LOS ANGELES - Nothing was going right for Jake Voracek. He couldn't score. He couldn't pass. Every play he made seemed like the wrong one.

Voracek was a 20-year-old bereft of confidence on Feb.2, the night he finished with a minus-4 rating in a 5-1 loss to Colorado.

"We weren't winning; nothing was working," Voracek said. "I'd try to make a play, and the puck would wind up on someone's skates. It was everything at once."

It's amazing how, at even the highest levels of sport, one fortuitous bounce can swing a player's fortunes. For Voracek, it happened Feb.6, when he snapped an eight-game scoreless streak with a secondary assist on a fluky goal by Milan Jurcina.

He finished the night with three points and has been one of the Jackets' best players in recent weeks. Voracek carried a career-high six-game point streak into last night's contest against Los Angeles. He had a goal and six assists in that span.

"Since then, I'm playing with confidence again, making plays," Voracek said. "It feels good. Sometimes, it can take one good pass, one good shot to turn everything around."

Voracek set up the only goal in Saturday's 2-1 loss at San Jose with a nifty own-zone pass that trapped two Sharks.

He has thrived under interim coach Claude Noel, who is giving Voracek increased responsibility such as penalty-killing duties.

"I was in a little slump, eight, nine games before Hitch got fired," Voracek said, mentioning former coach Ken Hitchcock. "I don't know what was wrong, I just didn't play well."

Noel was effusive in his praise of the 6-foot-2, 213-pound right winger.

"He is playing up to his capabilities," Noel said. "You can see he is going to be a horse in this league. You give him another year or two, and he's going to be a heckuva player. He's going to be absolutely dynamite."

Goal scoring remains an issue for Voracek, who has found the back of the net just once in the past 33 games. But Noel said the Czech-born forward's shot is improved from a season ago.

Like many young European players, Noel added, Voracek is still adjusting to the NHL lifestyle. Noel thinks that will come with maturity, however.

Pep talks

Noel and assistant coach Gord Murphy have had chats with defenseman Anton Stralman in recent days. The message: pick up the intensity.

Stralman entered last night's game scoreless in six games. He also has struggled in his own end, especially Saturday in San Jose. The Jackets don't expect their power-play quarterback to hit like Dion Phaneuf, but even finesse defensemen must be accountable behind the red line.

"The other night, we were all a step behind," Stralman said. "I know I have to raise my level and play stronger

Getting burned

Center Derick Brassard returned to the lineup last night after missing the previous two games because of an infection in his left hand.

Brassard burned the hand while he was repairing a stick between periods of the Feb.14 game against Chicago. The knob of his stick, covered in hot glue, fell from a work table, and Brassard reached out to catch it.

It's surprising that such mishaps don't occur more often, considering all the players who work around torches, hot glue and saws.

"It's the same accidents that happen around the home," Noel said. "They are silly as they get. It's too bad because he was just starting to play better."

treed@dispatch.com