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Horton Debut a Success, Blues Crush Jackets, Columbus Prepares for Rangers

January 6, 2014, 1:02 PM ET [6 Comments]
Glen Miller
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Columbus started the new year off on the right skate last Thursday shutting out the Phoenix Coyotes 2 - 0 and pulling their record to within one win of .500. Unfortunately the Jackets failed to sustain that success dropping a 6 - 2 decision two nights later in St. Louis.

Nathan Horton made his Columbus Blue Jackets debut in style, tallying the eventual game-winning goal on the PP in the second period. Horton, occupying his usual work space in front of the opposing net, put in a rebound of a James Wisniewski shot for his first Blue Jackets goal. The media in Phoenix (or whomever votes for the game's three stars) were suitably impressed and selected Horton as the contest's first star.

His excitement to finally get back out on the ice was evident from the opening puck drop. After finishing off an effective first shift, Horton sat down on the bench with a huge smile on his face. He's worked hard and had to be patient so it's terrific to see his efforts pay off with some success on the ice.

Curtis McElhinney, continuing his strong play in the absence of Sergei Bobrovsky, stopped all 34 shots he faced in winning his 7th game of the campaign.

RJ Umberger potted his 11th goal of the season, also on the PP, in the third period.

Things began well for the Jackets in St. Louis as Columbus jumped out to a 2 - 0 lead in the first period on goals by Artem Anisimov, who is now second on the team with 12, and Mark Letestu, just his second of the season. But the Blues bounced back in the second stanza, outshooting Columbus 17 - 6 and tallying three times to take a lead they would not relinquish.

St. Louis would follow that up with a three-goal third period to provide the final 6 - 2 result. Patrik Berglund potted two goasl, Alex Pietrangelo and Vladimir Sobotka each tallied a goal and an assist while David Backes, Kevin Shattenkirk, Vladimir Tarasenko and TJ Oshie all finished with two assists.

Columbus closes out their four-game road trip in New York to take on the Rangers at MSG. The condition of the ice will be something to watch as MSG has hosted a PBR event the last few days and according to a tweet from Aaron Portzline, the dirt was still being removed from the facility as of this morning. In fact, the last minute clean up forced the Blue Jackets to hold their morning skate at Chelsea Piers.

The Rangers are coming off what might be their best effort so far of an up-and-down campaign, thrashing the Toronto Maple Leafs 7 - 1 Saturday night. New York currently sits one game over .500 but on eight other occasions when they have had an opportunity to get to two games over they have failed to do so. Columbus will try to extend that dubious mark tonight.

Edit: Oops, apologies for the typing error in the title originally. Thanks for catching that and bringing it to my attention (you know who you are).
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