Forget comparisons at this point, Steve Mason is setting his own bar. Mason is the first rookie to have 3 consecutive shutouts since 1955. His timing is great because the season was hanging in the balance when he started this terror. The Jackets themselves were coming off of getting blanked twice in a row and on the verge of a death spiral.
"It was a pretty routine game for myself. The guys played great in front of myself and made it real easy," Mason mentioned as he just sloughs off the continued great play. Sometimes I wonder if his pulse gets above 60, ever!
Welcome to the new/old Blue Jackets as with the lack of skill and their most talented center, it's back to the dump and chase days. With the additions of Voracek, Brassard and Huselius, some Jackets fans were hoping for a little prettier hockey but no such luck and I think if Hitch was honest he is smiling inside just a little. There is no resistance to the Hitch style now and it's resulting in wins. That means everyone is drinking the Hitchcock Kool-Aid and asking for seconds. "Everybody confuses defense with checking, but right now we've got everybody checking," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Everybody is committed. This is how we have to play, and we're doing it."
With the 2-0 start to the season hinging road trip, Howson looks like he is sharpening his pencil and putting the wheels in motion for a trade. The Jackets have 2 scouts in Toronto tonight and is a place where Howson might be able to pull off a 2 for 1 trade. Needing a center in a bad way Nik Antropov's name comes up in conversation. He would be a fit for the short term and if he fits in maybe for longer. Antropov will be a UFA at the end of the year. Antropov makes slightly over $2 million a year and will be expecting a raise on his next contract. The other player that has been strongly mentioned is Pavel Kubina. He is a right handed shot from the blue line that certainly wouldn't hurt the Jackets power play efforts. He currently has 8 goals and 19 points with 5 of the goals and 10 of the points coming on the power play. He does make $5 million a year until the end of next season. That is the one big part that would make this team reluctant to pull the trigger on Kubina.
Who goes back in return? Would Pascal Leclaire be part of this trade? Would one of the young guns be part of the trade, say Jakub Voracek? The Maple Leafs are in the mode of rebuilding and under a youth movement. Especially with Brian Burke now at the wheel, he wants to put his stamp on this club sooner rather than later. Burke is always a guy that is known to be a bit of a wheeler and dealer. We will see.
Notes and Stats After the Anaheim Game
* For the first time in franchise history, the Blue Jackets have posted back-to-back-to-back shutouts
* Columbus set a team franchise record for longest shutout streak tonight, going 182:08 without allowing a goal
o The streak began with 2:08 remaining in the Dec. 23 contest vs. Los Angeles, included back-to-back-to-back shutouts Dec. 27 vs. Philadelphia (60:00), Dec. 29 at Los Angeles (60:00) and tonight (60:00)
o The streak will continue into Friday’s game at Colorado
o The previous record was 166:06 set Dec. 1-9, 2006
* With the win tonight, Columbus is now:
o 17-16-4 overall
o 6-10-3 on the road
o 7-5-4 when tied after the first period
o 6-2-1 when tied after two periods of play
o 14-6-1 when scoring the first goal of the game
o 13-2-0 when allowing two or fewer goals
Blue Jackets Player Notes
* G Steve Mason has set the individual franchise record for longest shutout streak, going 181:59 (and counting) without allowing a goal
o He is the first goaltender in franchise history to post back-to-back-to-back shutouts (71 saves)
o His last goal allowed was Dec. 23 vs. Los Angeles with 2:08 remaining in the game, the posted back-to-back shutouts Dec. 27 vs. Philadelphia (59:51) and Dec. 29 at Los Angeles (60:00) and went 60:00 tonight
+ The previous record of 156:29 was set by Pascal Leclaire Feb. 18-Oct. 14, 2007
o He improved to 12-7-1 with a 1.69 goals-against average, .938 save percentage and five shutouts in 20 games
o He has allowed two or fewer goals in 12 of his past 15 starts (allowed three goals in the other three)
* C Craig MacDonald made his Blue Jackets debut tonight and scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket tonight against the Ducks
o He is the 11th player to make his Blue Jackets debut this season (the other nine are: D Christian Backman, D Mike Commodore, RW Derek Dorsett, C Nikita Filatov, LW Kristian Huselius, LW Raffi Torres, D Fedor Tyutin, C R.J. Umberger, RW Jakub Voracek, LW Mike York)
o He is the fourth player this season to score his first goal as a Blue Jacket in his Blue Jackets’ debut
+ RW Jakub Voracek, C Nikita Filatov and LW Kristian Huselius all scored in their Blue Jackets debuts
* D Mike Commodore assisted on MacDonald’s goal, his 14th of the season, snapping a four-game pointless skid
o He has taken the lead among club defensemen in assists and has three more assists (14) and one more point (15) in 37 games this season than he did in 67 games with Ottawa and Carolina last season
o He has registered 1-4-5 his past 10 games after being held to 0-1-1 his previous 10 games
o He has played in 20 or more minutes in 31-of-37 games this season, including 28 of his past 30
o Columbus is 10-2-1 this season when he tallies a point
* D Jan Hejda also assisted on MacDonald’s goal, his fifth assist and seventh point of the campaign
o He has collected 1-1-2 the past three games after being held without a point the previous nine games
o He has a +12 plus/minus rating the past 29 games and has played in 20 or more minutes of action in 28-of-37 games
o Columbus is 14-3-0 all-time when he registers a point
* C Michael Peca scored his third goal of the season at 17:26 of the third
o He has two goals in his past seven games after being held goalless the previous 13 games
* LW Rick Nash played the 400th game of his NHL career tonight, becoming the third player in franchise history to play in 400 or more games (RW David Vyborny – 543 games – and D Rostislav Klesla – 427 games – are the others)
o Nash, who assisted on Peca’s goal, has collected 170-139-309 in 400 career games spanning five-plus seasons (he’s in his sixth NHL season)
o He has pushed his season totals to 16-17-33 in 37 games with the assist
o He has 3-5-8 the past seven games after being held to 0-1-1 the previous four outings.
o He leads the club in goals, assists, points, power play goals (tied) and game-winning goals
o He has played in 20 or more minutes in 12 of the past 15 games, including a team-high 25:49 of action tonight
* LW Kristian Huselius also assist on Peca’s goal, his 13th helper of the season
o He has collected 1-3-4 his past seven games after being held pointless his previous five games
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