Blunden gets called up and pitches in

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Mike Blunden was recalled to Columbus in the middle of the early on Saturday to join the squad for their 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres from the Syracuse Crunch.

Blunden was inserted into the third line with R.J. Umberger and Samuel Pahlsson. Blunden had four shots and a game high of five hits. His performance was enough to earn the coveted hard hat for the team’s hardest working player.

The line had a total of 10 of the Blue Jackets’ 25 shots on goal.

“I was a little nervous there the first two shifts but then we got going,” Blunden said. “Like I said, I give lots of credit to Sammy (Pahlsson) and Umberger, they helped me out a lot and just kept me calm out there.”

“It was a tough day for him,” Blue Jackets coach Claude Noel said about Blunden. “He had to travel early this morning, six o’clock, so that throws you for a loop. He played last night. We were just hoping to get a contribution from him. Anything we got from him was a bonus. I think his line mates helped him. They were good… He managed the game and players helped him manage the game.”

Umberger also had a solid performance with four shots, an assist, and a good ol’ fashion donnybrook with Drew Stafford in the third period. Umberger earned a bloodied ear during the scrum. “It was a battle,” Umberger said. “We were going at it a couple shifts before. We decided to get it over with.”

Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason followed up his sterling 2-1 effort on Thursday night against Dallas Stars with a 28 save shutout performance against the Sabres on Saturday. It was Mason’s first shutout since Dec. 28 when he blanked the Detroit Red Wings. 

This was Mason’s first back-to-back set of wins for the first time since the fifth and sixth games of the season. That was back on Oct. 13 and 17.  

“Obviously win you are not playing consistently, you are not going to win many games back-to-back,” Mason said. “Tonight was a great performance by everybody and we’re very happy with the two points.”

Mason had a very solid outing. He stoned Sabres’ forward Tim Connolly seven times who had several good scoring chance.

“Mason was really good,” Noel said. “He’s had back-to-back good games, which is encouraging for us. His focus was good today and yesterday, and it reflected in his game tonight.”

“Two days in a row Mason has been unbelievable in net and it is the old (last year’s) Mason out challenging the puck and that is good to see,” Umberger said