You'll take it, even if it wasn't a Picasso.
The Blue Jackets weren't at their best tonight. The Dallas Stars were roaring in the second and third periods and owned the puck, but a fine goaltending performance from Joonas Korpisalo led the way.
Man, did they ever need to survive that game? Every point is important and these two come at a time when the Metro Division is starting to ramp things up. Let's dig into what catalyzed a 2-1 shootout win for the Blue Jackets:
THE KID STANDS TALL
What appeared a curious decision by John Tortorella ended up paying off. Korpisalo was a surprise starter tonight in the Jackets' first game off the bye week, a decision Tortorella said was the product of Sergei Bobrovsky historically struggling in the first game after a long layoff. Nevermind that, provided Bobrovsky plays Tuesday in Vegas, he will have two starts separated by nearly two weeks – this night was Korpisalo's, and without him the Blue Jackets were out to sea.
Korpisalo made 35 saves in regulation and overtime and stared down Jason Spezza, Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin (hard to beat that 1-2-3 lineup) in the shootout to lock down two points.
CHALLENGE THAT!
Lukas Sedlak ought to thank Tortorella for a third-period challenge that wiped a forgettable play off the board. Sedlak, entering the offensive zone, chucked the puck to no one in particular and the Stars took off the other way. Radulov ran into Korpisalo as he drove the net and Antoine Roussel banged in the rebound, but there was enough evidence for the officials to reverse the on-ice call.
Tortorella said post-game that he and the coaches were deciding whether to challenge for goaltender interference or offsides, as it appeared one of the Stars was in the zone ahead of the play. The former was the right call and the review was by no means a lengthy one, keeping the Blue Jackets ahead 1-0 and temporarily halting the Dallas charge.
KILLING TIME
The Stars have a deadly power play, even when they're not clicking.
Spezza, Seguin, Radulov, Jamie Benn, John Klingberg, the list goes on...Ken Hitchcock has a full arsenal to work with as he assembles the units. They had a glorious chance late in regulation when the Blue Jackets were flagged for too many men, but credit to the Columbus penalty killers for a job well done against a potent unit.
They were in passing lines, standing up the blue line to take away free entries, and doing anything possible to limit high-danger chances from a group that's prone to doing just that. Tortorella said he liked how the penalty killers were more "together" in this game, not making individual plays as much as they were in-sync as a group and reading off one another. When it feels like 5-on-4.5 as it did tonight, advantage goes to the PK.
JUSSI'S DEBUT
Listen. Jussi Jokinen isn't going to solve all of the Blue Jackets' offensive problems. They are still challenged beyond comprehension to score 5-on-5 and it may be that way until they're back to full strength. But – there's always a but! – there were flashes and moments tonight from the newest Blue Jacket which indicated he may be able to provide some help.
Tortorella talked about Jokinen's poise on the puck and his ability to make clean plays coming out of the defensive zone, and that was on display tonight. Jokinen saw some power play time and centered a new-look third line with Nick Foligno and Matt Calvert, which started well with a few chances but faded as the game went along.
An encouraging start for the 34-year-old Jokinen, who also took the lead-off spot in the shootout but was stopped by Ben Bishop's gigantic right pad.
HANG IN THERE
The final 50-ish minutes were survival mode for the Blue Jackets. They started the game playing an uptempo and attacking style, which produced an opening goal for the fourth line on a Stars turnover. After that, though, the game started to shift toward the Stars and they poured it on.
Korpisalo made a handful of impressive saves (Seguin is probably still looking to the rafters after he was denied on an open net chance), and the Blue Jackets minimized the damage somewhat by taking care of the puck when they had it. Dallas just had it far more than they did, which put a lot of pressure on the defense and goaltender.
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