Blue Jackets beat Oilers for 16th straight win
The Columbus Blue Jackets won their 16th game in a row, putting them one away from tying the NHL record for most consecutive victories in a season.
Columbus downed the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena, out-shooting their opponent 35-22 and holding a territorial advantage throughout the game.
“I just want us to keep our head down and I just want us to play. You know what we are? We’re a group of businessmen as far as I’m concerned,” coach John Tortorella said according to NHL.com. “That’s where I think they have really grasped, is they have accepted the thought of coming to work every day and learning about that day, playing that game and worrying about that game, not worrying about what happened, not worrying about what’s ahead of us.”
Columbus moved ahead of the 1981-82 New York Islanders and 2012-13 Pittsburgh Penguins and into second place by themselves for most consecutive victories in a season. The 1992-93 Penguins hold the record with 17 straight wins. Columbus will try to tie the mark on Thursday at the Washington Capitals. If the Blue Jackets win that game they can set the record at home Saturday against the New York Rangers.
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Blue Jackets forward William Karlsson scored the game-winner at the 10:43 mark of the third period on the power play when he buried a one-timer off a feed from Brandon Saad to put this team up 2-1.
In the first period, forward Cam Atkinson fired his team-leading 18th goal of the season off Edmonton defenseman Andrej Sekera and past goaltender Cam Talbot on the power play to make the game 1-0 at the 12:32 mark.
Edmonton’s Oscar Klefbom tied the game at 1-1 at the 5:39 mark of the second, but that was all the Oilers could muster. Nick Foligno’s unassisted wrister at the 2:35 mark of the third period effectively put the game away.
With the victory, the Blue Jackets continued a stunning turnaround this season from a dreadful 2015-16, where they finished with the fourth-worst record in the NHL. This year has also given coach John Tortorella a chance to rebound after a winless World Cup of Hockey with Team USA.
Columbus now ranks second in the NHL in goals per-game at 3.44 and second in goals allowed per-game at 2.03. The Blue Jackets also currently boast the league’s top power play at 28.3 percent.
“We’re rolling right now,” Blue Jackets right wing Cam Atkinson said according to the Columbus Dispatch. “The bench is up, and between periods we’re staying positive even if we’ve had a good period or a bad period. We’re definitely having fun right now.”
“The power play, you can almost sense it when they go out there that they are going to score,” Tortorella said. “The bench feels that.”
The Blue Jackets moved further ahead in the Metropolitan Division with 58 points – three more than the second-place Penguins and five more than the Rangers. Columbus has also played two fewer games than Pittsburgh and four fewer than New York.
“I’m proud of the team. They deserve it,” Tortorella said. “I’m really happy how they’ve handled the past three games with all the talk and all that. It’s a good test for them.”
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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