Jackets get scoring help in win over Panthers
Blue Jackets 4, Panthers 3, OT
SUNRISE, Fla. — It’s an issue the Blue Jackets need to correct if they expect to stay in the thick of things within the Metropolitan Division.
The race is too tight, the teams are too good and those who can’t depend on more than a handful of guys scoring consistently could easily get left behind.
Nobody is aware of that more than the Blue Jackets, who finally got some depth scoring in a 4-3 overtime win Saturday night against the Florida Panthers.
Seth Jones’ goal 18 seconds into OT decided it, the second time he has ended a game on the first shift beyond regulation, but earlier goals by players other than Artemi Panarin, Pierreluc Dubois or Cam Atkinson contributed to the victory.
“We’ve got to get back to it,” said forward Josh Anderson, who tied it 2-2 late in the second. “That first line is carrying us, and we’ve got so many good players on this team that we’ve got to help contribute offensively.”
Anderson wasn’t the only depth guy who came up big. Anthony Duclair and Brandon Dubinsky also scored key goals and broke long scoring droughts.
Duclair gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with a goal off a breakaway 1:37 into the game for his ninth goal and first since Nov. 15 — which also was scored against the Panthers.
Dubinsky’s fourth goal of the season, scored 6:58 into the third, broke the 2-2 tie to end a dry spell stretching back to Dec. 6 in Philadelphia, almost a full month.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been on the scoresheet, so it always feels good to get that,” said Dubinsky, who fell into the boards behind the Florida net after scoring. “I’m happier with the points (for winning), but anytime you score a goal in this league it’s awesome. It broke my fall a lot better than if I would’ve missed.”
Anderson’s goal was big, too, providing a spark with 2:56 left in the second. It was his second goal in the past three games, but first since Dec. 13 with a goalie in the net. He scored it by tipping a rebound of Boone Jenner’s shot into the net out of mid-air, seconds after drawing a hooking minor on a mini-breakaway.
“I consider myself a goal-scorer and a shooter,” said Anderson, who finished with 19 goals last season despite missing about a month with a knee sprain. “The last couple games, I haven’t really found those soft spots or those rebounds that I want to be in, but hopefully that will come along.” Not just for him. The Blue Jackets’ goal-scoring has taken a significant dip since Dec. 4, when they scored six times in a 9-6 loss to the Calgary Flames. They have averaged 2.7 goals per game since that night at Nationwide Arena, which is down about
0.5 per game from their first 27 games.
The biggest reason for that dip was leaning too heavily on their first-line stars, plus defensemen Jones and Zach Werenski. They also depended on goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (27 saves), who was excellent through December.
“It can’t be three guys and a couple of defensemen, because that’s going to dry up,” coach John Tortorella said. “That’s going to get checked. They’re going to try to neutralize that stuff, so we need to get other guys going.”
bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger