"Captain Rick Nash was asked last night what he would say to fans who have watched the Blue Jackets lose five straight games, the past two by a combined score of 12-2.

Running his hand through his hair, Nash gave the question serious thought.

"I don't know, he said. "I guess, 'Believe in us because we believe in ourselves.' We are only a point out of the playoffs or whatever it is right now, and it's only December.

"Stick with us and believe in us."

That's probably going to be a difficult slogan to build a campaign on - almost as tough as the "It Starts Now" T-shirts the club trotted out during its last winter swoon.

But since accepting the captaincy in March 2008, Nash always has searched for rainbows, no matter how hard the storms are blowing. Last night, after getting routed 7-2 by the Pittsburgh Penguins in Nationwide Arena, Nash again tried being the voice of calm.

"Twelve days ago, or whatever it was, we were on a high," he said. "The good thing is it's only Dec.4 and we have lots of games left. It's better to be in one of these (slumps) now than in January or February."

But it was a dreadful December a season ago - the Jackets went 2-9-5 - that sunk the team's hopes.

Nash, who leads the Jackets with 13 goals, tried to deliver a statement from the opening face-off. After being slew-footed by Penguins forward Tyler Kennedy, he got up and hammered center Mark Letestu before crushing defenseman Brooks Orpik with a shoulder-on-shoulder check.

Blue Jackets fans, who made up about half the house, roared with approval. The club played hard for nearly seven minutes before allowing a fluky goal to the Penguins' Paul Martin."