Top shelf, glove-side, across the body.

I dare anyone to say that to Hendrik Lundqvist if they ever have the opportunity to within the next week. I have a feeling that after tonight, King Henry of Sweden will be double-checking his glove to make sure some Blue Jackets' player didn't play a college prank and line it with heavy ball bearings. That actually sounds like something that either Jason Chimera or Dan Fritsche would do, too.

Jeff Rimer and Danny Gare were quick to point out during the FSN Ohio broadcast that tonight marked Rick Nash's first ever shortie. When you think about it, it's both a combination of a surprise ... and not that surprising at all. Nash's time on the penalty kill had been extremely limited leading up to Hitchcock's arrival in Columbus, and so he never got many opportunities prior to now. Still, limited PK role notwithstanding, you would think he'd have at least one in his career leading up to now.

Speaking of the penalty kill, what happened tonight? After blowing their first PK attempt in the first (and much to most CBJ fan's expectations), the team suddenly became ... well, good at it. And to me, the key reason for that suddenly explosive penalty kill?

Aggressive play.

They didn't play stupidly aggressive, like teams are apt to do when they're down a man. No, instead, they played smart aggressive. They picked the right times to pressure point men, drop away from the slot to pressure down low, and didn't get caught out of place all that much after the first power play goal against them by the Rangers. And even then, I have to admit the first power play for the Rangers had me dizzy. Did anyone else see how many Rangers jumped in to the air? I think it was three in all, who kept leaping up while clogging up the slot and crease area, while the point men passed to one another before Jaromir Jagr scored on a slap shot.

I was pleasantly surprised, once again, by the way Geoff Platt played, especially after just being called up today from Syracuse. Although Platt is literally snakebitten with a goose egg on the stats sheet in all his NHL games played, he continues to play with a Fritsche-esque jump to his step. A future energy line guy? Most likely. We'll have to see if he can make a more permanant jump up to the team next year, depending on how well he does and how much time he gets in the last part of this season.

Lastly, this post won't be complete without me throwing down the gauntlet and expressing my opinion about yesterday's Anson Carter trade. For those not in the know, this is what the deal was:

To Carolina:
Anson Carter
To Columbus:
5th Round Draft Pick, 2008 NHL Entry Draft

There's no way around this one, folks; this trade just plain stinks to the high heavens. Doug MacLean's bartering abilities for this trade were atrocious. Sure, MacLean might say in today's Dispatch article that "There was limited, limited interest (in Carter). I’ve been working on it for a couple of weeks. There was no movement whatsoever in the market.", but the fact of the matter is that this is horrible. It's not even that the pick is a fifth rounder (though to be fair, I expected a third rounder at most, and a fourth rounder at least). It's that it is a fifth rounder for the next draft.

I don't know what MacLean is thinking, but the last thing this team needs is to wait a whole year to just get their hands on some lower rung prospect that more than likely has the odds stacked against him when it comes to even making it in to the NHL. If MacLean is simply going to trade for picks (much to my and many fan's chagrins considering the already bankrupt levels of patience Columbus has for a roster capable of winning and making a playoff push), he needs to trade for picks for this draft. There is no more time left. This team has already worn out its welcome, and it's going to lose what devoted fans are left unless some sort of step in the positive direction for next season -- not the 2008-2009 season -- is made.

That's it from me. But one more thing ...