The Columbus Blue Jackets played what is likely their best game of the relatively young season Friday night, shutting out the Minnesota Wild 4 - 0. Curtis McElhinney stopped 20 pucks as the Jackets recorded their second straight team shutout.
RJ Umberger and Nick Foligno each tallied a goal and an assist and Ryan Johansen finished with two helpers. Rookie forward Boone Jenner scored his third goal of the year, his first since potting two in just his fifth NHL game.
The Jackets outshot the Wild 41 - 20, outhit them 25 - 17 and won the faceoff battle, 26 - 21 as they dominated Minnesota in essentially every facet Friday night.
Columbus was excellent in the neutral zone, forcing turnovers and preventing Minnesota from gaining speed through the zone. They also did a good job of getting pucks in deep and keeping their forecheck pressure up. As a result the Jackets dominated territorially.
Minnesota forward Zach Parise, seemingly agreeing, was critical of his team's play in the neutral zone, saying after the game:
"We were just flat and not crisp," he said. "We were pretty brutal through the neutral zone and couldn't get anything generated."
McElhinney, again proving my reservations about him coming into the season as the team's backup wrong, was solid in goal. He wasn't tested often but still made the saves he needed to including a few tough ones with Minnesota on a 5-on-3 man advantag in the second period. With Bobrovsky out for the next four to five weeks, Columbus' fortunes are going to rest on McElhinney's play between the pipes.
Cam Atkinson broke a four game goalless streak, putting Columbus on the board just 1:17 into the second period. He also finished with a team-high 8 shots on goal.
Minnesota, who came back late in the third period Thursday for a 4 - 3 home win over division rival Chicago, might not have been at their best as a result of having to turn around so quickly after an emotional win. Mike Yeo seemed to feel that was the case:
"We played right into that (being tired), too, turning pucks over," he said. "We were on our heels, slow reacting, slow getting to places. We were not pressing the way we needed to be."
While that may be true to a certain degree, it's also not giving credit where credit is due. Columbus played with energy and forced the action for much of the game. Just like no one is going to feel much sympathy for Columbus because of their injury troubles, no one is going to empathize with Minnesota for having to turn around to play Columbus 24 hours after a big win over the defending Cup champs. Everyone has tough back-to-backs due in part to the compressed schedule thanks to the Winter Olympics.
Columbus gets the rest of the weekend off after winning back-to-back games for the first time since October 25th. They return to action Monday, traveling to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins. Pittsburgh has won five straight since dropping an OT decision to Boston on November 25th, including a 5 - 1 trouncing of Pacific Division leading San Jose Thursday. Columbus will undoubtedly have their work cut out for them.