Leave it to John Tortorella to, as he usually does, accurately assess Tuesday night’s game.
“I’m happy that we won,” he said. “Did we deserve to win? I’m not so sure.”
It was your typical game against the Los Angeles Kings: air-tight, little room to operate, and any mistake stands a good chance to end up in your net. Stay on your toes.
The numbers paint a different picture than the outcome: the Blue Jackets were out-shot 46-27 in regulation and overtime, had only 43 percent of even strength shot attempts in the game, and didn’t help themselves in the puck management department.
But boy, did they need a win like this.
Curtis McElhinney spelled Sergei Bobrovsky tonight and did a tremendous job in goal. He made 44 saves in the first 65 minutes, and to top it off, stopped Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik in the shootout to seal a 10th straight win for the Blue Jackets, setting a new franchise record.
So, what does 10 straight wins mean to this team?
“It means we’re going to try really hard to win 11,” said Brandon Dubinsky.
The Blue Jackets are 21-5-4 and one point from first place in the Metropolitan Division (with games in hand), and they happen to welcome the division-leading Pittsburgh Penguins to Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.
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