Goals tough to come by during winning streak

Nick Foligno’s eyes swelled like he had just spotted an oasis after a dozen days in the desert.

Parched from no points in his past 12 games, Foligno stole the puck that had slid off the stick of Calgary’s T.J. Brodie behind his own net, spun and slipped a pass to Josh Anderson, who fired it in top-shelf for the Blue Jackets’ fifth consecutive win, 1-0 in overtime.

“No hesitation there,” Anderson said, smiling. “I was screaming at the top of my lungs for Nicky. I really wanted it to seal the game.”

“Thank you,” Foligno told Anderson after getting that assist.

“No, thank you,” Anderson responded, equally grateful for the chance to atone for coming up empty at the doorstep in the third period.

On Thanksgiving eve, the Blue Jackets were once again thankful for their goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky. And their coach, John Tortorella, was thankful for his team’s patience and composure through more than three periods Wednesday night.

The Jackets struggled to score again, this time against a goalie, Mike Smith, who has historically given them headaches standing on his head. But the NHL’s best team in games that go beyond regulation improved to 7-0-1 in shootouts and overtimes and headed into the holiday with 29 points, fewer than just two teams — the Lightning (34) and Blues (33).

“There’s no panic,” Tortorella said. “I’m not saying that because we won. I really feel they’re comfortable in these situations. The early part of the year, we’ve been involved in a lot of close games and we’ve handled ourselves well.”

The Jackets (14-7-1) have scored a total of seven goals in regulation during this five-game winning streak. They’ve prevailed twice in overtime and also in a nine-round shootout.

Smith made 40 saves Wednesday, continuing his success against the Jackets. He amassed 58 saves in a loss to them Dec. 3 last year while playing for the Coyotes, and posted 54 saves in a shutout win against them April 3, 2012.

Meanwhile, Bobrovsky went about his business again, stopping 22 shots while earning his second shutout in three games and third of the season. He improved his goalsagainst average to 0.80 and his save percentage to .974 during this winning streak.

“I just try to stay in my zone and do my things, and my teammates will take care of the rest,” he said.

Before Anderson netted his team-leading eighth goal and second overtime winner of the season, he had a stellar chance to score in the third. But Smith blocked his shot from pointblank range with his right pad, and seconds later, Anderson came up empty again from nearly the same spot.

Tortorella said a few of Anderson’s teammates gave him grief on the bench after his nearmisses. At the end, they were mobbing him on the ice.

“I was proud of our guys,” Foligno said. “We were patient. You can get frustrated in a game like that, but we just kept with it and kept grinding.”