The Blue Jackets are back in the win column.
It was wild and crazy at times, but they got big performances from important players in a 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars. All the top guys who John Tortorella wanted to get going? Well, they showed up on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.
Here are tonight's three things.
A Milestone Night
Cam Atkinson's 200th career goal was the game-winner.
Jack Roslovic became the first Columbus-born player to score for the Blue Jackets, and he potted a huge one to make it a 2-0 game.
Patrik Laine made it a 3-1 game in the second period, his first goal as a Blue Jacket on a nifty backhander through traffic and past Anton Khudobin.
PATRIK! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/AaBTUsff1n
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 5, 2021
The players who need to score were those who scored goals. That's a really good sign for the Blue Jackets, who have had their well-documented issues with offense. Tonight, it wasn't an issue, despite a power play that generated absolutely nothing.
Atkinson's goal was a beauty; Oliver Bjorkstrand worked along the wall of the draw–a set play, Atkinson said after the game–and found Atkinson darting toward the Dallas net. Boom, 4-2.
Timely Scoring
We know the Blue Jackets as an opportunistic, patient team. That's a polite way of saying they can't exactly score at will. In this game, though, they had answers for whatever the Stars threw at them.
It was 1-0, Columbus. Then 2-0. And then, the Stars warmed up. It was 3-1 after Laine's goal, a key answer after Dallas got on the board. After another power play goal for the visitors, it was Atkinson pushing the lead to 4-2. Bjorkstrand had a goal and this lovely assist in a big effort from him.
WHAM BAM THANK YOU CAM. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/BZ627PqLBi
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 5, 2021
The Net's Yours
With Elvis Merzlikins on injured reserve (listed day-to-day with an upper body injury), the Blue Jackets' net belongs to Joonas Korpisalo for the time being. He wasn't as strong as he was last Friday in Chicago, but this was right up there. The Stars generate a ton of quality scoring chances, and they kept coming even as the Blue Jackets built two-goal leads on three separate occasions.
Korpisalo made 25 saves tonight, including a dandy in the dying seconds on Joe Pavelski, who has absolutely torched the Blue Jackets in this two-game series. Now, it's on to a Sunday-Monday back-to-back with the Carolina Hurricanes.
