"The Blue Jackets' season opener played out on a grand stage in a world-class city last night, but it was not great theater. An endless parade to the penalty box for both the Jackets and the San Jose Sharks made for more starts and stops than a first-time driver at the wheel of a manual-transmission car. It was at the end of that parade, the 17th minor penalty of the night - a questionable boarding call on defenseman Mike Commodore - that the Blue Jackets met their demise. San Jose's Logan Couture scored a power-play goal through a perfectly placed screen set by Devin Setoguchi at 10:15 of the third period, leading the Sharks to a 3-2 victory before 11,324 in Ericsson Globe in the teams' season opener. Kristian Huselius and R.J. Umberger scored for the Blue Jackets, who overcame a shaky first 10 minutes to, at times, carry the play in the final two periods. But there were few smiles among Blue Jackets on a night when coach Scott Arniel lost his NHL coaching debut. "That's a tough one," Arniel said. "But we almost had that penalty killed. (Goaltender Steve Mason) didn't even see the shot. It's the difference in the game." With 11:34 left in the game, San Jose's Jamie McGinn roared past Commodore as they headed into a corner after the puck, with McGinn trying to get to the puck first to erase an icing call. As they approached the corner, Commodore reached his stick around McGinn to lift the Shark's stick off the ice. That sent McGinn sprawling to the ice and slamming awkwardly into the wall. He was down for a minute but quickly returned to play. Commodore was furious - emphatic that he did not deserve a penalty. "It looked bad. It sounded bad," Commodore said. "All the Swedish people were booing me. "It's a straight-up race for the puck. If he wants to race dead-straight at a dead angle into the boards, and then as the puck comes, lean into his stick to shoot it, that's his own fault." Commodore said McGinn was leaning forward, with his weight on his stick. When Commodore lifted McGinn's stick, McGinn lost his balance and boom! "If I hit him there, it should be a five-minute penalty and a game, or I should be thrown out and suspended," Commodore said. "Look at the tape. I didn't even touch his body." Only 11 seconds before the penalty was killed, Couture loosed a wrister on goal just as Setoguchi parked in front of Mason." Read more: http://www.bluejacketsxtra.com/live/content/sports/stories/2010/10/09/penalty-pains.html?sid=101
