Columbus, Ohio - Did you find yourself saying "Whoa Nellie!" after the Blue Jackets won their first overtime victory of the season? No? Well, that was the feeling among many of the 14,196 that watched their team extend its' winning streak to four. Yes, that's four games in a row.
Almost suddenly, they've gone from finding ways to lose to finding a way to win.
"It was exciting for everybody involved," said bench boss Todd Richards. "It's a credit to the guys, because they didn't have a lot of energy coming up the ice (in overtime). Kevin (Connauton) just puts his head down and Joey (Ryan Johansen) makes a good pass and then Kevin makes a great shot."
And just like that, the Blue Jackets are starting to work their way back into the conversation. After going on a roll, they find themselves eight points back from the third place Washington Capitals. The Alex Ovechkin-led Caps are the Blue Jackets next opponent on Thursday.
The open ice of overtime does funny things to teams. Some relish the thought of playing that much of a free-flowing game. For others, it can be the bane of their existence.
"I think in overtime there's a little different mentality," said game-winning goal-scorer Kevin Connauton. "Without the fifth guys out there, there's more space. Five-on-five, I don't know if I would have jumped there."
"But four-on-four, they get caught with three guys low, we had that two-on-one. Joey (Ryan Johansen) made an unbelievable play to draw the defenseman over and create the breakaway for me."
Connauton put the puck over Flyers goalie Steve Mason's right shoulder (glove-side high, anyone?) and then was positively bowled over as he was mobbed by his teammates along the boards.
Indeed, this was a game that saw them play to their strengths and get some excellent and timely saves for their own net-minder, Sergei Bobrovsky. The belief is strong with this group of guys.
"There's just a sense that we're going to win every night now," said Scott Hartnell after the game. "I don't want to get too ahead of ourselves, obviously, but when we were having our tough times we were just waiting for something to go bad."
"Now, we're expecting to win. Mindset and focus is a big part of that; we're believing right now."
While this is nothing to rest their laurels on, the boost that four wins has to their confidence is almost beyond measure. They've been on the receiving end of a bit of puck luck and are creating chances. This has gone a long way towards helping them to achieve the streak that they are presently on.
Center Brandon Dubinsky made his much-anticipated season debut, playing 19:09. He also had 2:45 of power play time and 2:43 playing short-handed. Not bad for a guy in his first game of the season.
"It's really all about the team right now," Dubinsky said, "we needed the points. It was a back-and-forth game. Overall, points are the most important thing right now."
And he's exactly right. At this point, with the hole that they've dug for themselves, ALL the points are important if they hope to make a run back towards the upper reaches of the division. If they do, there is the carrot of a guaranteed playoff spot to be had.
But for now, they can savor the victory before putting their collective heads down and preparing for their next game on Thursday against the Capitals.
