"Nikita Filatov's best chance of reuniting with former Blue Jackets linemates Derick Brassard and Jake Voracek might be gaining 20 pounds.

Barring a shipment of flaxseed oil from Barry Bonds, that's probably not going to happen overnight. But adding weight to the left side of a line with Brassard and Voracek seems to boost its production.

The duo played its best game of the season in the Jackets' 3-2 win over Chicago on Saturday as Rick Nash replaced Filatov. Brassard scored his first goal - a crucial one in the final seconds of the second period to trim the Jackets' deficit to 2-1 - and Voracek assisted on it. The linemates generated 14 shots.

The Nash-Brassard-Voracek line is a new one, but the idea of using a bigger left winger who plays in straight lines has helped the youngsters in the past. Jason Chimera succeeded in the position at the start of the 2008-09 season, and R.J. Umberger and Raffi Torres worked well in the spot late last season when interim coach Claude Noel put Brassard and Voracek back together.

"Those guys make space for us, they go hard to the net, and that opens up a lot," said Brassard, who registered a season-high six shots against the Blackhawks. "With Rick there, we had a lot of scoring chances."

The Filatov-Brassard-Voracek line, a compilation of the first-round draft picks from 2006-08, was enticing to fans and potentially marketable for the franchise. In six games, however, it generated no goals and few chances."