Goals, anybody?
Colorado and Columbus combined for seven of them in last night’s game at the Pepsi Center. The teams registered four scores in the second period, but David Savard’s blue-line bomb with 61 seconds left secured the 4-3 win for Columbus.
The high-scoring affair came despite neither team eclipsing the 30-shot mark – Colorado outshot Columbus 29-27. Blue Jacket back-up goaltender Curtis McElhinney was peppered with 19 shots in the second period alone, but made seven solid saves in the game’s final stanza.
Well, you’re here to see goals, so we won’t keep you waiting.
The worst start
Safe to say David Savard did not see Jarome Iginla crashing the zone. Tough to tell from the camera angle, but Ryan Johansen may have blocked Savard’s vision for that split-second when he was passing to Scott Hartnell (#43). From there, pair one of the great scorers of all time with an off-guard goalie and Colorado goes up early.
Welcome to the big leagues, Cody Goloubef
This score will go down as Goloubef’s first NHL point and Brandon Dubinsky’s 100th NHL goal. I don’t think Jack Johnson meant for his shot to end up as a pass, but it just so happened to bounce to an area where Goloubef was located after his initial shot attempt.
Nathan MacKinnon’s holding penalty had just expired when Dubinsky wondered into the slot. Had Goloubef delivered that pass seconds later, Dubinsky would have had a far more difficult time establishing decision. Instead, Dubinsky’s re-directed shot flew past a screened Semyon Varlamov to tie the game at one.
Dub-Ping-Sky
Instead, it took a funny bounce onto Dubinsky’s stick and he wristed it off the near post and in, putting Columbus up 2-1 early in the second.
Oh David…
It wasn’t the easiest puck to corral, but this was a puck Savard needs to have. Instead, Savard lost his footing and a three-on-one ensues. Credit to Gabriel Landeskong for making a nifty move on a frozen McElhinney to tie the game at two.
Tic-Tac-Joey
Erik Johnson (#6) was playing off the boards and missed out on the chance to obstruct James Wisniewski’s pass to Nick Foligno. Three Colorado defenders get caught in a straight line staring at the puck, allowing Scott Hartnell to freely wonder to the right circle.
MacKinnon (#29) and John Mitchell (#7) were separated by at least six feet after Mitchell circled back into the slot from defending the blue line, allowing Hartnell to deliver the quick pass to Johansen for the easy goal. The score extended Johansen’s goal-scoring streak to three.
Wrap-around dandy
Sometimes, it just takes a lucky bounce. Daniel Briere (#48) delivered a nice pass to Cody McLeod between two Blue Jacket defenders. Savard (#58) was late sliding over to defend McLeod’s wrap-around attempt and the shot took a funky bounce off of McElhinney’s skate and shoulder before crossing the red line.
Redemption, thy name is Savard
Of course it would be Savard after the game he had. Hartnell (#43) made an outstanding effort to wrestle the puck away from Erik Johnson and deliver it to Nick Foligno. From there, Foligno skated towards the blue line and delivered the puck on a silver platter.
Nothing too fancy on this goal, just a blistering one-timer from the point. Despite his mistakes, Savard earned first star honors.