The Blue Jackets offense finally got it going and a team that had struggled mightily in second periods this season doubled up the Isles on shots on goal in the second period of their game Saturday as the Jackets beat New York 5 - 2.
Ryan Johansen and Brandon Dubinsky, playing together on the first line, each tallied a goal and three points to lead the Columbus charge.
Cam Atkinson, scoreless in his previous six games, got off the schneid with his fourth goal of the season.
RJ Umberger tallied for the second time in three games and now has seven points, three goals and four helpers, in his last nine contests. His recent production is offering hope that his early season scoring slump is a thing of the past.
Defenseman James Wisniewski capped off the scoring with an empty net goal and added an assist.
It was a good night for the Jackets who ended a five game losing streak but the evening did not get started off quite so well. After a performance described as "embarrassing" by head coach Todd Richards, the Jackets spent some extra time with the coaches at practice Friday trying to figure out a solution. Then the Jackets come out Saturday and see the Isles outshoot them 9 - 2 in the first period and plainly get dominated despite exiting the frame tied at one. That was not the start anyone expected to see from a desperate team.
Columbus turned things around in the second, a period they have not had a lot of luck in this season. The Jackets own an overall goal differential of -6 but have been outscored in the second period by a total of 19 - 10. Even though each team tallied a marker in the second, Columbus was by far the better team and carried the momentum generated over into the final frame.
With Atkinson finally getting a goal and Umberger rolling in the scoring department, next up to break his slump is Marian Gaborik. Gaborik has just one assist in his past six contests but perhaps more alarming is he isn't getting shots to the net. For his career he averages 3.34 SOG per but hasn't exceeded three SOG in any game since October 15th. He has just eight in five games in the month of November. Gaborik needs to work harder to get into quality scoring positions and get open shots on the goal.
Next up for Columbus is another division game with the Capitals in Washington DC. The Capitals currently hold the second spot in the Metro Division but with the Rangers coming on strong of late they should be plenty motivated tonight.
Alex Ovechkin is third in the league in goals scored with 13 despite missing a couple of contests with an injury. Center Nicklas Backstrom is also off to a strong start with 20 points on the season.
Braden Holtby is scheduled to get the start for the Capitals in goal and he will likely be opposed by Sergei Bobrovsky.
It appears the Jackets will ice the same lineup as they did Saturday with one possible exception. Richards still needs to decide whether Dalton Prout or David Savard will pair with Nikita Nikitin tonight on the blue line.