Columbus Goalies Need Defensemen To Step Up

The Blue Jackets have given up 5 goals in each of their last two games on the road and their penalty-killing streak came to an end against Edmonton. They haven’t proven that they can win on the road, something good teams seem to do. It doesn’t matter who they put in the net, if they are on the road, they will give up, on average, 4 goals a game. Who is at fault, the goalies or defensemen? Everyone who has ever read this blog knows my answer to the question.

I know that Columbus has a banged-up defensive squad, but it looks like they can put it together when they at home. The road has not been kind and the lone defenseman that has looked great has been Anton Stralman. They acquired him right before the start of the season and he has done a great job at moving the puck. Jan Hejda will be out for a few more weeks, but the good news is that Mike Commodore looks to be nearing a possible return soon.

I still think that a possible mid-season trade for a defenseman is the best bet for the Blue Jackets, even it means trading Nikita Filatov. He was a healthy scratch early last week and I’m sure that didn’t make the young Russian very happy. He seems to be on the outs, despite his amazing ability.

We’ll see if Columbus can turn this losing streak around against Anaheim tonight. The game is away and we all know what the trend has been. Can the Blue Jackets man up and keep the scoring total low? Steve Mason should be in net, I guess he’s our best bet. Let’s hope that he doesn’t have to stop 40 shots tonight to win the game.

Tags: anton stralman, jan hejda, mike commodore, nikita filatov