Labatt Blue What We Learned: CBJ 7, EDM 3

EDMONTON - Connor McDavid was rolling.
Ten minutes into the Blue Jackets' record-setting 7-3 win on Tuesday at Rogers Place, the Edmonton Oilers' captain had a goal, two assists and a new career-high in points (102), with about 50 minutes and five games left to inflict even more damage - on Columbus and the NHL, in general.
"He's an amazing player," said Blue Jackets rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois, whose primary responsibility was helping shadow the Oilers' superstar. "He's so fast, so it's tough, but a really fun challenge. You have to play a 200-foot game. It's hard work. It's tough. I mean, I felt like I lost five pounds the first period, but it's really fun. It's from games like this that I know I can grow as a player."
Those growing pains were painful to watch at first.
McDavid was rolling, the Oilers were swarming, off to a 3-0 start, and the building was abuzz on Fan Appreciation Night. Columbus, meanwhile, was in shock. The Jackets felt like they were playing well, overall, but a couple giveaways of the puck wound up in the net and it looked like another blowout in the making - akin to the Oilers' 7-2 victory at Nationwide Arena on Dec. 12.
Here's where the story takes a radical twist, though. Rather than just playing along, the visitors from Central Ohio decided that wasn't going to happen this time. The Jackets pushed back, and a result, came all the way back.
After getting a fortunate bounce off a shot by Thomsa Vanek, for the first of three goals in his 11th career hat trick, the Blue Jackets showed why they'd just won 10-straight games before a tough 2-1 loss Saturday to the St. Louis Blues. They scored twice more in the first, on a goal by Artemi Panarin and Vanek's second, and the Oilers' blowout blew up in their faces.
"There was zero panic on the bench," said Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, referring to the 3-0 deficit Columbus faced after Drake Caggiula scored a power-play goal at 10:08 of the first. "It's frustrating when you get in that situation when you think you're playing well, but it was just a crazy period."

That's an apt description. It was a crazy game.
After overcoming that 3-0 deficit, the Blue Jackets just kept on going. Edmonton couldn't keep up.
Columbus scored three more times in the second, on goals by Boone Jenner, Cam Atkinson and Vanek's third, and that was lights out for the Oilers. By the time Markus Nutivaara made it 7-3 at 11:57 of the third, the game had indeed turned into a rout - just not the way most probably thought it would unfold.
The Blue Jackets flipped this game on its ear, simply because they just kept coming after Edmonton.
"I think everybody just knew, 'There's 50 minutes left,'" said rookie center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who had two assists on a night his main responsibility was shadowing McDavid, the NHL's points leader. "If you stop playing in the first period, when there's 50 minutes left, it's going to be a long game. Everybody on the bench just knew we could come back."
That kind of built-in confidence was uncommon through January and most of February. Allowing three straight goals back then likely would've been disastrous for the Jackets, who lacked the kind of resolve they have now.
Things have changed quite a bit, especially after the addition of three key veterans at the NHL Trade Deadline. That plus their season-high winning streak instilled this newfound grit.
The Blue Jackets have moxie now. They have the kind of swagger Tortorella has implored them to find all season. They're brimming with confidence, even when they do stuff like allowing the game's first three goals against a team led by a generational talent like McDavid.
They haven't clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs yet, but there's only five games left and Columbus has put itself in a good position - third in the Metropolitan Division.
"It's hard to tell, but the trading deadline was a good mark for us," said center Alex Wennberg, who had two assists and a franchise record plus-6 plus/minus rating for the game. "After that, we started playing better and we started working harder. Even though we're down a goal, we just keep fighting. I don't know exactly when it changed or what we did to change it, but right now every point is important and we're fighting for our lives here. We want to go to the playoffs, so getting wins like this is very important."
Getting wins like this wasn't an option back in December, when the Jackets were still searching for an identity. The Oilers routed them by five goals back then, in Columbus, and the Boston Bruins did the same thing a week later.
Vanek was still a Vancouver Canuck at that point. Defenseman Ian Cole was still a Pittsburgh Penguin. Center Mark Letestu centered the fourth line for the Oilers in that game, scoring with a second left in the second period to give Edmonton a 5-0 lead.
The Blue Jackets didn't score in that game until the third, scoring twice to make it 5-3, and then allowed two more late in the game for the final margin.
The Oilers rubbed salt in the wound that night. Tuesday, they got their come-uppance, courtesy of a Columbus team that's laser-focused on the postseason.
"For us to come back and get three before the [first] period even ends, it's just nuts," Tortorella said. "It's a big win for us, so we'll just move on and practice [Wednesday in Calgary]."
Here's what we learned:
I: WHAT IT MEANS
The Blue Jackets stayed in third place of the Metro with the win, moving to 91 points with five games left. They pulled within one point of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lost 5-2 to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday and moved a point ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers (90), who lost in overtime to the Dallas Stars.
The Flyers occupy the first wild card in the Eastern Conference, while the New Jersey Devils - who defeated the Carolina Hurricanes - retained the second one with 88 points, three ahead of the idle Florida Panthers.

II: FIRST THINGS FIRST …
If you like offense, the first period was made for you. It had six total goals, 11 points, a power-play goal, a shorthanded goal, three points for McDavid, two goals by Vanek, 25 combined shots, 46 shot attempts, a blown 3-0 lead and one huge comeback effort by the Blue Jackets.
McDavid, who entered the game leading the NHL with 99 points, tacked on three more in the opening 20 minutes - on his 40th goal of the season and two assists. He's the first Oilers player in 25 years to score that many in one season, and wasn't the only Edmonton player buzzing around the Columbus zone early.
Nugent-Hopkins had two points for the Oilers, with his 22nd goal and an assist on McDavid's shorthanded tally, which made it 2-0 at 6:06 of the first.
Enough about the Oilers, though. This night belonged to the Blue Jackets, who also had quite a first period.
Vanek got them going with his first of two goals in the first, cutting the Oilers' lead to 3-1 at 12:39 by sending a shot off Nugent-Hopkins into the net. Panarin followed up 52 seconds later with his 26th goal, which he scored off a rebound of Zach Werenski's shot to pull Columbus within 3-2 and become the fifth player in franchise history to have a 70-point season.
Vanek wasn't done, though. His second goal of the period, scored by tipping David Savard's shot from the right point, tied it 3-3 with 3:20 left. That's how it stayed into the first intermission, which came as a needed break to catch up on all that happened.
"We weren't playing that bad, and then [Vanek] got that good bounce," Dubois said. "I think that's when everybody realized, 'OK, it's a two-goal game now. We're back.' It's not like we were playing poorly. We were playing decent hockey and then that goal just gave us a little boost. After that, we got another one, [Panarin] got that goal, and from there we just kept going."

III: THREE MORE IN THE SECOND
As Dubois mentioned, the Blue Jackets just kept scoring in the second.
They continued to push the pedal to the floor, pouring on the offense against a stunned Oilers team that was outscored 3-0 in the period.
Jenner got it going, making it 4-3 on his 12th goal of the season and sixth in the past 10 games. Atkinson then took a feed from Dubois and buried a wrist shot for his 20th goal, making it 5-3 at 6:24 and chasing Oilers' goalie Cam Talbot from the net.
Atkinson has now reached the 20-goal plateau in five straight seasons, scoring 14 goals in 29 games since returning from a fracture bone in his right foot Jan. 25 in Arizona.
A little more than eight minutes later, Vanek got the hat trick. After ringing a shot hard off the left pos during a power play, he scored his seventh goal as a Blue Jacket and 24th of the season to make it 6-3, sending a wrist shot through traffic into the net.
Columbus only put nine shots on net in the second period, but outshot Edmonton 9-5 and scored on 33 percent of their shots.
"We wanted to get to the net tonight," Tortorella said. "We felt that was very important. We got a lot of bodies around their goalie, around [Talbot]. We just needed to get the next one [when down 3-0]. It gets to four and you're not sure what's going to happen, but to get the next one was important, because we had the whole game [left]. Everything happened so quickly.

IV: SCARY MOMENT
During the ensuing shift after the Oilers made it 1-0 on Nugent-Hopkins' goal at 3:37 of the first, the building went silent after linesman Steve Barton was injured.
Baton was accidentally knocked to the ice by McDavid during a collision along the boards in the neutral zone and was taken away on a stretcher, with his head immobilized.
McDavid got tangled up with Werenski near the boards in the neutral zone and fell into Barton, who couldn't get out of the way. His legs were taken out and he wasn't able to free either arm to break his fall. Barton tumbled headfirst to the ice and hit his head sideways. He instantly fell flat on his back and stayed there.
Medical personnel attended to him and eventually called for the stretcher. The crowd gave him a round of applause as he left the ice. According to Sportsnet's Mark Spector, Barton was taken to a hospital and was soon speaking with doctors and moving all extremities.

V: 'BOB' GETS A RESET
It was a tough start for Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, to say the least. Not only did he allow three goals on the first five shots he faced, but it was his own turnover playing the puck that led to Nugent-Hopkin's goal.
Tortorella has talked about the Jackets' inability to get Bobrovsky off the hook when he has stretches like that, but they got the job done this time.
"They have three chances, it's three goals, but we bailed him out tonight and this team hasn't done that much," Tortorella said. "That guy has bailed [us] out so many times this year ... we bailed him out, and it's high time the guys do that for him, because he as been the backbone of our team this year."
Bobrovsky also benefited from Tortorella opting to leave him in the game. He made some big saves late in the first, as the Jackets were making their comeback, and then stopped McDavid's five-hole attempt off a breakaway in the second - preserving a 5-3 lead.

VI: PLUS PLAYER
Wennberg just shook his head and smiled, because he had no tangible explanation for finishing with a plus-6 in plus/minus to set a franchise single-game record.
He wasn't on the ice for any of the Oilers' goals, but was on the ice for Vanek's first goal and the final five the Blue Jackets scored. He assisted on Vanek's second goal, scored late in the first to tie it 3-3 and Jenner's goal to open the scoring in the second.
"Apparently, I stepped on [the ice] at the right time," he joked. "I don't know if I took some from [Dubois] or not, but it was just one of those games. Sometimes you're just on it, but it's nice to get those pluses. To get the win was most important, though, obviously."
The big night boosted Wennberg to plus-25 for the season, which ties him for 15th in the NHL in that category with the Flyers' Sean Couturier and Brayden McNabb of the Vegas Golden Knights. Wennberg and Couturier are tied for eighth among the league's forwards.

VII: DUBOIS MAKING A BID
Last week, it seemed like there weren't enough games left for Dubois to catch Werenski for the most points by a rookie in franchise history. It's still an uphill march, but looks like more of a possibility.
Dubois' two assists pushed his point total to 41 with five games left, which means he needs six more to tie Werenski - who set the mark last season with 47 points. Dubois now has the second-most rookie points in franchise history, moving past Rick Nash (39), and has the most in team history by a rookie forward.
"In my mind, I don't want to pick out one guy, but [Dubois], I thought he played at a different level tonight, for me, as far as his strength on the puck," Tortorella said. "He didn't score all the goals, but I watch a young kid being our No. 1 center, playing mostly against McDavid tonight, I was totally impressed with him."

VIII: 'TESTY' RETURNS
Letestu played against his former team, which means he knew every player in the Oilers' locker room.
It also meant he got to see his wife and kids, who've stayed in Edmonton for the remainder of the school year after the Feb. 25 trade brought him back to Columbus.
After playing in four seasons with the Blue Jackets, Letestu signed with the Oilers in 2015, playing two-plus seasons. He started this season with Edmonton, but was traded to the Nashville Predators and then Columbus, a day before the NHL Trade Deadline.
Letestu was popular in Edmonton and got a lot of handshakes after the Jackets' morning skate Tuesday. He was also recognized on the video board during the first period.
"It'll be unique for me that I know everybody on the other team," Letestu said Tuesday, after the morning skate. "That's probably another first experience for me. I've never been traded in-season and then come back and play that team like this."

IX: 'TORTS' TIES 'RICHIE'
It didn't look good starting out, but the Blue Jackets' impressive comeback gave Tortorella his 127th coaching victory as the head coach in Columbus.
He's now 127-86-21 in two-plus seasons, which is tied with Todd Richards for most in franchise history. Tortorella, who coached three other teams prior to his tenure in Columbus, is 573-461-136 in 1,170 career NHL games and coached the Tampa Bay Lightning to the 2004 Stanley Cup.
"It's pretty impressive," veteran forward Matt Calvert said. "He pushed us in the right direction and we've responded in the right way. He'll be the first to give us a lot of the credit, but he knows what to do, he knows how to coach, he's won a lot of hockey [games] in this league and he's been a great leader for us."
X: NEXT UP
The Blue Jackets have a practice scheduled for Wednesday in Calgary and will play the Calgary Flames on Thursday at Scotiabank Saddledome (9 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Ohio, Fox Sports Go, 97.1 FM).
They'll finish the trip Saturday in Vancouver and then return home with just three games remaining, including home games against the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Three of the Jackets' final five games are against opponents outside the playoff picture.