Johansen leads Blue Jackets to 4-2 win over Oilers


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - With a fierce forecheck and an efficient power play, the Columbus Blue Jackets made up for a blowout in Edmonton last week.

Ryan Johansen had a goal and an assist for his seventh multipoint game this season to lead the Blue Jackets past the Oilers 4-2 on Friday night.

"We had more motivation and obviously didn't like the way things went down in Edmonton," said Nick Foligno, who also scored to help Columbus win for only the second time in its last eight home games.

Artem Anisimov and Jack Skille each had a goal for the Blue Jackets, who dominated the pace _ until Edmonton scored twice in the third period _ and erased the memory of that 7-0 defeat on Nov. 19.

"It felt great," said Matt Calvert, who added two assists. "You still feel it. It was embarrassing. We wanted to come back in our building and especially get a win in front of our fans and beat these guys up."

Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for Columbus. He outplayed fellow Russian and former Philadelphia Flyers teammate Ilya Bryzgalov, who stopped 19 shots and was replaced by Devan Dubnyk at the start of the third period.

Signed on Nov. 8, Bryzgalov made his second start for Edmonton after shutting out Nashville 3-0 on Thanksgiving.

"We weren't ready to go right out of the gate," Oilers coach Dallas Eakins said. "Even though I thought we slowly fought back, there was just a lot of head-shaking moments on our bench. Not only from the coaches but the players themselves."

Sam Gagner and Jordan Eberle scored for the speedy Oilers, who had won four of five. But they slowed themselves with several penalties and might have been tired while playing for the second consecutive night.

Edmonton took four penalties in the second period that added up to 2 minutes for the Blue Jackets with a two-man advantage _ and two power-play goals. A third Columbus goal in the period came on a delayed penalty.

Columbus' plan to crash the net led to the game's first goal. On a dump-in by Calvert and then pressure from Cam Atkinson, Johansen snagged the puck out of traffic, curled into the low slot and roofed his team-leading ninth of the season at 7:50 of the first period.

"I was pleased with the energy we came out with and that we played with," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said.

The Blue Jackets made it 4-0 with three goals in the second period. The Oilers got into immediate penalty trouble by taking minors for tripping, delay of game and holding in a span of 1:35.

"We'd been struggling on the 5-on-3 lately," Calvert said. "It was awesome to get a goal. It kind of gave the bench a boost and we went from there."

Anisimov, positioned near the crease, got his stick blade on a pass from Calvert for his seventh at 3:44.

"When you get down on 5-on-3 and especially long ones, those are usually going to end up in your net," Eakins said.

About 7 minutes later, with Edmonton back in the box, Foligno pushed home his sixth with Ryan Smyth draped on his back on a nice pass from Boone Jenner to make it 3-0.

"We've practiced it but haven't really used it much," Foligno said of the play. "It worked out well. It's always good to make them pay on the power play."

Late in the period, Skille took it the distance and snapped an impressive shot from the right circle past Bryzgalov.

"I was thinking, just get by that D and make sure to have a quick release on the shot," Skille said.

Edmonton tried to creep back into the game in the third period.

"I wanted to see us come out and continue to play a hard game (in the third) and make it difficult on them," Richards said. "We went the opposite direction. We took some penalties and it gave them some life."

Gagner scored with a long shot along the goal line that sneaked past Bobrovksy at 10:36.

Eberle followed with his team-best 10th about 5 minutes later, scoring from the left circle through a screen on the power play.

NOTES: RW Corey Tropp, claimed off waivers Thursday from Buffalo, made his Columbus debut and assisted on Skille's goal. ... Edmonton entered 7-1-1 in its last nine games against Columbus. ... The Blue Jackets have not won two in a row since a three-game winning streak Oct. 20-25. ... Jordan Hall's five-game points streak (two goals, five assists) ended for the Oilers. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had an assist to extend his streak (one goal, 7 assists) to five games. ... The Blue Jackets' first nine shots in the second came on the power play.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Most recent NHL stories

Related topics

NHL

ARE YOU GAME?

From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast