(Columbus, Ohio)
The Blue Jackets finally made a mark in the win column last night against the undefeated division leader Chicago Blackhawks. Brad Utterstrom's team may have been suffering some jet lag or may have just underestimated this Columbus team, as on paper this matchup does not look very close. Believe it or not Columbus actually outshot the 'hawks 35-34. Early on in the first period the scoring started when Radim Vrbata took a cross ice feed from Kyle Okposo on the powerplay and put it just over the shoulder of Chicago goalie Tomas Vokoun. The Blackhawks answered back shortly after on a tip-in by Ryan Malone from the point shot of big Hal Gill. Early on in the second Kyle Okposo picked up his second point of the game on a centreing pass from Mikko Koivu, and Chicago again responded quickly with a goal from Brendan Morrow, who blasted a slapper over the blocker of Marc-Andre Fleury. Halfway through the second Zach Boychuk banged home a rebound on a shot from Karl Alzner that would eventually turn out to be the winning goal.
Later on in the period, the fisticuffs started with "Z" taking on monster AHL heavyweight Steve MacIntyre. Right near the end of the game a frustrated Ryan Malone took on Columbus blueliner Mark Stuart. Surprisingly, things did not get out of hand considering some of the tough guys invovled in this contest: Rypien, Boogaard, Janssen, Orr, MacIntyre, Engelland, Shelley, Boll, Konopka, and Theo Peckham. With only the two fights, there was still 70 Pims handed out in this contest. The Blackhawks likely got an earful from their coach after the game and will be out to avenge their loss the next time they face Columbus. Don't be surprised to see their next meeting to be a fight filled affair.
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