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 The Blue Jackets, led by Savard, seemed to have an answer for every
goal the Edmonton Oilers scored, allowing them to cruise to a 6-3
win on Friday in Nationwide Arena.
Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner, Scott Hartnell and Fedor Tyutin also
scored for the Blue Jackets, who are 12-5-4 since Jan. 13.
Blue Jackets rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo finished with 33
saves.
"Those are fun games to play, with all the open ice," said Savard,
who came into the game with only one goal in 47 games this season.
"It was like a junior game, so good memories.
"But the best part for us is how we responded. Every time they
scored we got it back within a minute. You always talk about
responding the right way, and you saw that tonight."
The Oilers got goals from Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall and Leon
Draisaitl, while goaltender Laurent Brossoit, making only his third
NHL start, had 21 saves.
Every time the Oilers scored, the Blue Jackets responded quickly
with a goal of their own.
When the Oilers cut the lead to 2-1, the Jackets responded 10
seconds later. When they pulled to 4-2, the Jackets scored 43
seconds later. When Edmonton cut it to 5-3, the Jackets scored 35
seconds later.
"We didn't give ourselves much of a chance tonight," Edmonton coach
Todd McClellan said. "The goals they scored right back against us
... that's a sign of not mentally being there.
"You just gained a little momentum and traction and you just give it
back to them. Mental mistakes, to me, more than physical."
Brossoit steadied after allowing goals on his first two shots, but
was under siege all night.
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead 1:54 into the game. Atkinson was on
the doorstep when a spinning, backhand pass from Nick Foligno made
it through traffic and landed on Atkinson's blade for the easy
finish.
Only 50 seconds later, it was 2-0. Savard skated the puck in and
released a wrister from atop the left circle that whizzed past
Brossoit's glove.
The Oilers made a push later in the first period and early in the
second, and they were rewarded.
Draisaitl scored his 17th of the season when he redirected Adam
Pardy's shot, sending it off Korpisalo and into the Blue Jackets'
net.
Only 10 seconds after Draisatl's goal, Tyutin took a pass from
Hartnell off the rush and beat Brossoit between his pads to make it
3-1.
It was Tyutin's first goal in 66 games, dating back to almost one
year ago: March 12 vs. Detroit.
"It's the greatest feeling scoring goals in this league, especially
when you haven't scored for a long time," Tyutin said.
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The lead grew to 4-1 when the Blue Jackets scored a power play goal
at 10:54 of the second.
Ryan Murray's slapper from the right point was redirected by
Jenner's stickblade, shooting the puck past Brossoit and into the
net.
The Oilers pulled to 4-2 at 19:00 of the second with their own
power-play goal, this time a redirected by Hall off Andrej Sekera's
slap shot.
The Blue Jackets had an answer only 43 seconds later. Alexander
Wennberg forced a turnover at the Oilers' blue line and set up
Hartnell, who was coming through the left circle with speed.
McDavid, who lit up the Blue Jackets in an earlier meeting, scored
at 3:22 of the third period to make it 5-3.
Savard struck again, this time 35 seconds later, to seal it.
The back-and-forth nature of the game made Blue Jackets coach John
Tortorella seasick, he said.
"I was on the edge of the bench the whole night, because I think
that game could have changed in a second," Tortorella said. "It was
just one of those games for coaches.
"Players don't think that way, but I was worried through the whole
game as far as where the momentum was going to go. So answering
their goals like we did was very important."
NOTES: Blue Jackets LW Brandon Saad left the game after two periods
with an upper-body injury. Tortorella said he would not travel with
the club to Philadelphia for Saturday's game. ... Linesman Darren
Gibbs was struck by a puck with 7:10 remaining and was helped off
the ice. He did not return. ... Blue Jackets RW David Clarkson was
struck in the face by a puck during pregame warm-ups but was
stitched up and able to play. ... Oilers C Mark Letestu, who left
the Blue Jackets to sign with Edmonton as a free agent last summer,
played his first game back in Nationwide Arena. ... Blue Jackets RW
Rene Bourque, who cleared waivers on Monday, was a healthy scratch
for the second straight game.
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