Jackets on the brink of elimination (4/21/09)
by Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired

There was pomp, circumstance and all the bells and whistles of the first ever home playoff game in Columbus Blue Jackets franchise history. Then there was the game.

The Detroit Red Wings continued its dominance over the Blue Jackets, winning 4-1 Tuesday in front of a franchise-best 19,219 in Nationwide Arena. Detroit takes a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with game four Thursday at 7 p.m.

 

Henrik Zetterberg scored twice; Daniel Cleary had a goal and two assists and Tomas Holmstrom and scored for the Red Wings, while Chris Osgood stopped 31 shots.

R.J. Umberger scored for the Jackets. Steve Mason had 22 saves in the loss.

“The crowd was great, the fans were loud, we just made a couple of mistakes and the puck ended up in the back of the net,” Jackets captain Rick Nash said. “Detroit is good, but we are good enough to play with them. We can beat that team. It’s a matter of not making mistakes in critical areas.”

Osgood carried a shutout streak of 144 minutes, 27 seconds late into the third period when Umberger finally found the net. It was the first playoff power play goal in franchise history and his second of the series. His goal came after a hard hit by defenseman Brad Stuart midway through the second. He missed a few shifts, but returned later in the period.

“I couldn’t believe he was out there—he looked like he was out (after the hit),” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “For him to come back and play says something about him. He’s a hard-working kid that takes the puck to the net.”

With the loss, the Jackets find themselves playing sudden death hockey. They must win the next four to advance—a feat that is not likely. Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said his team is struggling with not being rewarded for hard play. The team has lost five straight games since clinching a playoff berth on April 8.

“When we don’t get discouraged, we’re pretty darn good,” Hitchcock said. “(Detroit) plays a very mature game and we get discouraged at times with that. We’re trying to force it, rather than being patient.”

The fans of Columbus showed up and were loud as the game began. John H. McConnell II, grandson of the team’s late owner, presented the flag before the game and the fans were treated to an extended pregame video. There were Red Wing fans in the arena, but nowhere near the number that has invaded Nationwide in past years.

Detroit temporarily took the energy right out of the building, scoring one minute, seven seconds in to the game off a Blue Jackets turnover by Manny Malhotra in the neutral zone. Holmstrom picked up the errant puck and took a shot on Mason, who made the initial save. The rebound went to Marian Hossa, whose slap shot went off the post and rolled on the goal line. Holmstrom was there to tap in the puck.

Cleary scored with 45 seconds remaining in the first when he beat Mason under his glove from just above the crease. The Jackets had a man without a stick and could not clear the puck, which led to the goal.

“Good teams make you pay,” Hitchcock said. “If you make a mistake, (Detroit) makes you pay. We had a lot of scoring chances, we hit goal posts, we hit cross-bars, but they end up with the 2-0 lead and that’s the momentum they wanted.”

Zetterberg scored at 13:55 of the third seconds after a delayed penalty was called on Mike Commodore. The Jackets, including defenseman Marc Methot, stopped playing to watch Commodore and Johan Franzen and the Wings cycled the puck to Zetterberg for an easy goal from between the rings.

Umberger finally solved Osgood at 16:07 on the power play when he backhanded a Nash rebound for his second goal of the postseason. Zetterberg scored an empty netter with 30 seconds remaining.

The Jackets paring of Kristian Huselius-Antoine Vermette-Nash failed to click and were on the ice more than once when Detroit scored. Both Huselius and Vermette were a minus-3, while Nash was a minus-2.

“Hitch is trying to make things happen,” Vermette said. “You see that often in the playoffs. It’s a good approach. Obviously, we’d like to have gotten a few more goals tonight, but it didn’t work out that way.”

The coach said he was pleased with the play of Derek Dorsett and Raffi Torres, who combined for six shots and nine hits.