After one of the most thrilling, wild, topsy-turvy wins in Nationwide Arena history Friday night, what do the Blue Jackets do for an encore?
Get on a plane, head to snowy Ottawa, get a good night’s sleep and try to do it again tonight against the Senators.
Indeed, there’s no time to rest after Columbus rallied from a pair of multigoal deficits and got back into a playoff spot with last night's 7-6 win at Nationwide Arena over Vancouver, as they must battle for two more important points tonight north of the border. And while some might suggest it might be tough to refill the tanks and reach the same battle level 24 hours later and in a different country, Dean Evason disagrees.
“It’s just hockey,” the head coach said. “That’s all it is. We’re not skating (in the morning) tomorrow, so you can sleep in and get a nice meal in a wonderful hotel. You fly a charter and have a nap, wake up, the puck drops, and you play hockey. It’s not that hard.”
And if anything, the Blue Jackets should be able to ride some momentum provided by the two points captured in thrilling fashion in front of a raucous sellout crowd Friday night. Columbus trailed 3-0 after the first period and 5-3 in the third, rallied to take the lead late, then watched as Vancouver tied the score 23 seconds later.
After a tense but scoreless overtime period, Kent Johnson provided the winning shootout goal, and the Blue Jackets pulled even with Montreal and the New York Rangers for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Columbus has a game in hand on the Canadiens and two on the Rangers with 11 games to go, meaning the goal of playoff hockey remains very much in reach.
If the Blue Jackets can get there, the win vs. Vancouver will be remembered as one of the key turning points, and Columbus can point to its ability to respond to adversity as one of the big reasons for the victory. It was the eighth third-period comeback win for the Jackets, tied for the most in the NHL, and the second time this year they turned a 3-0 hole after the first period into a 7-6 triumph.
“We’ve talked all year about learning from different experiences and situations,” Evason said. “You build up that memory that it’s OK if things go a little sideways and get a little adverse. I don’t think it’s a shock that this team handles adversity pretty well, and we did.”
If there’s one thing the team wants to do better, it’s getting off to a good start, as the Blue Jackets have scored first in just one of the last 10 games. But they also know that if they get into a deficit, they're never out of a game and can battle back to get the job done.
“I think you can always come back to the belief of this group, the resilience of this group,” defenseman Dante Fabbro said. “We all have one common goal, and obviously that’s to get into the playoffs right now and try to make a run. Essentially, we control our own destiny down the stretch here, and every single guy in this locker room knows that.
“We’re not adding pressure on ourselves. We’re sticking with the Jackets hockey way, and we believe that’s going to give us the best chance to win hockey games down the stretch.”
Know The Foe: Ottawa Senators
Head coach: Travis Green (First season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 2.92 (19th) | Scoring defense: 2.87 (13th) | PP: 24.0 percent (11th) | PK: 77.3 percent (19th)
The narrative: Boasting a young roster with plenty of talent, the Senators have been building toward something, and this appears to be the year Ottawa will snap a seven-year streak of missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The arrival of Green and an improved defense have supplemented such standouts as Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and Jake Sanderson, allowing the Sens to occupy the first wild card spot, seven points clear of the playoff line.
Team leaders: Stutzle has become one of the NHL’s most consistent players at age 23, as the third overall pick in the 2020 draft from Germany leads the way at a point-per-game pace (21-50-71 in 71 games). Batherson may be one of the game’s most underrated forwards, putting up 20 goals and 58 points on the year. Tkachuk is the straw that stirs the drink with a team-best 29 goals, 55 points and 121 penalty minutes to join CBJ forward Mathieu Olivier as the only players in the league with at least 15 goals and 100 PIMs. Sanderson adds 7-41-48 from the blue line, while veteran Claude Giroux has 14 goals among his 46 points.
Linus Ullmark was acquired from Buffalo in the offseason to steady the goaltending spot, and he’s largely done just that with a 20-13-3 record, 2.78 GAA and .908 save percentage.
What's new: While many of the teams battling for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference are scuffling, Ottawa has gone 8-3-0 in its last 11 games to open up some breathing room in the race. The Sens sensed that the opportunity to play postseason hockey was there at the trade deadline and bolstered the forward group, bringing in Dylan Cozens from Buffalo and Fabian Zetterlund from San Jose, with Cozens posting a 3-5-8 line in his first 10 games.
Trending: The teams are yet to play this season and will meet three times in the final 11 contests. The Blue Jackets went 1-1-1 in the series a year ago and have lost their previous three trips to the Canadian capital.
Former CBJ: Anton Forsberg has found a home in Ottawa, starting 22 games and playing in 25 with a 9-11-1 record, 2.75 GAA and .897 save percentage in his fifth season with the Sens.
