Welcome to a new feature here at The Union Blue. After every game someone from the tUB team will be giving their quick hit thoughts on the three stars of the game (per the NHL), as well as one stud or dud of the night not reflected in the stars (which might not necessarily be a player). So feel free to chime in with who impressed you tonight, who disappointed, or who you want to see run out of town. Unfortunately, we picked the worst Jackets game of recent memory to debut this. Lucky me, I had to stay up through this crapfest. So let’s make this one quick, as the stars of tonight’s 7-0 loss to the Oilers are:
3rd Star: Ryan Smyth
Always loved Smyth. The wood stick, the brutal skating, it’s like watching my old man play. And yet he somehow dropped three points on the Jackets. Good hustle boys.
2nd Star: Nail Yakupov
The speed and shot are there, but even in a game like tonight he looked a little lost without the puck. I’m surprised we haven’t seen more of the Oilers using his bomb of a one-timer, but I guess you don’t really need to set up one-t’s when shots and goals come that easily.
1st Star: David Perron
His second goal was a ridiculous snipe. Always been a smart player, but he’s much better in a game like this, where it’s wide open and he can just dangle with the puck without anyone laying a finger on him.
Stud: Ryan Murray
Even in a pile of excrement like this game, he stands out in just about every way. Good decisions, smooth with the puck, had a bomb of a shot on Dubnyk (of course there was no traffic). Just imagine what he could do with a competent defence partner.
Dud: Pretty much everyone else.
The Jenner-Dubinsky-Atkinson line wasn’t completely useless (until Dubi limped off). Everyone else was. Bob was brutal, and was fighting the puck the entire time he was in net. The non-Murray defence was brutal, although Wiz was only sub-par other than his train wreck on Yakupov’s goal. The other nine forwards were a complete dumpster fire. Even McElhinney managed to be brutal, as Schultz shot it through CMac, and Hall fanned on the shot for his breakaway goal. And now I’ve spent more time and energy on this game than the majority of the CBJ roster combined. Good night.
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