Columbus Blue Jackets: “We Sucked Tonight and We Won”

Coach John Tortorella sums up the Columbus Blue Jackets night on the ice perfectly.

The best part of a seven game winning streak is the opportunity to turn it into an eight game winning streak. And despite a less than stellar performance on the ice Monday, thats what the Columbus Blue Jackets were able to do.

Despite giving up three straight goals the CBJ came back and beat the Boston Bruins 5-4 in overtime. Joonas Korpisalo was bombarded with grade A scoring chances all night but he turned away just enough to give the Jackets a chance. His 34 saves led to his third win during the teams eight game win streak.

Boone Jenner opened up the scoring in the first with his fourth goal during the Jackets hot streak. That was quickly answered by a Bruins run. They scored three unanswered goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. TD Garden was rocking and it felt like the game was out of hand.

But a quick answer by Sonny Milano got the game to 3-2 right before the end of the second period and the Jackets had some life. The third period was electric and the Jackets came out with the Bruins killer Thomas Vanek scoring the game tying goal early in the third.

With less than ten minutes left the Jackets and Bruins traded goals within 20 seconds of each other to tie the game at 4-4. The best play of the night though was in the final 10 minutes. The teams traded great scoring chances and big hits including this bone rattler from Nick Foligno on Brad Marchand.

Korpi made some great saves in the final five minutes and the defense scrambled to keep the game tied and force overtime. Just getting a point on the road against the Bruins after being down 3-1 was a coup but the Jackets weren’t done.

Outside of the first thirty seconds of overtime, the Jackets controlled the extra period. A cutting Cam Atkinson finding space on the backside and taking a perfect Ryan Murray pass and burying it for the game winner.

Seth Jones Scratched

The Jackets were without Seth Jones for the second consecutive game. While they technically did not need him to win last night, they sure could have used him. The pair of Zach Werenski and Jack Johnson clearly is not working. Torts split up the pair and had Zach on the ice for multiple shifts with other defenseman.

Related Story: Jones Should Sit until Panther Game

Ian Cole and David Savard did not play to their level either. The two looked lost and made a few terrible turnovers. Cole also drew two penalties in the second period with one leading to what looked like at the time a Jackets killing goal to extend the Boston lead to 3-1.

Markus Nutivaara continues to be under utilized. He played the least amount of any Jackets defenseman only clocking 14:48 of ice time. In his limited time he did notch a primary assist on Thomas Vanek’s goal to tie the game at three. He did play the most on the power play of an defenseman though.

Jones could play tonight against the New York Rangers. He is listed as day-to-day.

Next: Scoring Depth Key to Streak

It certainly wasn’t pretty and despite being outplayed, the Columbus Blue Jackets found a way to eek out two points on the road. The win is the type of game the Jackets couldn’t find a way to pull out in January or February but the hockey gods are looking favorably upon the union blue now. They will take the stolen two points and head to New York to finish up their final back-to-back of the season.