyed his time leading the Jackets.

“Was it a week and a half? It felt like a month,” Agnew joked. “It was exciting. I’m disappointed for the organization in that we were not able to get any wins over that span. I wish the players could have experienced a win during it obviously. There is a bigger picture here. A far as the players reacting and doing what we asked, they did.”

Nikolai Zherdev, Rostislav Klesla and Fredrik Modin scored for the Jackets, while David Vyborny added two assists. Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire stopped 35 shots on goal.

Jamal Mayers scored twice for the Blues, while Ryan Johnson added a goal. Bill Guerin scored the lone goal in the shootout to lift the Blues to the win.

“We tried to win, it just didn’t happen,” Vyborny said. “We still have 60 games and it’s a long season.”

Johnson got the Blues on the board three minutes, five seconds into the game when he hit a slap shot from the right point. The shot got through several bodies and slid through the legs of Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire.

Zherdev tied the game at 16:14 of the first off a feed from David Vyborny on a two-man rush.

The Blues regained the lead just over six minutes into the second. Leclaire made a pad save on Jay McClement, but Mayers was there to tap in the rebound giving St. Louis a 2-1 lead.

Klesla score a power play goal off a centering pass from Gilbert Brule to tie the game at two with just under two minutes remaining in the second period.

Modin put Columbus up 3-2 at 7:06 of the third. With a scramble in front of Blues’ goaltender Manny Legace, Modin tapped the puck between the legs of Legace off a shot from Vyborny.

Mayers was in the right spot once again as he retied the game with 2:18 remaining in the game. He hit a wrist shot off a Martin Ruchinsky shot.

Legace had 29 saves for the Blues, who outshot the Jackets 38-32.

Columbus plays in Philadelphia Friday at 1 p.m. with Hitchcock making his debut behind the bench. The team returns home Saturday to host Minnesota at 7 p.m.