Two nights after his line was guilty of poor defensive-zone coverage and egregious turnovers, Blue Jackets center Derick Brassard found himself on the ice protecting a one-goal, third-period lead.

What did the late-game presence of the Brassard line reflect Thursday in a 2-1 win over Dallas?

"I trust them -- or that I'm trying to trust them," interim coach Claude Noel said yesterday. "It's responsibility. Can you handle it? It's just like with your kids."

The Blue Jackets youngsters rewarded their new coach's faith again last night as Brassard, 22, and Voracek, 20, had strong performances in a 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Nationwide Arena.

Voracek contributed three assists and Brassard another as Noel improved to 2-0 in place of Ken Hitchcock, who was fired Wednesday.

Noel has said the players need to be prepared for almost any situation. It's a departure from Hitchcock's philosophy.

Last night, enforcer Jared Boll received 44 seconds of power-play time. Brassard and Voracek helped kill a penalty.

The most intriguing use of the linemates was Noel's decision to start them on a 4-on-4 shift with the Blue Jackets' leading 2-0 early in the third period. Under Hitchcock, the Jackets protected leads instead of trying to build on them.

Brassard and Voracek set up Anton Stralman's goal to make it 3-0

"When he told us to go out 4-on-4, me and Jake were like 'Holy (cow),' " Brassard said laughing.

Said Noel: "Those are offensive players, and there was no reason not to start them in that situation."

Practice time awaits

Noel says he plans to introduce change slowly to ensure that all the Jackets "connect the dots."

In that respect, the schedule will become favorable for teaching. The Jackets will have at least two practices before their next game Wednesday against San Jose.

The coaching staff also will have about a week of work with the non-Olympic Jackets players, starting Feb. 24.

"I can't speed up the process. I have to be smart about this," Noel said. "When you teach, you have to be able to know what they are capable of taking.

"Some players might be able to take more than others, but when you are teaching a group, you have to teach the lesser and go by that standard."

That's an interesting comment, especially when juxtaposed with captain Rick Nash's statement that the team never seemed "on the same page" this season.

Critics accused Hitchcock of paralyzing his younger players with information overload.

"We will be patient in how we do things," Noel said. "This isn't a race for me. The idea is to connect the dots for everybody, the individuals and the team. Don't put too many dots on the table until you can connect one to two."

Slap shots

Defenseman Fedor Tyutin sat out the game because of a sore left knee. Forward Fredrik Modin sat out because of a lower-body injury. Goaltender Steve Mason improved to 17-3-3 against Eastern Conference opponents. Milan Jurcina had gone 87 games between goals before scoring last night. His last goal came Dec. 16, 2008. Stralman has points in eight of his past 11 games.

treed@dispatch.com