Another Home Loss for the Jackets

Less than two minutes into tonight’s game versus Phoenix, a  Blue Jackets turnover in their own zone lead to a quick Coyotes goal by Keith Yandle. I couldn’t help thinking “Here we go again…” and I have a feeling a lot of Jackets fans thought the same thing. After giving up an early goal in the home loss to Nashville a few nights ago, it would have been nice to see the Jackets come out ready play in front of a home crowd desperate to see a win.

To the Jackets credit, they seemed to wake up after the early goal and played good hockey for pretty much the rest of the game, which saw tough battles and scoring chances in both ends until Rick Nash finally lit the lamp late in the third. The problem is, throughout this losing streak, we’ve heard all the talk, from both players and coaches. The talk about “playing 60 minutes” and “being responsible in our own end” –  and yet every single game,  defensive mistakes are leading to goals against. That’s why it’s so easy to understand all the talk about Hitchcock’s job being in jeopardy; every press conference, every interview he is saying exactly what the team needs to do differently and yet the team never responds or executes.

Another embarrassment for the Jackets has got to be their inability to win games while facing backup goalies. Eary in the season (when the Jackets looked good) Hitchcock mentioned in an interview how teams respected them more and they were seeing less backup goalies then they used to. Well, clearly teams don’t respect the Jackets anymore, regardless of how their powerplay is doing, as teams continue to roll out their backups and get wins. Dan Ellis, Peter Budaj, and now Jason LaBarbera have won against the Jackets during their slide.

Tonight the Blue Jackets lost in the shootout and for the most part, played a solid game in there own zone for a change. There are positives to be taken away from this, but at the end of the day it’s another home loss for a Jackets team already at the bottom of their conference.

The CBJ will look to rebound Saturday night on the road against the Colorado Avalanche.