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Zach Werenski's OT heroics cap Columbus Blue Jackets' mammoth win in Utah: 4 takeaways
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- Zach Werenski's OT heroics cap Columbus Blue Jackets' mammoth win in Utah: 4 takeaways
The Blue Jackets keep rolling along as the NHL's most inspiring team .
More: Columbus Blue Jackets sweep a back-to-back on stunning OT comeback victory in Utah
Despite a sea of doubters anticipating their freefall, the Blue Jackets (26-19-7) are climbing the Eastern Conference standings while defying recent statistical trends that might become problematic soon. Once again, though, the Jackets pulled off another magic trick Friday night with a 3-2 overtime win in their inaugural visit to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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Outshot 36-23 and outplayed through two periods by the Utah Hockey Club (UHC), the Blue Jackets roared back from a 2-0 deficit with some help from fortunate bounces on goals 5:17 apart by Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson , pushing a third straight game to overtime for Zach Werenski 's winner.
The Blue Jackets now occupy the first wild card in the Eastern Conference by two points over the Tampa Bay Lightning after finally notching their first victory in eight tries in the second game of a back-to-back set.
Here are four takeaways:
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski controls the puck during the third period against the Utah Hockey Club.
Zach Werenski continues to lift Columbus Blue Jackets with OT victory
The Blue Jackets have scored a lot of goals this season while displaying elite skills, so Werenski's winner joins a lengthy list of memorable tallies.
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Werenski's instincts started it, prompting him to tap the puck off a nearby wall past Utah's Barrett Hayton after noticing it dribble away from the forward in the Blue Jackets zone. From there, Werenski collected it and used a stunning burst of speed to create separation for a 2-on-0 rush at the Utah net with Sillinger .
Each sent two passes to each other to get Vejmelka out of position before Werenski finished with a tap-in goal while gliding past the far post. It was executed to perfection and left the UHC goalie very little chance to stop it. It was the Jackets' second straight game decided by a poke check in OT, and again it involved Werenski and Sillinger. Sillinger scored Thursday in Las Vegas after Johnson's breakaway.
"(Johnson) took advantage last night," Werenski said. "I'm not sure who had the puck tonight, but he fumbles it for a second. I feel like if you're close enough, you can strike. Once you beat your guy in overtime, it seems like you have a lot of ice, so try to get skating. (Sillinger) beat his guy up the ice. Pretty fun play there."
Werenski finished with two points on a goal and assist, tying Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche for second in scoring among NHL defensemen at 57 points. Makar leads all defensemen with 19 goals, two ahead of Werenski, while Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks holds the NHL's scoring lead among blueliners with 14-45-59 in 47 games.
Kirill Marchenko and the Blue Jackets have won three straight games in overtime.
Columbus Blue Jackets are vastly improved in 3-on-3 overtime
After starting the season 1-6 in games that ended prior to a shootout in 3-on-3 overtimes, the Blue Jackets have won three straight games with OT goals and haven't lost that way since Dec. 21 in Philadelphia .
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Since that OT loss to the Flyers, the Blue Jackets are 6-1 in games decided after the third period with three shootout wins and the past three victories in overtime. Three shootout wins on Dec. 31 against the Carolina Hurricanes , Jan. 7 in Pittsburgh and Jan. 14 against the Flyers at Nationwide Arena sparked the turnaround.
Separating their shootout and OT winning streaks was a 1-0 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Jan. 18 at Madison Square Garden – when it took Igor Shesterkin to top Blue Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov in his first NHL shutout performance.
The Blue Jackets were 10-3-1 in the month of January, including Friday's overtime victory over Utah.
Columbus Blue Jackets add gritty goals to scoring repertoire
At this point of the season, teams are buttoning up their defensive zones for the best chance to prevent goals and win games. Even teams that are outside of a playoff spot, like Utah, can make life difficult for goal-scorers. It's not pretty, but it's how good teams win games when it's hard to generate offense.
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The Blue Jackets' first back-to-back sweep of the season wouldn't have happened without ugly goals that forced overtimes Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights and Friday in Utah.
In Vegas, Adam Fantilli 's persistence tied it 1-1 late in the first period during a scramble in the Golden Knights' crease. In Utah, Marchenko and Johnson each scored goals that erased a 2-0 deficit in the third with simple shots and luck – including Johnson's tying goal bouncing off goalie Karel Vejmelka and UHC defenseman Nick DiSimone before trickling into the net.
"We really weren't making any plays tonight," Werenski said. "(Marchenko) chips one in, and then (Johnson) just fires from a bad angle and got a lucky bounce. Sometimes you need those bounces. Tonight, we got them."
Columbus Blue Jackets' James van Riemsdyk helped create tying goal after returning from ugly facial laceration
James van Riemsdyk missed most of the first two periods after leaving 8:10 into the game. He caught a stick blade in the mouth during a puck battle with former Blue Jackets defenseman Ian Cole and immediately left the ice bleeding.
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Van Riemsdyk missed the rest of the first period and the entire second before returning to the Blue Jackets' bench wearing a protective plastic jaw shield. His lip was stitched and swollen, so the veteran power forward couldn't talk to his teammates on the bench.
Playing through facial injuries is nothing new for NHL players, but it's always impressive when one of them endures an experience like Van Riemsdyk's Friday night. He played the third period, got the primary assist on Johnson's tying goal and screened Vejmelka while tying up DiSimone prior to the Jackets' fortunate bounce off the Utah defender's left skate.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Werenski heroics cap Columbus Blue Jackets' OT win in Utah: takeaways
