After a long layoff this week (thanks, NHL- where were these in November and December?), the Columbus Blue Jackets returned home to take on the Edmonton Oilers in the second and final meeting between the two teams. The first, Connor McDavid’s return to action, led to a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of the Oilers. Following morning skate, Coach Tortorella noted that the club would have a different look on the power play tonight, including featuring William Karlsson.
In team news, Jack Johnson would miss tonight’s game while dealing with an upper body injury suffered last weekend. Cody Goloubef would take his place next to David Savard. Joonas Korpisalo would start in net for the Blue Jackets. Brandon Saad was moved to Karlsson’s line, while Nick Foligno would skate with Alexander Wennberg.
To the highlights!
FIRST PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS
Your CBJ starters: Matt Calvert, William Karlsson, Brandon Saad, Fedor Tyutin, Dalton Prout, Joonas Korpisalo
Mark Letestu got the start for Edmonton in his first game back at Nationwide.
BLUE JACKETS GOAL! Cam Atkinson redirected a feed from Brandon Dubinsky at 1:54. Dubinsky walked out from behind the net, fed a goal mouth pass (while he wasn’t looking, mind you), and Atkinson sent it home. Assists to Dubinsky and Boone Jenner.
BLUE JACKETS GOAL. Holy cow. Brandon Saad brought the puck into the zone and fed David Savard, who roofed it high glove side. Assists to Saad and Matt Calvert at 2:44.
Well. That escalated quickly.
Of note: the assist on Savard’s goal marked the
FIGHT. Gregory Campbell and Matt Hendricks went at it at 4:16.
To say that the Blue Jackets were fired up after their loss Monday night might be the understatement of the week.
CHANCE!! Dubinsky fed Atkinson and they juuuuuuuust missed connecting at 7:00.
It should be noted that the Oilers started Laurent Brossoit, who has less NHL experience than Korpisalo does.
Saad and Cody Goloubef saw chances turned away after Matt Calvert forced a turnover from Nikita Nikitin.
SCRUM. Edmonton put the puck into the net, but it was after the whistle. Zack Kassian and Jared Boll had words at 9:52.
SAVE!! Korpisalo denied the Oilers at 10:30, and Wennberg was able to clear a gaping net.
Chance for Seth Jones at 10:45.
Connor McDavid was being matched by Brandon Dubinsky tonight.
Jenner redirected a Ryan Murray shot but was denied at 12:30.
Save by Korpisalo on McDavid at 13:00.
BREAKAWAY DENIED BY KORPISALO. He kept Taylor Hall out of the net, aided by a back check from David Savard. That happened at 14:30. Quite the nice recovery from Savard.
As Coach Hartsburg noted, the Oilers were cheating leaving the zone, attempting to use their speed to catch the Blue Jackets flat footed.
Atkinson found Jenner at 19:00, but Jenner was unable to send it home.
The first period ended with the Blue Jackets leading 2-0 despite being outshot 13-8.
SECOND PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS
The second period started with some news from Twitter- per Jeff Svoboda, CBJ prospect Zach Werenski was down on the ice holding his knee. However, he was able to return to the ice after missing about 5 minutes of game time. Columbus exhales.
Chance for Edmonton. Taylor Hall sent an effort just wide at 1:15 after a nifty feed from Leon Draisaitl.
Hard push for Edmonton to open the second period. The Oilers had driven play, keeping the Jackets on their heels.
Nail Yakupov was hit hard by Campbell and Jared Boll.
Oilers goal. That was coming. Adam Pardy let an initial shot go that was redirected by Leon Draisaitl and in. Assists to Pardy and Patrick Maroon at 4:35.
BLUE JACKETS GOAL. Ten seconds later, Fedor Tyutin buried his first of the season at 4:45, restoring the 2 goal advantage. Assists to Scott Hartnell and Nick Foligno.
SAAD BREAKAWAY DENIED AT 6:30
Alexander Wennberg looked for Foligno with a goal mouth pass, but it was broken up at 7:45.
Foligno hit the crossbar at 8:15.
Taylor Hall has been the best Oiler tonight.
Blue Jackets on the power play! Seth Jones was hauled down by Nail Yakupov, who kind of gave him a slew foot and tripped him. Yakupov went off at 9:55. Jones gingerly skated it off, but stayed on the ice.
BLUE JACKETS GOAL. Boone Jenner with his 23rd of the season at 10:54. The Oilers challenged that the play was offside. The play was upheld, and the goal stood. Assists went to Ryan Murray and Scott Hartnell.
CHANCE. Dubinsky tried to tap in a feed from Atkinson but it went high at 12:45.
Blue Jackets on the power play!! Mark Letestu hauled down Foligno at 14:20.
The Oilers killed the penalty, allowing no real chances to Columbus.
Oilers power play. Seth Jones went off for tripping Connor McDavid at 17:55. That was, in my humble opinion, really close to a dive by McJesus.
Oilers goal. Taylor Hall redirected it into the net over Korpisalo’s glove at 19:00. Assists to Peter Sekera and Connor McDavid.
BLUE JACKETS RESPOND. On a two on one, Alexander Wennberg found Scott Hartnell, who buried it at 19:44. Assist to Wennberg.
At the end of the second period, the Jackets led 5-2 despite being outshot 22-19 through 40 minutes.
THIRD PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS
Brandon Saad was not on the bench to start the third period following an open ice hit by Matt Hendricks.
Hard Edmonton pressure to open the third period.
Oilers goal. Rebound went straight to McDavid, who buried it at 3:22. Of course McJesus did. The Blue Jackets challenged the play for goaltender interference and it was upheld. Assists to Patrick Maroon and Andrej Sekera. It was ruled as incidental contact, and Torts wasn’t happy.
Brandon Saad would not return with an upper body injury.
BLUE JACKETS RESPOND AGAIN. David Savard joined the rush late and buried one at 4:26. Assists to David Clarkson (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and William Karlsson.
SAVES KORPISALO AT 4:45.
Korpisalo turns aside Taylor Hall at 7:30, setting off a scrum.
Jackets on the power play. Patrick Maroon went off for cross checking at 11:42.
Delay at 12:50 as one of the linesmen, Darren Gibbs, was hit was with a clearance from Mark Fayne. He was hit in the back of the leg and went down immediately. He was taken off the ice, putting no weight on his foot.
The Oilers killed the penalty.
Oilers power play. Brandon Dubinsky went off for interference at 14:57.
Save from Korpisalo. Kid’s good.
The Blue Jackets killed the penalty.
Leon Draisaitl had a few chances turned aside by Korpisalo at 18:40. He got up gingerly, but was okay.
Fight. Jared Boll and Patrick Maroon at 19:30. Maroon had been causing issues, and Boll had had enough.
Oilers power play. Dalton Prout left for boarding Iiro Pakarinen at 19:46. Completely unnecessary.
FINAL: Columbus Blue Jackets 6 Edmonton Oilers 3
THREE STARS
*** Boone Jenner
** Scott Hartnell
* David Savard
QUICK THOUGHTS
Get well soon, Saad.
Excellent effort all around, particularly from the blue line. Nothing really to complain about tonight- a rarity for me.
Shoutout to David Savard for his first multipoint night of his career.
Also to Matt Calvert for his 100th career point.
Hopefully the linesman is okay.
GO COFFEE MUG. #Mug4President
UP NEXT
After a long break earlier the Blue Jackets head out on the road to take on the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night, because of course they do. Faceoff is at 7:00 EST.