Sometimes all it takes is one period to either be your downfall or your saving grace. The Blue Jackets know this all too well.
If you looked at the team's second frame, you would have thought that the game was going against Columbus.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| BLACKHAWKS | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
As far as starts go, the Blue Jackets could not ask for a better one. While it wasn't filled with goals and a whole lot of different offensive attacks, they were able to keep the Chicago Blackhawks at bay. While keeping them at an arms-length, forward Cam Atkinson was able to score shorthanded and it allowed them to jump out to an early lead that it seemed that they deserved.
If the first period was a period where the team could feel good about themselves, then the second period was the exact opposite. At the very beginning of the period, they got two quick goals within the first two minutes of the period itself. Blackhawks defensemen Ian Mitchell and Nicholas Beaudin tallied their first career goals at the beginning of the period. Toward the end of the frame, Pius Suter found himself on the scoresheet as well. Despite the 3-1 lead, the Blue Jackets wouldn't give up, the streaking forward Jack Roslovic would close the gap and put a power-play tally on the board for the hometown team.
JACK! ON THE POWER PLAY! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/HyYnlNoW3P
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 12, 2021
The final frame had the Blue Jackets down by a goal and it wouldn't exactly start the way they needed it to. Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane scored on the power play and it put Columbus back in a two-goal deficit.
The Blue Jackets didn't roll over. They scored their second power-play goal of the night when Boone Jenner banged in a Cam Atkinson rebound. Shortly after, Roslovic added his second tally of the net and continued the torrid pace that he set since being traded from the Winnipeg Jets. The third period wouldn't just end there. The Blackhawks bounced back again with a goal from Alex DeBrincat, set up perfectly by Kane, to make it 5-4 with under seven minutes to play.
The Blue Jackets scored the final two with goals from Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Stenlund to cap off a wacky game that was an absolute roller coaster from beginning to end.
THE SMOOTH SWEDE GIVES THE JACKETS THE LEAD! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/ETHyAOYRub
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 12, 2021
When the game felt like it was out of reach, the Blue Jackets had an answer–even at times when it was more than a one-goal deficit.
Injury Update
Defenseman Zach Werenski is now skating after being out with a lower-body injury, and his return date is unknown.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets next play on Saturday, Feb. 13 against the Blackhawks at 8 p.m. ET at the United Center.
