It was hardly a work of art, but the Blue Jackets managed to eek out their second shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers in the span of five days — and, in the process, snapped a lengthy losing skid in Alberta’s capital.
For the second straight game against the Oilers, Alexander Wennberg notched the game-deciding goal in the shootout against Ben Scrivens. This time, it was a scintillating backhand deke and a shot under the crossbar to secure the extra point in a game that was far from the Blue Jackets’ best performance in recent weeks.
Curtis McElhinney was the big story, registering a career-high 44 saves in regulation and overtime, then making two more in the shootout to preserve a 4-3 win at Rexall Place — the Jackets’ first victory in Edmonton since Jan. 7, 2010.
He was under siege early, with the Oilers firing pucks from all angles and putting immense pressure on the Blue Jackets in their own zone, especially when they got their quick cycle game going.
But it was the Blue Jackets getting an early lead on their first shot, as David Savard made a nice drag move to get into a shooting position and beat Scrivens high blocker side at 5:35 of the first period. They carried a 1-0 into the dressing room despite being out-shot 14-4, thanks to some superb work from McElhinney.
“Mac did a hell of a job today,” Wennberg said post-game. “He made some unbelievable saves. “We have to get better…this was not a good enough effort from us. We need to get better for the next game in Vancouver.”
They stretched the lead to 2-0 on a Ryan Johansen goal at 3:50 of the second, his second in the last 15 games. It was a rocket through traffic that Scrivens never caught up to, and at that point, the Jackets seemed to be getting settled — but the way the Oilers were playing, it was only a matter of time before they broke through.
Derek Roy made it a 2-1 game at 11:00 of the second period, and in the early stages of the third, Edmonton drew even on the 20th goal of the season from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
A fortunate bounce for Nail Yakupov off the end boards gave the Oilers their first lead with 10:45 to play, but the lead was short-lived. Mark Letestu changed the game on the next shift, taking advantage of a pass from Jack Johnson and blew a half-slapper past Scrivens to make it 3-3.
“It was a big goal for us,” Letestu said. “It gave us a little energy and it was a boost for our team. They had momentum for most of the game. They took it to us most of the night…they carried the play in both games (this week) with their speed, but you have to win the ugly ones. It was a bit of deja vu.”
The Blue Jackets had the puck more in overtime but could not break through, so this one (again) had to be settled in a shootout. Goals from Johansen and Wennberg gave McElhinney plenty to work with, as he turned away Nugent-Hopkins and Derek Roy to get the job done for Columbus.
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