Lack of prep haunts Jackets (2/21/09)
by Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired

The wear and tear of playing six games in nine nights finally caught up with the Columbus Blue Jackets.  In front of a sell-out crowd of 18,628, the Anaheim Ducks dismantled the Jackets 5-2, ending Columbus’ seven-game point streak (7-0-1).

“Six in nine days is not easy—mentally or physically,” Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore said. “It was a success overall, but tonight was a failure. We were not ready to play and a step late.”

Corey Perry scored a goal and had two assists to lead Anaheim. Chris Pronger, Brendan Morrison, Chris Kunitz and Bobby Ryan also scored for the Ducks.

Rick Nash had a goal and an assist and Kristian Huselius scored for the Jackets. Steve Mason gave up five goals on 13 shots to drop to 23-13-3.

Anaheim moves back into the eighth spot in the Western Conference and is only three points behind Columbus, who remains in sixth.

Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said he didn’t like the way his team prepared for the game throughout the day.

“I didn’t like our energy,” he said. “We seemed to casual. We took to slow to get into the game. We didn’t match their intensity. They were hungry and they fed off their momentum of the third period (Friday) in Detroit. They answered the bell tonight.”

The coach was not the only one who thought the team was not ready.

“It’s all about mental preparation and we were not prepared,” Huselius said. “We were standing still out there waiting to see what was going to happen. They took the game to us.”

Pronger scored his 10th on the power play with a slap shot from the blue line at 3:26 of the first.

Morrison made it 2-0 when he flicked the puck towards the crease and it bounced off the stick of Commodore and into the net at 12:46.

Nash got the Jackets on the board at 12:35 of the second on the power play. Jason Williams got the puck to Nash, who jammed it under the stick of Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. He has scored in three straight games and has 26 goals overall.

Anaheim put the game away with two quick goals on two shots in the second.

They got the goal back from Perry just two minutes later off a feed from Scott Niedermayer. Kunitz made it 4-1 with 1:45 remaining.

Huselius got the Jackets back to within a goal with a power play goal at 1:57 of the third. He skated with the puck and beat two defenseman and Giguere glove-side with a wrist shot for his 18th goal of the season.

Ryan scored on a rush to put the Ducks up 5-2 at 9:22 of the third.

While the Jackets scored two power play goals, it wasn’t enough and the team continues to rank last in the league. They finished two for eight with the man-advantage with 15 shots.

“The power play needs to be better,” Nash said. “We had some crucial power plays in the first period that we could have used goals.”

Giguere stopped 26 shots for his 15th win of the season.

The Jackets embark on their final extended road trip of the season, going through Western Canada this week. The team plays in Calgary on Tuesday, Edmonton on Thursday and Vancouver on March 1.

Columbus returns home to host Los Angeles on March 3.

Team Notes:
* Ole-Kristian Tollefsen will miss month with a knee injury. Aaron Rome has been recalled from Syracuse to take his place.
* Jason Chimera missed the game with general soreness in his groin. He is expected to play in Calgary.
* The Jackets claimed Chris Gratton off re-entry waivers from Tampa Bay. Gratton Is expected to center the third or fourth line. He has 214 goals and 353 assists in 1,086 games with six different franchises.