In a game mostly dominated by the Columbus Blue Jackets they somehow found themselves in overtime but were able to beat the New Jersey Devils, 3-2 in overtime. Jack Johnson scored the overtime goal, Brandon Dubinsky scored via a penalty shot and Nick Foligno scored off an Alexander Wennberg pass to round out the Blue Jackets scoring.

Highlights:

Good, Better, Best

Good: Fourth Line

What an impressive display tonight from Calvert, Letestu and Morin. Each getting near ten minutes on the evening were able to allow the Top 9 to get the time off the ice they needed to sustain pressure. It is an angle of the game many won’t take into consideration but is necessary in today’s highly skilled NHL. Each player had an even strength corsi percentage higher than 60%, a welcome site on a fourth line that has been hemmed into their own zone most of the season. Boll will be back shortly but what will Todd Richards do with a mostly healthy lineup? A question that means little now but could prove vital next year when the playoffs once again become a part of the daily discussion.

Better: Shot Supression

The Blue Jackets finally outshot an opponent. A feat that I did not think would happen again this season. The fourth line may have helped out with the match ups through out the night and it may have helped that the Jackets were the healthiest they have been all season but boy, did they look good. Only four players were in the negative in shot differential, a god send to the analytically inclined. A good litmus test will be this Thursday against the New York Islanders, who have been tops in the Metro all year. Can’t wait to catch that one live.

Best: Cody Goldbeef and Kevin “Naughty Boy” Connauton

I have written about this pairing previously with high hopes that they could figure it all out and be a pairing moving forward for the Jackets that would replace some offense that was missing in the Wisniewski trade. Although they didn’t have any points on the evening they absolutely dominated play during even strength both having about 90% Corsi for. Playing with mostly offensive zone starts most of the night they weren’t given the most difficult assignments but nonetheless they helped the fourth line be what it was tonight and proved to be the catalyst of a strong team effort

Bestest (?): Brandon Dubinsky

What a penalty shot, eh?

Tweet of the Game:

https://twitter.com/RedditCBJ/status/583064583679655937