CBC-Sports

Blue Jackets have to regroup at home

April 19, 2009 04:31 PM | Posted by   CBC Sports Staff  

A must-win situation. That’s how Columbus Blue Jackets forward R.J. Umberger is describing Game 3 of their Western Conference opening-round series with the Detroit Red Wings.

The Blue Jackets will step onto home ice at Nationwide Arena Tuesday trailing the best-of-seven set 2-0, and Umberger believes all of their suddenly-fading Stanley Cup hopes depend upon the outcome of that game.

“I think we’re disappointed,” Umberger said of dropping the first two games in Detroit. “We wanted to come out of there with at least one victory, and take the home ice away from them. We’re not happy at all. We’re going have to regroup at home.

“We’ve been good there all year, so we need that best effort in Game 3. We need to come out of the gate ready to play. There’s still some hockey to be played. Obviously, Game 3 is now a must-win for sure. At our place, we’ve got to dictate, we’ve got to turn this momentum around.”

They’re interested now

As a team, the Red Wings admit that getting into gear during the regular season was an extreme challenge for them following their 2007-08 Stanley Cup win.

“We were a little bored at the end of the season,” Wings goalie Chris Osgood said. “That sounds bad, but it’s honest. We were looking forward to playoffs 100 per cent. We couldn’t wait to get through that last month. I was actually shocked by how many wins we got in March.

“We were always talking about getting to the playoffs. We couldn’t wait. We’ve only played two games, but I knew we’d be ready. Guys are sacrificing themselves, making the plays just like they did last year.”

Increased commitment

Detroit defenceman Brad Stuart is seeing a different level of play from his teammates since playoff pucks were first dropped.

“We definitely are playing with a lot more commitment on both sides of the puck,” Stuart said. “Probably part of the fact behind that is that we weren’t doing it as well during the regular season."

Stuart doesn’t discount Osgood’s theory that the Wings were disinterested at times during regular-season play. “It’s probably partly true,” he said. “We all know how exciting this time of year is. For the last few weeks, essentially you’ve locked up a playoff spot and it can be hard to find that motivation."

Centres of attention

Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock felt the difference in Game 2 was the solid work Detroit got from its four centres -- Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Valtteri Filppula and Darren Helm.

“There is an advantage for them in the middle of the ice,” Hitchcock said. “There is against every team except for maybe one other club in the National Hockey League. We were able to negate that in the first game, but [in Game 2] we weren’t.”

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