The Columbus Blue Jackets move past the Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference standings with their victory Saturday night. The Blue Jackets and the Coyotes have split the season series 2-2. Brian Boucher won his first game for the Blue Jackets as he returned to the Valley to face his former team.

We saw the introduction of Danny Carcillo, a player the Coyotes acquired from the Georges Laraque trade. On the ice, he is everywhere and in everything. He hits, he skates, and he gets the opposing team to commit penalties. He has been described as a "Sean Avery" type of player. Appearing in his first NHL game of his young career, he certainly made the most of it.

Brendan Bell, the defenseman we picked up in a trade in the Yanic Perreault deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs also debuted for the Coyotes. A solid player, but was a tad nervous on the ice. As he becomes more comfortable on the ice, his confidence should come around.

Keith Ballard showed another brilliant game as he manhandled Fredrik Modin in the third period and made a key block to keep the game within one. If every member of the team played with his intensity, we would be solidly in the playoffs.

Another notable event took place as Jeff Taffe scored his first NHL goal of the season. He realizes the implication of this last look he is getting with the Phoenix Coyotes and he really wanted to score and as soon as possible. He got his wish tonight as he found a way to kick the puck to his stick and deflected the puck behind Boucher.

There were some elements in the game that coach Wayne Gretzky saw that he did not like. The hockey club was to have tomorrow off, but they will be practicing instead. At the beginning of the first and second periods, they had dreadful starts and then the energy level picked up. So, if there are members of the team not working, the coaching staff will work them in practice.

Mike Zigomanis was the healthy scratch for tonight's game and his presence was missed. The Coyotes do not play again until Wednesday when they travel to Anaheim to face the Ducks.

Original post by PB and software by Elliott Back

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