The Blue Jackets had sour tastes in their mouths following the previous two games coming into Sunday afternoon's matchup with the Colorado Avalanche. They managed to get to overtime at home against the Dallas Stars, four times coming back from one-goal deficits only to lose in the extra period. The Jackets followed up the 5-4 loss with another one-goal loss in overtime Friday night, this time 3-2 on the road to the blistering-hot, record-setting Chicago Blackhawks. Finally, finally the hockey gods sent one Columbus' way on Sunday.
With 4:18 left in overtime, P.A. Parenteau was called for hooking, which was the eighth Avalanche penalty of the game (two were fighting majors). There was 2:34 remaining when Artem Anisimov wristed a high, hard shot past Seymour Verlamov and ended the game. And what we've all been waiting to hear again. "Jackets win" (by a final score of 2-1).
The game was a snoozer for most of the opening period. Derek Dorsett fired a shot from the front of the crease wide of the net after a nice set up by Mark Letestu. Fedor Tyutin was called for cross-checking with 12:18 left in the first, but the Avalanche could not capitalize. Later in the period, Colorado compounded their problems with too many men on the ice while already on the penalty kill. Fortunately for the visitors, the Jackets could not find the back of the net during the 1:21 of 5-on-3 time and managed only one shot on net during the power plays. The period ended scoreless, though the Jackets had an 8-5 shot advantage along with better scoring opportunities.
The Blue Jackets opened the 2nd period with a penalty just 36 seconds in, this one was tripping by 39-year old Adrian Aucoin. They killed off the penalty and, once again, the game became rather boring with not a whole lot of action taking place.
That would change at the midway point of the period as recent call up Dalton Prout would throw down with the Avs' Cody McLeod. The young Jackets defenseman held his own against the NHL vet, trying to bring some energy to the crowd and his teammates in what was becoming a fairly lackluster contest. Unfortunately, the Avalanche would strike first with 7:36 left in the period. Paranteau sent in a floater from the right point through traffic and the puck found its way over Sergei Bobrovsky's shoulder into the back of the net. However, the play went to review as it appeared Matt Duchene re-directed the puck with a high stick. The officials in Toronto reviewed the goal, and of course, because it's the Jackets, the goal would stand. Apparently the folks who reviewed the play do not understand the laws of physics because I've never seen a puck change direction that quickly on its own (with a blatant high stick).
Just a couple minutes later, Patrick Bordeleau would send Nikita Nikitin into the boards as Niktin was sending the puck up ice. Niki6 (new trending nickname) would remain down on the ice momentarily, and he eventually went to the dressing room with an "upper body injury" for the rest of the game. Immediately off the next face off, Jared Boll stepped to the defense of his teammate and challenged Bordeleau to a fight. The Boller (still trending) gave up quite a bit of size, ate some punches at the beginning of the bout, but ended up landing a few right handers. The rest of the period was fairly uninteresting in terms of scoring chances. The Avs would take a 1-0 lead to the third period, with the Jackets owning a shot advantage of 16-12.
It would not take Bordeleau long to find his way back to the sin bin as he went off for hooking with 17:22 remaining in the 3rd period. Duchene would join him for hooking less than a minute later, giving the Jackets another 5 on 3. It only took two 5-on 3 opportunities for the Jackets to strike gold in this one. Vinny Prospal skated in towards the slot from the below the right circle and tried to center the puck to either Nick Foligno or Ryan Johansen. However, Ryan O'Reilly would reach for the puck and tip it into his own net (nice way to make your season debut after a contract dispute bro). It was the first 5-on-3 goal for the Jackets all year and snapped an 0 for 13 power play slump.
The Jackets were victim to another, uhm, interesting call by the referees. Johansen was held up by Shane O'Brien of the Avs with 3:07 left in the 3rd, well behind the play. RyJo ( trending fo show) fell to his knees momentarily but popped right back up. O'Brien was rightfully called for interference but Johansen was sent to to the box as well, for diving (which was, in an edited sense, B.S). Neither team capitalized during the resulting 4 on 4 and the game went to overtime tied at one.
Just 42 seconds into overtime, Paranteau was called for hooking. The Jackets were able to to keep it in the offensive zone for a while on this particular power play. Anisimov ended the game when he got a pass at the top of the right circle. He faked left for a few seconds in front of an Avs defender with a broken his stick and pulled the trigger. Varlamov never had a chance thanks to an Umberger screen.
Other notes: This was the seventh one-goal game in a row for the CBJ. They had lost the previous four, including the last two in OT. This was also the first victory for Columbus in overtime, and their first win past regulation since the shootout victory in Nashville for the season opener.
Ryan Johansen is not too far away from living up to his #4 overall draft pick hype. He won 12 of 18 faceoffs and had four or five setups that would have been highlight reel worthy if his teammates would have converted. Test Tube (Letestu) and Foligno had solid performances as well.
Nikita Nikitin did not return from the Bordeleau hit. If he is out for the next game, the Jackets might be short four of their regulars along the blue line against Edmonton (Jack Johnson, James Wisniewski, and John Moore are also out with injuries).
Columbus finished the game with a 34-19 shot advantage over Colorado.
This game marked the start of a stretch in which the Jackets play 9 out of 10 at home. Next up: Edmonton Oilers (at Nationwide Arena), Tuesday at 7:00 P.M.
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