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Anaheim 5, Columbus 3: Blue Jackets lose third straight on road
Monday,
December 8, 2008 3:07 AM
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Chris Carlson | Associated Press
Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf celebrates his second goal after beating Columbus goaltender Pascal Leclaire in the second period.
ANAHEIM -- At 2:39 of the third period last night, Blue Jackets defenseman Ole-Kristian
Tollefsen emerged from a scrum with a dance partner, Anaheim's Ryan Carter.
The fight started well for Tollefsen, but Carter surged at the end and ended up wrestling Tollefsen off his skates. What followed was scary. Tollefsen cracked his head on the ice when he landed. He needed a minute or two to get his bearings, and was noticeably wobbly as he left the ice with a teammate holding him up on each side, a towel held to the back of his head because of the bleeding. The scene could serve as a metaphor for the Blue Jackets' trip out West. It started with such high spirits and ended last night with a 5-3 loss to the Ducks before 16,914 in Honda Center. "We were feeling pretty good (before the trip)," Tollefsen said. "We're not feeling very good right now, that's for sure." When the Blue Jackets left town on Wednesday, they had won two straight games and were ninth place in the Western Conference. They flew home last night in 14th place, thanks to losses in San Jose (3-2), Los Angeles (3-0) and now Anaheim. "We've got some regrouping to do now," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hithcock said. Derick Brassard, Kris Russell and Fredrik Modin scored goals, and Fedor Tyutin had two assists for the Blue Jackets, who scored twice late to pull to 4-3 with 45.6 seconds remaining. But Anaheim's Rob Niedermayer scored right after the ensuing faceoff -- with 35 seconds to play -- to make it 5-3. "We ran out of time," Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire said. "That's what it felt like to me. We worked hard to come back, but that's a hard team to come back against. "I thought we played pretty well, really. A lot better than we did (Saturday night)." The Ducks got two goals from Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan had a goal and an assist and enforcer George Parros had two assists and a mammoth fight win over Blue Jackets' agitator Jared Boll. Also for the Ducks, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere earned his 200th career victory. He made 27 saves. It was 2-0 before the Blue Jackets got on the board. Brassard's goal was a power-play goal at 15:31 of the second period. No, really, a power-play goal. Brassard, who hadn't scored since Nov. 14, found the net with an odd-angle shot, sneaking the puck through Giguere's pads. The Ducks pushed the lead to 3-1 only 2:24 later when Getzlaf scored his second of the game. The Jackets rally started with 2:05 remaining and the club down 4-1. Russell scored his first goal of the season on a slap shot from the top of the left circle. Modin followed with 45 seconds left, putting a heavy wrister on Giguere, the puck trickling through his pads and slowly crossing the goal line. It was 4-3, but it was not to be. Not for the Blue Jackets. Not on this trip. "You're not going get as many scoring chances on the road," Hitchcock said. "That's how the game is, and we have to take advantage more of the chances we've been getting." Story toolsToday’s Top Stories |
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