Brassard breaks scoreless streak

After spending the season on one of the top two lines for the Columbus Blue Jackets, forward Derick Brassard was demoted to the fourth line joining Raffi Torres and Derek Dorsett for Columbus’ 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.

After going 14 games without a goal and getting a minus-five during that span, his demotion to the fourth line allowed for forward Jason Chimera to join the top-six forwards and he capitalized by notching  a goal.

“I think for me tonight, (I needed to) keep it simple,” Brassard said. “I like to play with guys like Torres and Dorsett. They play hard and go at it the whole time.”

Brassard was able to get a goal of his own to break his 14-game goalless streak 14:10 into the third on a shot that slipped past the glove of Panthers’ goalie Tomas Vokoun. The goal put Columbus up by two and helped preserve just their second victory in their last 10 games.

“We got a great goal from Brassard,” Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. “I think this has been coming. He’s skating without the puck. He was watching the game without the puck and for now, he is skating without the puck… You give him a chance around the net, and he’s going to score.”

Brassard came into this season with the expectation of good things. He had a promising season early in the 2008-09 season. He played 31 games and had 10 goals and 15 assists. In December, he had a season ending injury but came into this season completely healthy. In 29 games thus far this year, he has just 18 points.

“I think I’ve played some good games, and some games you can tell I missed a lot last year and so I just try,” Brassard said.  “That’s my main goal right now, just to play good every game.” 

Dorsett adds depth with return

Returning after a nine game absence, Dorsett added three hits and a plus-one performance in over 10 minutes of ice time in Wednesday’s game. Dorsett last game was on Nov. 19 against the Dallas Stars when he suffered a concussion.

“It was exciting to get back in the lineup,” Dorsett said. “The guys came to play tonight and we worked on things in practice and we played a strong a game.”

“(Dorsett) just added depth along the way,” Hitchcock said of Dorsett’s return. “Him being in the lineup gave us another competitive player and allowed us to play four lines.”

Dorsett spoke highly of joining Brassard and Torres on the fourth line.

“Brass is an exciting player to play with,” Dorsett said. “Me and Raffi have played before and used a little chemistry there. It is a lot of fun playing with those guys.”

Hitchcock said he was happy with the performance of his fourth line; especially in the second half of the game.

“The first half (of the game), I thought they were forcing it a bit,” Hitchcock said, “but in the second half, I liked it a lot. “

Dorsett is one of nine players on the roster above a zero plus/minus ratio at plus-three.

Three day break allows Jackets to catch up

With the rigors of a compacted ‘Olympic’ schedule, the Blue Jackets were able to use Monday and Tuesday as days to have intense practices, something the team has yet to do in many weeks.

Going into Saturday, Columbus had 13 games in 25 days.  With having three days off, it was the first back-to-back set of days the team has had off since Nov. 17-18. The team used the time to rest players and build chemistry between players coming off injury and switching lines.

“We had two good practices and I think we really worked hard and I think we showed up tonight and we compete and we play 60 minutes like our team is suppose to play every night,” Brassard said.

The nights off must have done some good for struggling goaltender Steve Mason. The 21-year-old second-year goalie got his first shutout of the season. Mason led the NHL with 10 shutouts last season.

“I think we accomplished a lot in practice,” Mason said. “The few days of practice, the guys really put forth a lot of effort and you know it showed tonight, and everybody looked real sharp and stuck to the game plan. That was the biggest thing.”