"Coach Ken Hitchcock did not take issue with goaltender Steve Mason's critical assessment of the Blue Jackets' play, culminating in a 9-1 loss Wednesday to the Detroit Red Wings.

Hitchcock did, however, think Mason misspoke in saying only one of eight Red Wings' shots that beat him was a "stoppable puck."

"I'd like my goalie to think he could stop every shot," Hitchcock said.

Mason, who allowed eight goals on 35 shots against the Red Wings, will serve as the backup to Mathieu Garon tonight when the Blue Jackets play the Anaheim Ducks in Nationwide Arena.

After the worst outing of his brief career, Mason did not mask his disappointment with the team's defensive struggles. The Jackets are 27th in the NHL in goals-against average (3.59).

Mason has posted a 3.67 GAA during an uneven start to his second season. He has surrendered six or more goals three times in 14 starts after not having it occur in his NHL Rookie of the Year season.

"We have a lot of cleaning up to do," Mason said after the Red Wings game. "There were poor choices, turnovers, not winning board battles -- stuff we've been talking about all year. The Red Wings highlighted those for us.""