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NHL News | March 19, 2010
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Nash scores twice in return as Jackets beat Wild
By Rusty Miller
March 19, 2010
Columbus, OH — Rick Nash scored two third-period goals in his return from an injury that sidelined him four games, and the Columbus Blue Jackets overcame a two-goal deficit Friday night to hand the Minnesota Wild a costly 4-2 loss.
The Wild came into the game in 11th place and six points behind eighth-place Detroit in the Western Conference playoff race. Instead of getting two points, they came away with none after blowing leads of 2-0 in the second period and 2-1 with less than 9 minutes left.
Nash’s shootout-like goal came just 27 seconds after Kris Russell tied it. Nash, who was sidelined with a lower-body injury, then added an empty-netter in the final minute. Kristian Huselius also scored for Columbus, which has won four of five.
Mikko Koivu and Chuck Kobasew had goals for the Wild, who have dropped two in a row after a three-game winning streak.
Until midway through the third period, Columbus was not mustering much offense despite ending up outshooting the Wild 32-20.
Then with 8:58 left, Huselius left a drop pass for Russell, who was trailing the play, and his hard slap shot slipped past R.J. Umberger, who was providing traffic in front of goalie Josh Harding.
Before that tying goal could be announced, Nash took a pass from Jake Voracek in the neutral zone—while defenseman Cam Barker was heading to the bench to get a replacement stick. With no one close, Nash skated in on Harding, faked and then scored on a soft shot that went between Harding’s leg pads.
The Wild pulled the goalie for an extra attacker in the final minute and Nash scored from the blue line for his 30th goal of the year.
Mathieu Garon had 18 saves for the Blue Jackets.
The Wild, who dropped to 22-7-2 when scoring first, opened the scoring midway through the first period. On a rush, Antti Miettinen’s blast from the high slot caught the post—but the puck rebounded to the left wing where Koivu slammed it home for his 20th of the year.
They made it 2-0 near the outset of the second period. Barker kept the puck alive by chipping it back into the offensive zone, where Columbus’ Chris Clark could not control it. Casey Wellman( ended up with it, backhanding a pass for Kobasew’s jam shot.
The Blue Jackets countered later in the period when Huselius cleaned up a rebound off a shot during a scrum by R.J. Umberger. Huselius’ first attempt hit the corner of the crossbar, but the puck came right back to him and he made the second try count.
Umberger then made a huge play late in the period. Garon was down and out of position with Wellwood bearing down on him but Umberger was able to block the puck with his skates to Garon, who covered it.
It was just the third time the Blue Jackets have won (3-22-4) this season when trailing through two periods.
NOTES: The Blue Jackets wrapped up a four-game homestand. … Minnesota is 7-6-0 in the second half of back-to-back games. … Since both clubs joined the NHL in the 2000-2001 season, Columbus is 276-356-33-62 with one playoff appearance and Minnesota is 327-285-55-59 with three trips to the playoffs. … Wild D Justin Falk, making his NHL debut, suffered an undisclosed injury in the second period and didn’t return. … Columbus C Andrew Murray appeared to hurt a knee late in the game and went to the dressing room.
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Wisniewski suspended 8 more games than he anticipated
By Greg Wyshynski
March 19, 2010
After witnessing a series of situations where the line between unprovoked cheap shots and hockey plays was a thin one, there was almost something quaint about James Wisniewski's momentary lapse of reason last night.
He attempted to gain a measure of revenge for Brent Seabrook's hit on Corey Perry with a charge into the Chicago Blackhawks defenseman's noggin. Which is to say that unlike other instances of the NHL's warped sense of justice, a suspension for deliberate retaliation wasn't in question, even if the length of that suspension can be debated.
Wisniewski gets eight games from the League after getting two minutes for charging from the refs. He's a repeat offender, earned a two-game suspension for a head-shot on Shane Doan earlier in the season. Whatever you believe the Anaheim Ducks defenseman deserved for the Seabrook hit, the incredible hubris he exhibited in defending his actions probably didn't help his case:"What happened was my face hit his face because my nose got all cut up from my visor and all that stuff," Wisniewski said following Anaheim's 4-2 win at the Honda Center. "He's one of my real good buddies. That's not what at all what I was (doing). I just pinched down from the blue line. I thought he had the puck so I finished my check."
The Hawks were livid Wisniewski didn't receive more than a minor penalty for charging from referees Paul Devorski and Ian Walsh. Seabrook left the game and didn't return.
Wisniewski didn't think the NHL would suspend him."I wouldn't think so," he said. "I hope not. I didn't do anything wrong. The result of what happened isn't good because of what happened with him. But there wasn't anything wrong that I did."
Eight games is probably too many, but it's becoming useless to have apples-to-oranges debates about the NHL's suspensions. Wisniewski is guiltiest of committing an act of hockey violence after a wave of controversial hits, NHL soul-searching and horrific post-Olympic publicity.
If the League's been consistent about anything, it's that the more of these suspension-level events you have in a short period of time, the higher the punishment's going to get. Unless you still don't believe that Steve Downie's suspension the 2007 preseason had anything to do with Jesse Boulerice getting 25 games a few days later.
UPDATE: The NHL sends out it's official release on the suspension; is this the start of the blindside hit ban?Anaheim Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski has been suspended for eight games, without pay, for delivering a hit to the head area of an unsuspecting opponent -- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook in NHL Game #1041 Wednesday night, the National Hockey League announced today.
The incident occurred at 2:22 of the second period and resulted in Wisniewski being assessed a minor penalty for charging. Seabrook suffered an injury on the play.
Wisniewski, who was suspended for two games on October 31, 2009, now is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Accordingly, he forfeits $268,292.72 in salary, based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (193). The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
"Mr. Wisniewski delivered a retaliatory hit to the head of an opponent who never had possession of the puck," said Colin Campbell, NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations. "The fact that Mr. Wisniewski is a repeat offender also entered into this decision."
As we said at the top, the operative word is: "retaliatory." What would this suspension had been if the Wiz hadn't been "provoked" by the Perry hit?
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