Columbus Blue Jackets OT Win in Raleigh: Highlights, Recap, Reactions

The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in a mostly empty PNC Arena on Tuesday night. The 2-1 overtime victory improved the CBJ’s record to 2-1-0 while the Hurricanes fell to 1-0-1 on the season.

A point came in the third period on Tuesday where the ice opened up, and the Columbus Blue Jackets took advantage. Well, at least for the time being.

Sonny Milano scored the first goal of the game about halfway through the third period, and for a while, it looked like the Jackets would come away with a 1-0 win. Of course, the Hurricanes had other plans.

Carolina pulled their goalie to take a six-on-five advantage with just minutes remaining in the game. The extra man ended up working as Jeff Skinner buried the puck in the CBJ net with just 1:35 in the game left to tie the game at one goal apiece.

Momentum shifted big time and stayed in Carolina’s favor throughout most of overtime as Artemi Panarin‘s hooking penalty gave the Canes a man advtange. But then came Sonny Milano yet again. After Sebastian Aho missed a game-winning goal, Milano took the puck, raced down the ice alone, faked out Scott Darling and won the game for the Columbus Blue Jackets with a sweet goal.

The Blue Jackets didn’t play their best game, but they stuck around and found a way to take home two points in a tough road setting against a Metro opponent. There may not have been a lot of scoring, but there was plenty of highlights from this divisional battle. We picked out five.

What We Learned

Sergei Bobrovsky was incredible Tuesday. He looked confident and I love how he flashed his glove and held it up high for everyone to see a few times. As previously mentioned, Sonny Milano stood out as the hero with his goals. He just seemed to find his groove near the end of the game. Milano leads the Jackets in goals scored this season with four, making him the talk of the town. He’s proving everyone wrong that claimed he wasn’t ready for the big time.

Other noticeable Blue Jackets players were Matt Calvert, Ryan Murray, David Savard and Artemi Panarin. Calvert was a force the entire night and, as usual, was great on the penalty kill. He’s been playing particularly well to start the season.

David Savard and Ryan Murray played solid defense against the Hurricanes yesterday. Murray is looking much better, and more consistent, than he has in the past. If he can play this way for the entire season it will make a big difference. As for Savard, he did what he does best. He stepped up and helped Bobrovsky shut down the attacking Hurricane players.

Panarin was showing off his skill last night, even though he didn’t record any points, by driving much of the play. He drew a pair of penalties and had the puck on his stick for a good portion of his ice time. He was also just an unlucky post away from scoring his first goal of the year.

This was just one of those games that started slow but really picked up with time. Credit the Columbus Blue Jackets for pulling this one out. Carolina had their chances to win, but couldn’t quite figure out Bobrovsky enough to take it. And if not for Markus Hannikainen‘s reckless giveaway near the end of regulation, it’s very possible that overtime may have not been needed.

Next: How are the CBJ's best prospects doing?

Upcoming Game

The Blue Jackets’ next test will be Friday when they host Rick Nash and the New York Rangers at Nationwide Arena. The Rangers have had an abysmal start to the 2017-18 season as they will enter Friday’s contest with a 1-3-0 record.