Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards was asked post-game when he knew that tonight’s game would be different.
“Right from the first shift,” he said.
And he turned to one of his go-to units to start things off in Calgary – Ryan Johansen, RJ Umberger and Nick Foligno were reunited earlier this week and they were trusted with big minutes in the absence of several key players. Their heavy, forechecking game was the ideal medicine for a Blue Jackets club that went through “the lowest of lows” on Tuesday night in Edmonton, and it was a major factor in their bounce-back 2-1 win tonight in Calgary.
It took a wacky, almost-disastrous sequence in overtime to end it, but Nikita Nikitin finished off his best game of the season with the game-winner. Cam Atkinson blocked a shot in his own zone and left the puck for Artem Anisimov, who roared through neutral ice and found himself with a terrific scoring chance in front of Flames goalie Reto Berra. Anisimov was stopped once by Berra, had another attempt blocked, then Atkinson tossed the puck back toward the net where it ricocheted to David Savard.
Savard’s shot carromed off a Flames shin pad and right to Nikitin at the side of the net, who had crept in from the point and had a tap-in for two points.
Emotionally, it was a huge lift for the Blue Jackets, who held a players-only meeting after a 7-0 loss the night before and wanted to quickly forget about it. The best way to do that was to start quickly and the Jackets did so, thanks to Nick Foligno’s first period goal – a lead they carried into the third period.
Joe Colborne brought the Flames all square early in the third period, but the Blue Jackets played a straight-line game and kept the puck in front of them and behind the Calgary defense. In picking up the win, they moved to 2-1-0 on their five-game road trip and improved to 31-0-0 under Richards when leading after two periods.
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