The Union Blue were in the Gateway City last night to take on divisional foes the St. Louis Blues. The CBJ have not faired well in St. Louis over the past few seasons, 0-7-1 in their past eight outings heading into last night. At points last night it appeared the Jackets were set extend that not so illustrious streak, but Kris Russell and Mathieu Garon had other plans.

The Blue Jackets picked up an important two points with a 3-2 overtime win over the Blues. Russell scored the game-winner seconds after Mathieu Garon kept the Jackets alive with a kick save on Andy MacDonald at the other end. It was a very good, hard-working win, especially after such a dismal performance against the LA Kings Thursday night.

There was a bit of role-reversal to start the game off as it was the Blue Jackets who scored in the first five minutes. Derek Dorsett was set up with a great pass from Freddie Modin and slid a back-hander past Blues goalie Chris Mason at the 4:09 mark.

It appeared that the Jackets would be able to carry the lead into the first intermission but David Backes redirected TJ Oshie’s shot with less than two seconds remaining to tie it up. That goal came on the power play and made even the most cynical of Jackets fans and media cringe.

Things got pretty chippy in the second period with a total of 11 penalties, 36 minutes worth, doled out between both teams. The majority of those stemmed from a fight between Jared Boll and Brad Winchester that occurred just over three minutes into the second. Winchester took exception to a big open-ice hit that Boll laid on Jamie McClement and drew instigator and game misconduct penalties as well. There were numerous other scrums along with a notable, helmet-optional battle for position between Jake Voracek and Eric Brewer.

After Roman Polak’s roughing penalty put the Jackets up on the two-man advantage late in the period, Fedor Tyutin let loose a rocket from the point that beat Mason. RJ Umberger set the screen that made it all possible. Playing the low position on the umbrella to perfection. The Blue Jackets took a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.

Rick Nash took an odd interference penalty with 2:51 remaining in the third after he swept a wayward glove toward Keith Tkachuk, who had do a little toe drag to get around it. MacDonald beat Garon on the ensuing power play to tie it up with 1:35 remaining in regulation. Here we go again right?

It looked like MacDonald would be the hero again for St. Louis when Paul Kariya set him up with a beautiful pass in space. MacDonald, one of the fastest skaters in the game, got behind Russell and tried to tuck it inside the far post but Garon kicked it away and Brassard gather it up and found Russell with some open ice. Russell skated it up and let loose a slap shot from the left dot that beat Mason just 1:32 into the overtime period. The Jackets goal of going 8-2 heading into the Olympic break is still possible.

Notes:

Both Mathieu Garon and his counter part Chris Mason were spectacular last night. Garon stood tall on a number of occasions, OT especially, but Mason really kept the Blues in the game last night.

The Captain, Rick Nash, got involved physically last night and showed his mean-streak with a nice hit on BJ Crombeen. Nash has very few peers in this league when he’s playing with a physical edge and scoring.

Kris Russell was made for 4-on-4 hockey. It looks effortless at times when he skates the puck out from the defensive zone 5-on-5. In overtime, with even more open ice, his skill set makes him downright dangerous. Last night’s goal was another example.

For all that has been made of the Blue Jacket’s recent struggles against St. Louis, Fedor Tyutin may wish he could play all his games against the Blues. In nine games against St. Louis over the past two season Tyutin has 5-3-8 including last night’s power play tally.

Bart Logan

bartftc@gmail.com

Twitter: @BartFTC

Flashback to August 2nd, 2005. The lockout had ended less than two weeks earlier and the biggest free agent frenzy the league had ever seen had just commenced. The Blue Jackets threw their hat in the ring and signed veteran defenseman Adam Foote to a three-year contract. He brought with him two Stanley Cups with won with the Avalanche and a wealth of playoff experience. He was supposed to be the leader on the blue line for the Jackets and the man who would help lead them to their first playoff appearance. It wasn’t any coincidence that Luke Richardson gave up his “C” to Foote during that first season.

Now fast forward to two seasons ago. The Jackets are struggling but only a few points out of a playoff position as the trade deadline approaches. Foote is of the final year of his contract and negotiating with rookie GM Scott Howson for an extension. The Jackets and Foote are separated by $1 million in the two-year extension negotiations. On deadline day, Foote is traded to the Colorado, his former team, for a first round draft pick. Or, that is how he downplays it.

Jackets fans remember things a bit differently. They remember allegations that Foote would become a cancer in the locker room, that the “captain” would be a bad teammate, if he were not traded. They remember the private jet that was waiting for Foote as the trade was announced to fly him to Calgary to participate in the Aves first game after the deadline. They remember Foote being a no-show last year in Colorado’s two visits last year.

While most of the team has turned over from Foote’s final season, his betrayal is still fresh in the minds of those who were. Rick Nash, Jason Chimera, Jan Hejda, Jared Boll and Kris Russell remember their individual meetings with coach Ken Hitchcock after Foote’s departure. They remember their captain deserting them in the down stretch. This team is in the midst of its worst stretch of the season and have just three wins in their past 10 games. This team is coming off of an embarrassing 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in front of their home crowd. This team needs the crowd in this game. This team needs some sort of spark. Here’s hoping Adam Foote can finally provide that for the team.

-Bart Logan

bartftc@gmail.com

Twitter: BartFTC

Jackets fans have great expectations for the Russian wonder kid in 2009, after he awed them with his skillful play in limited minutes in ’08-’09, including his January 10 hat trick against the Minnesota Wild.

Many sites have tabbed Filatov as a potential Calder Trophy finalist as the league’s top rookie, as well the top remaining prospect out of the 2008 entry draft and a steal for the Jackets at number six.

In 39 games with AHL Syracuse, Filatov posted 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 total points. Also, as captain of Russia’s world junior team, Filatov scored 12 goals and 8 assists in 14 games at the World Junior Championships between 2008 and 2009.

Most expect Filatov to make the team this year, but the question is where the human highlight reel will line up.

The Jackets have a plethora of talent at left wing, Filatov’s natural position, making for a bit of a traffic jam. Going into camp, Huselius, Umberger, and either Torres or Chimera look to hold the top three left wing spots. Meaning, Filatov may be pushed back to the fourth line.

We can say almost with certainty that Filatov will not line up along the third line as it is your traditional checking line. So for Nikita to crack the top three lines, he would have to earn a position along one of the top two.

There a few ways this could happen: the most obvious of them being if he flat out earns it. We have seen rookies line up on the top two lines in the past, and if this kid is as good as they say, we may see him replace a struggling veteran at the top.

Another way would be through injury. If one of the guys ahead of him went down, Filatov could fill in nicely. Now although his natural position is at left wing, it is possible we could see him line up on the right side if need be.

A position change for a superstar like Filatov would not be unheard of in Columbus; captain Rick Nash currently resides on the right although his natural position is also on the left.

There is also the possibility of a trade making some room for Filatov along the top two lines. If the Jackets are going to make a move for a scoring defenseman, it is likely the trade bait would be from the pool of left-wingers.

Although it would likely be a winger, we can almost rule out Huselius and Umberger as trade material because of large contracts and team commitments.

So if Filatov makes the team, which we expect him to, he will most likely start out on the fourth line with the possibility of climbing up the ranks, as did Voracek and Brassard a year ago.

Fire The Cannon writers Eric Smith and Bart Logan discuss this issue and more in this week’s podcast available on iTunes and at FireTheCannon.com.

Jackets fans will have the chance to watch Union Blue take on two Eastern Conference giants in home-and-away series with the Boston Bruins and the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. They will end the preseason in Nationwide Arena with a game against Central Division rival Nashville on Monday, September 28.

Here is the full preseason schedule:

Friday 9/16 @ Minnesota 8PM

Saturday 9/19 @ Nashville 8PM

Monday 9/21 vs. Minnesota 7PM

Tuesday 9/22 vs. Boston 7PM

Thursday 9/24 vs. Pittsburgh 7PM

Friday 9/25 @ Pittsburgh 7:30PM

Saturday 9/26 @ Boston 7PM

Monday 9/28 vs. Nashville 7PM

In addition the Blue Jackets also announced today that they have re-structured parts of the arena seating to make tickets more affordable. Nearly one thousand seats will be available for the price of $18 while an additional 400 will be available at $23. For more detail visit bluejackets.com.

The Blue Jackets are expected to release their full 2009-2010 regular-season schedule on Wednesday, July 15.

Fast forward 1 year, and LaCosta cashes his 1st NHL shutout against the Avalanche, completing a season sweep of an opponent that has historically bedeviled the franchise. The 8th shutout this year, all of the coming from players that were in the AHL when the year began. Wow!

In many respects, this was the type of game Jackets fans have come to expect this year, and in other ways not. As we have in many games, we dominated the first period, 16 shots to 4, had an overwhelming advantage in possession, but had nothing to show for it. Budaj made some nice saves, and other opportunities we just missed. As in some previous games, we went catatonic in the second period — taking penalties, getting outhit, etc., and were outshot by almost as large a margin. Starting the 3rd, we again dominated, and once Murray scored, there was no turning back. This was different from past games. Tonight, we got them down and then stepped on their throat. The intensity went off the chart after the first goal, and we went for more — and got them. That is learning how to win, and how to beat a team that they should. No backing off, no protecting the lead. We gave up a few rushes toward the end, but 1 post and a couple of nice saves preserved the shutout.

Here are the +/- for the night:

++LaCosta — Labrador City is drinking heavily tonight! What an effort by this young man. Though not nearly of Mason’s stature, his movements in goal are very similar, and his style of movement is closer to Mason than Leclaire. The team also responds well in front of him, which is huge. Where would the CBJ have been this year without the efforts of Mason and LaCosta?

++Defense –Not the stifling display we saw against San Jose (we were outshot 31-30), but somehow watching the game you never felt that imminent threat from the Avs. Sure, they rang one off the post after it didn’t matter, and LaCosta made some great saves, but much of their effort was kept at the perimeter and we did a nice job of poke checking and clearing the slot.

++Special Teams — Penalty kill was perfect, even after some ticky tack calls against us. No goals on the two PP attempts, but I sure like the look of it a lot better.

++Players — Hejda, Commodore, Tyutin were just huge all night. Russell was a single handed puck moving machine, and Klesla showed some energy. Murray was strong, and got a crazy goal from no angle, after his one-handed spike was disallowed (properly) by the on ice officials and Toronto. Torres had his best game as a Jacket, and Modin and Chimera both worked hard. Voracek turned in what is becoming a normal strong effort. Williams continues to prove that Howson is a genius.

–Puck Handling — When we get in trouble, it is because we get too fancy and/or careless with the puck. Our top line can crisply move the puck back and forth, but they did not click tonight, though they generated lots of chances. Turnovers in the neutral zone and near our own blue line robbed us of chances and gave the Avs the few chances they had.

–Fans — 14+ K at the game on a beatiful night in Columbus was a weak showing, and the crowd was unduly quiet. Sure, it was a measured game, but we dominated the first and you would have thought that we were at a chess match. Guess the blood alcohol took awhile to reach therapeutic levels, as enthusiasm returned in the 3rd.

A necessary win that we did not let get away, and one that moves us up the line. We need to keep the pedal to the metal as we go up against the Wings and Carolina, but watching that confidence and effort, you have to have a good feeling about this club. Go Jackets!!