Notes and quotes from the Blue Jackets' five overtime epic

What more is there to say about the Blue Jackets' absolutely epic -- though ultimately disappointing -- 3-2 loss in five overtimes Tuesday against Tampa Bay in Game 1 of their playoff series?

A lot, as it turns out.

The historic nature of the fourth-longest game in league annals lends itself to all sorts of records, not to mention anecdotes.

Let's try to answer the questions we've not gotten to at this point in the aftermath of one of the most memorable nights in franchise history.

How did players handle everything?

The only longer game in the NHL's modern era took place in 2000 when Philadelphia scored in the fifth overtime to beat Pittsburgh in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal. Keith Primeau's goal past Ron Tugnutt - who would soon be a Blue Jacket - at 12:01 of the fifth overtime won that one.

And while that game was just 20 years ago, things were a little bit different in the locker rooms then. Famously, players from both teams said they had pizzas ordered in order to fuel up between periods as the game stretched further and further into the night.

"I remember we had some pizza ordered," Penguins defenseman Michal Rozsival told NHL.com in 2017. "It was strange, never seen anything like that before. The whole locker room smelled like a pizza. We had pizza and some power bars, and tried to do all we could to keep it going and get some energy."

In-game nutrition has come a long way since then, Blue Jackets players said after Tuesday's game.

"Water, Gatorade, some electrolyte packets, bananas, things like that, power bars," defenseman Seth Jones said after playing an NHL-record 65:06. "Anything you can get your hands on that is not going to completely fill you up but is going to give you some energy and give you some carbohydrates and potassium and sugar to get you over the hump."

As the game went on, you could see the normal jump players had when accelerating just wasn't there, and who could blame them? That was especially true for a Blue Jackets team that had played three games over the previous five days, with two of those going into overtime as well.

"It was definitely difficult," forward Oliver Bjorkstrand said. "But we have a team that has good conditioning, and we were up for it, obviously. We'd like to have finished it off earlier, but we are just going to keep going."

One more note -- CBJ center Pierre-Luc Dubois said with the 3 p.m. start, the players had eaten lightly throughout the day so as not to be weighed down during it. Perhaps that means the pizza came afterward.

"I've never been part of a game this long," Dubois said. "Between the periods, like Seth said, we were just staying hydrated, snacking. We only had one meal today, probably at 9 a.m., so we were trying to stay hydrated and just get ready for the next period."

How did Jones feel after his marathon night?

Here's a stat -- Jones' father, Popeye, was a professional athlete himself, an NBA player with an accomplished 11-year career. While Popeye eventually became a journeyman bench option, he was a key player at power forward with Dallas and Toronto his first few years in the league, starting 209 games from 1995-97 and averaging 31.4 minutes per game in that span.

That beats what his son turns in during most NHL games, but with his 65-minute outing on Tuesday, Seth now has bragging rights. Popeye topped the 50-minute mark only once in his career, playing a team-high 55:57 for Toronto in a triple-overtime loss to Boston in 1996.

So how did Seth feel in the immediate aftermath of the game?

"I feel fine," he said. "A lot of minutes, obviously. But I thought I stayed with it and obviously tried to stay hydrated through the whole thing and just work though it. Obviously your legs get tired, but it's mental and you have to find a way to battle through it."

I'm not sure everyone just watching it felt fine, but good for Seth, who did look like he could play another 30 minutes or so if he had to.

How did 85 saves look if you string them all together?

Joonas Korpisalo didn't just break an NHL record, he destroyed it, with his 85 saves outpacing the previous record of 73, set by Kelly Hrudey of the Islanders in the 1987 "Easter Epic" win over Washington.

(It's worth pointing out that shots have only been an official stat since 1955-56, and there is record of Normie Smith turning in 90 saves while playing in the longest game in NHL history, the six-OT playoff game between the Montreal Maroons and Detroit Red wings in 1936. Let's just say the game was a little different then).

Either way, here's Korpisalo's night in a nutshell -- a nutshell that runs more than seven minutes long because of just how many darn saves he made.

"You know, just try to go save by save," he said after the loss. "Not thinking too much. I think I feel pretty good. The boys were battling hard in front of me, so yeah. It's too bad."

What did Hrudey think?

The former NHL goalie is now an analyst with Sportsnet and went on television to talk about his reaction to the showdown.

"I'm loving it Ron," Video: All of Korpisalo's 85 saves vs. Tampa Bay in Game 1. "What a great event, what a great game. I'm actually hoping Korpisalo breaks the 100-save mark, and I'm really hoping the game goes so long that (Tampa goalie Andrei) Vasilevskiy breaks my record as well. It's just an incredible performance. I've been waiting for something like this for 20-some years, at least. I've always thought somebody out there is going to have a 100-save night, plus. It's surprising to me that I held the record for 33 years considering the talents of these guys, but man alive!"

Oh yes, Vasilevskiy. The Tampa Bay goalie got a bit lost in the shuffle, but he turned in 61 saves as well, good for 13th in NHL postseason history.

How about everyone else?

Well, Twitter certainly had fun.

Tweet from @Merzly30: Hey Brother, I though u might need some... 88 shots and 85 saves?!really korpi? 😍what���s your room number I���m coming pic.twitter.com/BRHjZXD3JD