The big news prior to the game Thursday against the Ducks was the re-signing of defenseman Ryan Murray. Joonas Korpisalo started in net again as the team appears ready to ride him until Sergei Bobrovsky or Curtis McElhinney returns off of IR. The recent points streak also has the Jackets moving up in the standings and away from the best odds to land Auston Matthews.
Just fourteen seconds into the game against the Ducks, Scott Hartnell appeared to have scored the opening goal but it was waived off due to the whistle being blown. No real controversy as the whistle was blown. Here was the ruling:
#HockeyOps explains “no goal” decision at 0:14 of first period in the @AnaheimDucks/@BlueJacketsNHL game. #ANAvsCBJ pic.twitter.com/gL9TJGr3VI
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 12, 2016
There was some miscommunication later in the period according to Seth Jones. Ryan Getzlaf held the puck at the top of the left circle as the Ducks skated into the offensive zone. Jones was left to defend Steward or Ryan Getzlaf who was behind him. He got caught in no-man’s land and Getzlaf passed the puck to Chris Stewart in the middle of the ice. Stewart passed it immediately to Perron who was cutting to the net. Perron finished around Korpisalo for the goal and the 1-0 Anaheim lead.
The Jackets a few prime chances to tie it up in the first but went to the break down by a goal. They came out of the break and registered the first eight shots on goal in the second. The Ducks would strike next, though, as Mike Santorelli finished a cross-ice pass for the 2-0 lead with less than 12 seconds remaining.
It seemed like the Ducks were on their way to a win at that point, but then things got weird. Getzlaf won the ensuing faceoff, but Nick Foligno stayed on it and forced a turnover. The CBJ captain wheeled and dealed his way to low on the left and then fed William Karlsson for the response goal. It was Wild Bill’s 7th of the season and cut the lead to 2-1 with five seconds remaining. As the period ended, Dalton Prout gave some nasty punches to Chris Stewart.
Less than two minutes into the third period, Ryan Garbutt fired a wrister from a near perpendicular angle. The shot somehow beat Korpisalo over his left shoulder and went under the bar. The Ducks were up 3-1 at that point.
The Jackets fought back the rest of the period. At 6:03, Brandon Saad converted (finally) after Wennberg gathered the puck off a rebound. It was Saad’s 20th of the campaign.
At 14:57, Brandon Dubinsky took a feed from Nick Foligno and was on the doorstep of the goal low on the left. He waited and let loose a shot along the ice, then immediately cleaned up the rebound under Frederik Andersen’s pad to tie the game at three.
The remainder of regulation and five minutes of overtime could not determine a winner, so the Jackets went to the shootout for the second straight game.
Cam Atkinson nearly ran out of room on his first attempt but the puck slid in for a good goal. Jakob Silfverberg was denied by Korpisalo’s glove after that.
Alexander Wennberg had another nifty move and slid a backhand past Andersen in the five hole. Seth Jones would call it “silky” after the game. Corey Perry ran out of room on his attempt.
Final Jackets 4-3
Here it comes. Another run to take the Jackets out of prime draft positioning. Korpisalo is on some kind of streak though.
The Jackets are 5-1-2 in their last eight games including 3-1-1 since the All-Star break.
For advanced stats on this game, head over to war-on-ice.com
The Blue Jackets home stand continues Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.