The Blue Jackets have made at least temporary change in goal, with Mathieu Garon expected to get at least the next couple of starts -- including Tuesday vs. Calgary -- while Steve Mason works to rediscover his game.
But what about the other end of the ice? The Blue Jackets, with only 22 goals scored during their 2-7-3 plunge to 12th place, have reconfigured their top two lines in advance of facing the Flames.
Don't get too excited. As right winger Jake Voracek put it: "It's a new old line."
Rick Nash has switched to right wing and joined a line with left winger Kristian Huselius and center Antoine Vermette. R.J. Umberger, meanwhile, will gain slumping linemates in center Derick Brassard and Voracek.
During the 12-game slide, Brassard has 2-1-3 and a minus-7 rating. Voracek has 0-4-4 and minus-3.
"There some familiarity there from before," Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel said. "We need them going. You can't run with one line.
"But as I told the team this morning, `When I say we have to work harder to score goals, and we have to bear down on pucks in games and in practice', I was talking to all 15 of our forwards. We're not getting the scoring from our bottom six like we were earlier in the year. When our power play wasn't working, we were getting contributions from everybody."
Side dishes:
-- Garon will start vs. Calgary, but no plans have been made beyond Tuesday. After practice yesterday, G Steve Mason spent at least an addition half-hour on the ice working with coaches. Here's a question: Is Garon a No. 1 goaltender? The Blue Jackets aren't tabbing him as such, but they will allow that he might get the bulk of the work for the next little while. Twice before in his career Garon has played as the No. 1 goaltender, with Los Angeles and Montreal. We'll have a look in Tuesday's Dispatch at how those two stretches turned out.
-- Good schedule timing for the Blue Jackets. The Flames play last night in Minnesota before flying to Columbus for Tuesday's game.
But what about the other end of the ice? The Blue Jackets, with only 22 goals scored during their 2-7-3 plunge to 12th place, have reconfigured their top two lines in advance of facing the Flames.
Don't get too excited. As right winger Jake Voracek put it: "It's a new old line."
Rick Nash has switched to right wing and joined a line with left winger Kristian Huselius and center Antoine Vermette. R.J. Umberger, meanwhile, will gain slumping linemates in center Derick Brassard and Voracek.
During the 12-game slide, Brassard has 2-1-3 and a minus-7 rating. Voracek has 0-4-4 and minus-3.
"There some familiarity there from before," Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel said. "We need them going. You can't run with one line.
"But as I told the team this morning, `When I say we have to work harder to score goals, and we have to bear down on pucks in games and in practice', I was talking to all 15 of our forwards. We're not getting the scoring from our bottom six like we were earlier in the year. When our power play wasn't working, we were getting contributions from everybody."
Side dishes:
-- Garon will start vs. Calgary, but no plans have been made beyond Tuesday. After practice yesterday, G Steve Mason spent at least an addition half-hour on the ice working with coaches. Here's a question: Is Garon a No. 1 goaltender? The Blue Jackets aren't tabbing him as such, but they will allow that he might get the bulk of the work for the next little while. Twice before in his career Garon has played as the No. 1 goaltender, with Los Angeles and Montreal. We'll have a look in Tuesday's Dispatch at how those two stretches turned out.
-- Good schedule timing for the Blue Jackets. The Flames play last night in Minnesota before flying to Columbus for Tuesday's game.
