Jackets lose sixth straight at home 4-2
By Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired

Jody Shelley returned to Nationwide Arena Wednesday night to a hero’s welcome and left without a fight.

He and his San Jose teammates did leave with a 4-2 win over an emotionless Columbus Blue Jackets in front of just over 16,000 fans.

Sharks coach Ron Wilson started a line with Shelley, Jeremy Roenick and Joe Thornton and the Blue Jackets showed a video tribute in his honor during the first timeout. Even Dancin’ Kevin was in attendance with “We Luv Shelley” painted on his belly.

The former Jackets left winger was touched by the tribute and waved to the crowd as they cheered for him. He still keeps tabs on the Jackets and what is going on, noting the recent wins in Ottawa and Montreal.

“I have some great friends here and I know what they are trying to do here,” Shelley said. “Deep down you want to see them do well here. I’m proud to have been a part of the Blue Jacket organization and this community.”

He admitted that there were nerves playing in his first game in Columbus since the Jan. 29 trade that sent him to the West Coast. He recorded an assist in the Sharks 2-1 overtime win on Feb. 8 in San Jose.

“I didn’t know what to expect and to be honest, if the first, I have no idea what I was doing out there,” Shelley said. “I felt like a kid out there when (Wilson) started me and I wanted to have so much fun.”

Jonathan Cheechoo, Torrey Mitchell, Roenick and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 17 shots for his 33rd win of the season. Thornton picked up two assists.

The Blue Jackets played its first game since trading captain Adam Foote and center Sergei Fedorov on Tuesday before the trade deadline. The team played like they were still in shock and Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said he saw it in his team’s eyes as the game progressed.

“They’re in a state of shock and they’re not out of it,” he said. “It’s going to take some time. We’ll work to get out of it. We’re not going to win games playing the way we did tonight.”

The team met with General Manager Scott Howson and Hitchcock after the morning skate on Wednesday to discuss the trades. Hitchcock said he thinks there will be a lot more discussion over the moves in the next few days.

David Vyborny scored both Columbus goals, his first goals since Dec. 27 at Nashville. Pascal Leclaire was not sharp, giving up four goals on 28 shots. The effect of no Foote was also evident on the penalty kill, which gave up two goals on five Shark attempts.

San Jose struck first, scoring on a power play just minutes after the Blue Jackets presented the Shelley tribute video. Cheechoo tipped in a Joe Pavelski shot from the left circle at 7:28.

Vyborny tied the game at 14:56 when he backhanded in a Gilbert Brule shot that glanced off Nabokov.

Vyborny was in the right place at the right time again at 7:54 of the second when hit colleted a rebound off a Jan Hejda shot and put the puck into the empty net to give Columbus a 2-1 lead.

The Sharks quickly retied the game when Carle hit a 58-foot slap shot that was redirected into the net by Mitchell at 10:51.

“We had scoring from all over,” Pavelski said. “We got a few goals from guys who hadn’t scored lately. From start to finish, it was pretty solid.”

After a questionable no-call against the Sharks that led to Rick Nash getting a roughing penalty, Roenick beat Leclaire on the stick side with a one-timer to put San Jose up 3-2 at 13:56.

Five minutes later Pavelski scored on a two-on-one rush, giving the Sharks a 4-2 lead. His shot ricocheted off the left skate of Columbus defenseman Jiri Novotny.

“We had taken the game over but a couple missed assignments, a couple of bounces and the momentum shifts the other way,” Jackets center Michael Peca said. “One thing we haven’t done particularly well all year is stand in the face of adversity within a game and push back. So that was disappointing.”

The Jackets go back on the road to Western Canada for games in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. The team understands the importance of the road trip.

“We had two good games to finish up the last road trip,” Columbus defenseman Rostislav Klesla said. “It was a bad loss tonight, but we’re going to go and try to win all three of those games. We’re still in a race and we don’t want to give up.”

Columbus returns to Nationwide to host the Oilers on Mar. 7.