The players and coaches didn’t say it outright, but we will: the Blue Jackets needed a win like this.
They were pushed and they were challenged, but give the Blue Jackets credit: they hung in there, buckled down defensively and capitalized on one of their four grade-A scoring chances in 3-on-3 overtime.
Seth Jones ended it on a blistering top-shelf wrist shot set up by Brandon Dubinsky, giving him 10 goals on the season and giving the Blue Jackets their 34th win.
With two points, Columbus jumped over Pittsburgh into sole possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division with 73 points. Both teams are chasing the red-hot Washington Capitals.
After the Red Wings started the game on the front foot and peppered Sergei Bobrovsky, the Blue Jackets settled into their game and used their forecheck and some strong defending work to take control of it. At 5-on-5, they were in the driver’s seat with 57 percent of all shot attempts and played one of their better third periods in a while.
“I thought we played better,” coach John Tortorella said. “We played better away from the puck. It set us up for a third period, 2-2 (on the road)…we didn’t win the third period but we win the game. Were we perfect? Far from it, but I thought we played more of our game.”
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