NHL
Blackhawks 6, Blue Jackets 1: Careless mismatch
Brassard scores early, but Blackhawks run season record to 5-0-0 vs. uninspired Jackets
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Puck Rakers
A blog about the Blue Jackets and the NHL
One Signed, Two Set Free
The Blue Jackets have agreed to terms with defenseman Austin Madaisky on a three-year, entry-level contract, and the official deal should be announced shortly. Madaisky was a fifth-round pick (No. 124 overall) in the 2010 NHL entry draft.
Two other picks - right winger Petr Straka (2nd round, No. 55) and defenseman Brandon Archibald (4th round, No. 94) - have been informed by the Blue Jackets that they won't be signed, sending them back in the pool of draftable players for next month's draft in Pittsburgh.
Of those two, Straka is the mild surprise.
He had 28-36-64 in 62 games with Rimouski (QMJHL) during his draft year, but tailed off badly the last two seasons. In 2010-11, he had 10-15-25 in 41 games. This season, he had 18-19-37 in 54 games. That's fewer points the last two seasons -- 62 in 95 games -- than he scored as a 17-year-old.
However, Straka made a pretty good last-best argument for a deal with his performance in the QMJHL playoffs. He had 10-12-22 in 21 games, becoming a point-a-game player once again. The bet here is that he gets drafted his June, but certainly on Saturday (2nd through 7th rounds) and probably later in the day.
The Blue Jackets acquired the pick used on Straka with the 2010 trade deadline deal that sent winger Raffi Torres to Buffalo.
Madaisky, meanwhile, blossomed this season in his fourth year of juniors, the last three spent with Kamloops (WHL). He had 13 goals, 37 assists, 50 points and a plus-20 rating, all career highs. He also had 87 penalty minutes. He could play a fifth year of junior next season, or begin his pro career, likely with AHL Springfield.
Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson and the hockey operations department face one last difficult decision as it pertains to the 2010 draft class. Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil remains unsigned, and the Jackets still aren't sure if they want to keep him in the fold.
"We'll evaluate him in the Memorial Cup and make a decision," Howson said. "Not sure right now."
Corbeil is 50-11-2 in the last two seasons with Saint John of the QMJHL, which won the Memorial Cup last season and is a favorite to repeat. Corbeil, named the QMJHL's goalie of the year, is 16-0-1 in this year's playoffs, with a 2.18 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.
Those numbers will cause many readers to scratch their temples and wonder: "How could they possibly not want this guy?" What the Blue Jackets are trying to determine is if Corbeil is a product of a powerhouse hockey club or a goaltender with legitimiate NHL potential. These are the questions that keep scouts up late at night.
Two weeks ago, the Blue Jackets seemed to be leaning away from signing Corbeil. These days it seems to be leaning back the other direction, though no decision has been made.
-- Aaron Portzline
twitter: @aportzline
Blue Jackets interim coach Todd Richards was embarrassed. Right winger Derek Dorsett was frustrated. Defenseman James Wisniewski burned hot as he limped from the dressing room to the trainer’s table.
If enough of the rest of the Blue Jackets were as emotionally invested as those three, the Jackets wouldn’t have so many games like the one they lost yesterday.
The Chicago Blackhawks got off to a sloppy, sluggish start but still cruised to a 6-1 win before 18,663 at Nationwide Arena. The crowd included a large group of Blackhawks fans.
“The crowd was into it,” Blue Jackets center Derek MacKenzie said. “They were right there, right from the start. And we started OK, but after that, we lost it and we couldn’t get it back. And that’s too bad.
“You hate to have nights like this, and we’ve had too many of them.”
The Blue Jackets, who fell to 0-5-0 against the Blackhawks this season, allowed the final six goals of the game.
After the lead grew to 6-1 at 5:32 of the third period, Richards called a timeout.
“(The Blackhawks) wanted it more than us at that point,” Richards said. “We weren’t playing. We were going through the motions.
“I was embarrassed, embarrassed at the way we were playing. I got a response, but it can’t come down to me calling a timeout to try and get a reaction. It has to come from them. It has to come from within.”
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead at 5:13 of the first period when former Jackets defenseman Sami Lepisto appeared to forget which sweater he was wearing.
Lepisto feathered a perfect pass to Blue Jackets center Derick Brassard, who skated toward the slot and beat goaltender Corey Crawford with a slap shot over his left pad.
And that was the Blue Jackets’ offensive output for the day, despite the fact that the Blackhawks were sloppy with the puck in their own end, especially early in the game.
The lead was gone at 12:27 of the first after Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews skated around Jackets center Jeff Carter and beat goaltender Steve Mason from close range.
The Blackhawks’ Viktor Stahlberg made it 2-1 at 16:48 on a bang-bang feed in front of the net from Bryan Bickell. Stahlberg has 16 goals this season, eight of them against the Blue Jackets and four of those game-winners.
“We started out OK,” Mason said. “But we couldn’t sustain it.”
Mason was pulled after the lead grew to 4-1 on Patrick Kane’s goal at 15:30 of the second. It wasn’t the worst goal Mason has allowed — he seemed unready for it, falling on his backside when it whizzed past him — but Richards wasn’t happy.
“It was the goal,” Richards said, explaining the hook. “It was the fourth goal. It was kind of leading up to that point.
“His game wasn’t where it was the last three games. We have to play against (the New York Rangers tonight). All of those thoughts led to the move.”
In came rookie Allen York, who has been through a wringer this season.
York has been moved from team to team within the organization 12 times and played in only 19 games all season. Remarkably, York hadn’t played since Jan. 11, when he entered in Mason’s stead.
Welcome to the nightmare, son.
aportzline@dispatch.com
