There are quite a few Eastern Conference teams breathing a sigh of relief that the Blue Jackets’ season wraps up a week from today.
Seriously, who would want to face this team right now?
Columbus spotted the Pittsburgh Penguins — a team in quite the desperate situation as the regular season winds down — two goals (not the best start, so bear with us) but came roaring back in front of a sold-out, standing room only crowd of 18,531 at Nationwide Arena.
Nick Foligno’s first career hat trick was completed with an empty net goal in the final minute of play, punctuating a 5-3 win, the Blue Jackets’ ninth in a row and a new franchise record. As they march down the stretch knowing the reality of their situation, they’re still playing for something, they’re playing for each other and building some serious momentum in a season that’s been marked by more adversity than they’d hoped for.
“This meant a lot to us,” Blue Jackets center Ryan Johansen told BlueJackets.com. “Winning is contagious and winning is fun, of course, but we really wanted to win this one.”
It was a terrific atmosphere inside the arena on a beautiful spring afternoon in Columbus, with the Penguins getting goals from Sidney Crosby in the first period and Brandon Sutter in the second period to open a 2-0 lead past the midway mark of the second period.
Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky — charged with neutralizing Sidney Crosby (while also picking up assists on all three Foligno goals) — was asked if his team got angry after going down two goals in a game that meant a lot to both teams.
It wasn’t so much about the anger of being down two, but the urgency that comes with potentially being down three, that got the Jackets going.
“The game starts becoming out of reach if they get a third goal,” Dubinsky said. “(Against) a team like that, you know how important the next one is so you have to start pushing for it. I thought we did and I thought we started taking over there in the second. There were a couple big turnovers, some plays with (Foligno) and (Letestu), some huge points in the game.”
And so they turned the game on its axis with two goals in 2:03, first Dubinsky feeding Foligno on a 2-on-0 to make it 2-1 at 16:25. A few shifts later, the fourth line’s forecheck created another turnover and Mark Letestu hit Marko Dano, who found Matt Calvert with a wide-open look. Calvert’s first chance rang the left post, but he stuck with the play, found the rebound and deposited into a semi-open net with 1:32 left in the second period.
Foligno and Dubinsky teamed up again to give the Jackets a 3-2 lead at 6:46 of the third. Dubinsky scooped up a Penguins turnover and broke in on a 2-on-1, the first shot hitting Marc-Andre Fleury up high and leaving a rebound for Foligno coming late. Foligno chipped a bouncing puck under the crossbar and in, and the Blue Jackets never trailed from that point.
Scott Hartnell gave Columbus a two-goal lead with 10:31 to play on a stuff attempt in the crease, the puck sliding behind Fleury when it appeared as though he had it covered. No whistle blew and the puck’s momentum carried it into the net on what was a weird sequence all around.
Ben Lovejoy brought the Penguins within a goal only 41 seconds later on a seeing-eye shot from the point, but that’s as close as the visitors would get. They had minimal chances with an extra attacker before Foligno iced it with his hat trick goal — the first hat trick of his NHL career and the Jackets’ third in the past 11 days.
No, these Blue Jackets aren’t making the playoffs, but they’re playing like a team determined to make the most out of what’s left of their season.
“We’ve gone through a lot this year, we really have,” Richards said. “When you have moments like this, it takes away from the disappointment and bitterness and you’re able to enjoy it. You can tell the guys are having fun in the locker room. It’s a better mood because you’re winning and finding ways to win hockey games.
“We have to remember these feelings and the effort that has to go into it. Hopefully it leads to the results, and right now, we’re getting the results.”
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