[Bucky Katt]

Very impressive games for the Jackets. I had more-or-less written off Friday night's game after the second period. Likewise against the Preds, when they went up 3-2, I figured we stood little chance of coming back to win. I'm glad they made me feel stupid.

Nice article from today's Dispatch regarding late-game line changes.

Gallant’s tinkering pays dividends
Late-game line changes work for Jackets in past two wins
Monday, January 30, 2006
Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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With eight minutes left in a tight game Saturday against the Nashville Predators, Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant started tinkering.
This was not mindless tinkering, but the well-thought designs of a man who has coached 97 games in the NHL.
The score was tied 3-3 when Gallant put left winger Rick Nash on a line with center Jan Hrdina and right winger David Vyborny, and moved Trevor Letowski into Nash’s spot alongside center Sergei Fedorov and right winger Nikolai Zherdev. Jaroslav Balastik, who usually plays with Hrdina and Vyborny, was dropped to the No. 3 line.
Only three shifts later, with 1:23 left in the game, Nash and Vyborny combined to make Gallant look like a coaching genius.
Nash’s failed attempt at a wraparound goal sent the puck sliding through the slot to a wide-open Vyborny, who blasted home the winner in a 4-3 victory, the Jackets’ eighth in 11 games.
It’s the second straight game in which Gallant has changed the lines near the 12-minute mark of the third period.
And it’s the second straight time it has worked.
In a 4-3 win over Minnesota on Friday, it was the Letowski-Fedorov-Zherdev line that scored the winner — with a little help from Wild defenseman Nick Schultz — with 6:33 left.
After the game Saturday, Gallant explained his thinking.
At that stage of the game — the score tied, both clubs desperate to break the tie — Gallant is willing to give up a little bit of offensive firepower for a little more defensive responsibility.
The Blue Jackets’ dirty little secret is that Nash and Zherdev, while wondrous offensive talents, don’t always pay attention to defensive detail.
"Letowski’s a pretty safe defensive player, and you put him with Fedorov and Zherdev, that’s a pretty solid line defensively, but it has a chance to score, too," Gallant said.
"You put Nash with Vyborny and Hrdina, and it’s the same thing. Vyborny and Hrdina are real responsible defensively, and with Nash out there, there’s always a chance you’re going to score."
Doesn’t Vyborny know that.
The chemistry that Nash and Vyborny developed playing together during the 2003-04 season seems to reappear the moment they’re reunited. Nash had 41 goals that season; Vyborny had a career-high 53 points.
"I like to play with Nasher," Vyborny said. "Who wouldn’t?"
Gallant said he has pondered making the line changes permanent, but it’s unlikely he’ll do so before the Jackets play Wednesday in Calgary.
"Our top two lines have been very good," Gallant said, noting that the Nash-Fedorov-Zherdev line has totaled 22 goals and 58 points in 21 games since Nash returned from an injury on Dec. 17.
Plus, Gallant is intrigued by the spark the late-game line changes have provided.
And he likes that it gives opponents something else to think about.
On Wednesday, in Calgary, don’t be surprised if Gallant makes the same adjustments if the game is tied or the Blue Jackets are leading.
"(Opposing teams) are always trying to match up with Nash," Gallant said. "Like Nashville, they always wanted Greg Johnson’s line out there with Nash and Fedorov, and this makes them make a tough decision."
aportzline@dispatch.com