The Blue Jackets have had plenty of success clawing their way back into games during the month of March, but Saturday night in St. Louis they decided to try the opposite approach.
After giving up the first goal in their last four games, the Jackets opened the game’s scoring just over seven minutes in on William Karlsson’s first goal as a Blue Jacket. Despite the strong start, the Jackets found themselves once again battling in a back-and-forth contest. But for the second straight night, a strong 200-foot game pushed Columbus to a win, on this night a 4-2 decision.
It was Columbus’ eighth straight road victory and their 22nd win on the road this season, both extending franchise records. It was also their sixth straight win overall and their ninth in the past ten contests, pushing them above the .500 mark for the first time since January 9th.
“The team’s just playing well. The forwards and defense are playing well, the goaltenders have been playing great, and it’s just sort of a perfect storm,” said defenseman Jack Johnson. “Hopefully it’s not too little too late.”
Boone Jenner’s backdoor score with just 21 seconds left in the second period would hold up as the game-winner after the Jackets and Blues traded punches throughout the second period. It was Jenner’s first goal in his fourth game back from a back injury that sidelined him for 40 games. The Jackets are now 6-0-1 this season when both Jenner and Brandon Dubinsky are in the lineup.
The Jackets only recorded 17 shots on a night that both teams needed to fight for every inch. The Blues were able to generate more chances thanks to six power play opportunities. Three of those Jackets penalties were of the unforced variety, a bench minor for too many men and two penalties for delay of game with the puck fired over the glass.
The Blues did cash in on one of those man advantages, with leading-scorer Vladmir Tarasenko finding space to fire a wrister from the left faceoff dot over Sergei Bobrovsky’s shoulder. The overworked PK unit was otherwise very effective in taking away time and space from the Blues’ third ranked power play, and from Tarasenko in particular as he grew frustrated in the third period without Alexander Steen or TJ Oshie available for support. It was a strong checking effort in all three zones that helped the Jackets generate their offense despite a low shot total.
“I think the game last night took a lot out of us both on a physical and emotional level,” said head coach Todd Richards. “We didn’t have a lot of gas in the third period but the guys battled hard with what they had and found a way to win the game.”
Karlsson and Scott Hartnell hooked up for the opening tally after a strong breakout pass from Johnson to Marko Dano snuck the Jackets through the neutral zone on a 3-on-2 rush. With the Blues’ defense backing in and allowing an easy zone entry for Columbus, Hartnell was able to zip a pass across the tops of the circles from left wing to right to find the streaking Karlsson for the clean shot on Brian Elliot.
Johnson wasn’t done offensively, rifling a power play drive midway through the second period that erased one of Columbus’ few mistakes on the night, a neutral zone turnover just 52 seconds into the second that led to a 2-on-0 rush and a Patrik Berglund goal. Johnson’s goal was the 50th of his career, and gave the Jackets a temporary lead.
The Blue Jackets didn’t register a shot in the first ten minutes of the second period and had only two shots in the third period prior to Cam Atkinson’s empty net goal, his 20th of the season. And despite spending extended time in their own zone, the Jackets were never in any serious duress. Bobrovsky allowed few rebounds and most of St. Louis’ chances came from the outside as they struggled to enter the Jackets’ zone with speed.
“Obviously a good team is going to make a pretty good push and get some offensive chances, but I thought we did a pretty good job of not sitting back,” said Johnson. “Naturally when you have a lead you try to sit back and protect it and that’s the worst thing you can do. I thought we did a good job of pushing back on them and trying to get another goal to seal it, and eventually we got the empty netter.”
For a Jackets team that has struggled with now 18 back-to-backs in their schedule this season, a weekend sweep in St. Louis and Chicago is a satisfying accomplishment.
“Coming into the two buildings this weekend, they’re not easy places to play especially back-to-back,” said Richards. “It was a good job by the guys with six periods of hard hockey where they put it on the line. It wasn’t perfect but the compete is there.”
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