Their first game was against the Predators. A team that went to the playoffs last year, Columbus was hungry to give Nashville a loss to start their season, but instead it was Nashville who came behind to win it. Next up, Minnesota Wild, who I though was a good team to start the season and Columbus allowed them to walk away with a 4-2 win, with goalie Steve Mason allowing goals by Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley. Next, it was Vancouver at home. It started out well, with rookie Cam Atkinson scoring his first NHL goal of his career. But there was nothing the Blue Jackets could've done to stop the mighty firepower of a Vancouver team and they walked out with a 3-2 loss. An 0-3 start? Well, it was a chance for a win against Colorado. It was a pretty good start. Even though Colorado got the first goal, the Blue Jackets answered in the 2nd and 3rd periods with goals from Rick Nash and Radek Martinek. But the Avalanche came back with a late-tying goal and an eventual shootout winner to continue the Blue Jackets' misery.
Now, you would think that with all the players they picked up in the offseason, such as Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski, the Blue Jackets would be top contenders in the Western Conference, right? Well, right now, it's a bit of a sore start to this team. Even their attendance has dropped. 8,986 attended the game and that's below 50% of the entire stadium. Yes, I realize it was a school night, but come on, at this rate, the Blue Jackets won't even have 40% of their entire arena filled.
The Blue Jackets have had the worst first week of any other team in the league. Surely, they only have a point, but their offense is really not picking this team up and Jeff Carter is certainly having a quiet start to the season. Rick Nash is being Rick Nash but the other members of that team are not helping out in any way.
They’re tied for the league lead in games played with four, yet they’ve managed only one point in those games. At least it puts them ahead of the Flames, who only played two games and the Winnipeg Jets (with only one game played), and it ties them with the Phoenix Coyotes (two games played).
The bright side to these games are that they are not getting blown out in those games, like Winnipeg did against Montreal. Three of their four losses were only by one goal and they got a point from the shootout. But certainly the offense and special teams needs to find a way to get that act together and get Columbus right back into the mix, because other teams are going to find a way to beat those sorry Jackets if those Jackets don't get their offense in shape.
78 games left for Columbus and probably 74 with Wisniewski. Right now, there should be no panic. But there should be some worry from GW Scott Howson, coach Scott Arniel, and Jackets fans if this teams' month turns into a lousy one. They have a home-and-home with Dallas and if they want to get some offense going, how about beating Kari Lehtonen in those games?
A rough start to Columbus, but can they rebound and can they get back into the mix as one of the favorable teams come playoff time? Only time will tell, puckheads. And we'll see if Columbus steps it up and really makes a statement that they can be one of the favorites when the playoffs roll around. Keep an eye on them!
Here is the recap and a little analysis from last night's Jackets game, courtesy of NBC Sports.
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