It was one of those games that you just want your team to come away with a point. The Blue Jackets did not look too flashy in the first 2 periods but they were able to rally and send the game into OT. The Blue Jackets made good on the first two goals in the shootout and a couple of nice stops by LeNeveu sealed the victory. The Jackets looked sluggish and lacking focus but a late power play goal in the second seemed to get the mo in the right direction.
Minnesota had so many chances the game could have gotten out of hand, one chance, Garon was totally beaten and Minnesota put it off the pipe. Minnesota always plays very fundamentally sound hockey. Minnesota rarely bunches up on one side of the ice. Columbus by the third period would out shoot the Wild 30 - 27. It is hard to play Minnesota without getting frustrated and not giving up a bunch of goals. Minnesota played very well, and they will be very hard to beat this year.
Garon was playing very well and had only given up one goal before being pulled in the 2nd period. He might have been pulled because he was crashed into by a Minnesota player but no penalty was called. Backstrom on the other side of the ice also had a great game only giving up 2 goals. The second of the 2 goals he put his arms up because he had little chance of stopping the puck from crossing the line. All the goalies in this game played very well and if it was not for some lucky bounces the Blue Jackets might not have won the game.
Blue Jackets on the power play were 1 of 2, again, a huge power play goal at the end of the 2nd period really changed the course of the game. The Wild were not so lucky on the power play as the Blue Jackets seems to be able to kill em off time and again. Outside of the fights it seemed like until the end of the 2nd period that the Blue Jackets could not buy a power play. Both penalty kills were very good in this preseason game and I think if this game was in Minnesota, the Wild might have won!
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