Columbus 4, Arizona 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, December 5, 2016
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Referees:
Wes McCauley, Brad Meier
Linesmen:
Derek Amell, Bryan Pancich
Attendance:
11091
By The Sports Xchange
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Columbus Blue Jackets earned the 500th victory in franchise history, with Sam Gagner recording two goals and two assists in a 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday at Nationwide Arena.
Columbus (15-5-4) also got goals from Nick Foligno and Zach Werenski.
"He's that type of player," Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella said of Gagner, "that keeps coming. That's a really big plus for our lineup. He's done a really good job on our power play and was a big part of it tonight."
The win gives the Blue Jackets 34 points on the season, and one point behind first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Sergei Bobrovsky is 14-5-2 in 21 starts for Columbus. He stopped 17 of 18 shots on goal for the Blue Jackets, who completed a season-series sweep of the Coyotes.
Tobias Rieder opened the game's scoring for Arizona (8-12-4) before the Blue Jackets added the final four goals. Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue stopped 30 shots.
"Every time we got our footing a little bit," said Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett, "we'd take a penalty that would put us behind. We were better than we were the other night, but not good enough."
The Coyotes got on the board after Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky was penalized for hooking. On the power play, Rieder was left all alone in the slot and wired a shot over Bobrovsky after a nice feed from Alex Goligoski off the boards at 9:28 of the first period.
Three minutes after Dubinsky's penalty, Arizona's Lawson Crouse was called for high sticking. On the ensuing Blue Jackets power play, Gagner was credited with the tying goal after a scrum in front of Domingue.
"Our power play was working," said Gagner. "We were a little sluggish early, but our power play kept us going. We were able to get a couple there, so it was nice.
"It's a fun team to be a part of. I think we're doing a pretty good job of forgetting anything that happened in the game before and just moving on. We're a confident group and hopefully we can keep going here."
The Blue Jackets increased their lead to 2-1 on a power-play goal from Foligno at 5:09 of the middle period. The play was started by a terrific diagonal pass from Gagner to Cam Atkinson, who then passed it across the crease to Foligno, standing just outside of the blue paint. It was Foligno's 10th goal of the season and Atkinson's 375th career point.
At 11:37 of the third, the Blue Jackets overwhelmed the Coyotes in their zone. Gagner was left alone in the slot, and he wasted no time shooting the puck into the wide-open net to give Columbus a 3-1 lead.
The Coyotes unsuccessfully challenged the goal call, alleging goalie interference.
"The goalie interference wasn't really that they ran into me," Domingue said, "mostly, when I went to grab my stick, he moved it out of the way. That's what I saw.
"But it doesn't matter anyway, because I was late on the pass in front."
Gagner tied Foligno for the team lead in goals with 10. Brandon Saad's primary assist on Gagner's second goal was his 200th career point.
"One of our biggest strengths right now, a couple of months into the season," said Tortorella, "is our mindset. We come to work and we work that day. If it's a good day, it's a good day. We don't get too high. If it's a bad day and things don't work out, I don't think they've gotten too low.
"I think we've all bought in to that, pretty well, as far as just one day at a time. It is the most important thing for this team and organization to live by."
Werenski's shot from the corner bounced off Domingue and into the net, pushing the Blue Jackets' advantage to 4-1 at 15:00 of the third period.
NOTES: LW Brendan Perlini made his NHL debut after being recalled from Tucson of the AHL on Sunday. He was the No. 12 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft ... The Blue Jackets sent LW Markus Hannikainen to Cleveland of the AHL on Sunday. ... G Sergei Bobrovsky in net for the Blue Jackets. G Louis Domingue started for the Coyotes. Domingue hasn't played since Nov. 23 against Vancouver, when he stopped all 10 shots he faced in relief of G Mike Smith. ... LW Anthony Duclair and D Kevin Connauton were scratched for the Coyotes. RW Brad Richardson is out with a broken leg. It was Duclair's first scratch this season. ... D Dalton Prout and D Scott Harrington were scratched by the Blue Jackets. RW David Clarkson (back) is injured.
Top Game Performances
Arizona |
|
Columbus |
Tobias Rieder 1 |
Points |
Sam Gagner 4 |
Tobias Rieder 1 |
Goals |
Sam Gagner 2 |
Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1 |
Assists |
Sam Gagner 2 |
Tobias Rieder 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Sam Gagner 1 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Louis Domingue .882 |
Save Percentage |
Sergei Bobrovsky .944 |
Louis Domingue 30 |
Saves |
Sergei Bobrovsky 17 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Arizona
|
18 |
1 |
1-1 |
4-6 |
16 |
15 |
Columbus
|
34 |
4 |
2-6 |
0-1 |
6 |
36 |
Upcoming Games
-
Columbus will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .667 after a loss.
-
Arizona will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .333 after a loss.