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| Copyright Getty Images/by Marcio Jose Sanchez |
Ryan Johansen’s goal with 1:37 remaining in regulation gave the Blue Jackets a 4-3 win over the Sharks at the Shark Tank. Columbus entered the contest a point up on idle Detroit with one fewer game left.
Following a tough 2-1 loss against the defending champion Kings, the Jackets jumped out to leads of 2-0 and 3-1. Mark Letestu and Vinny Prospal scored the first two before Martin Havlat got San Jose on the board. Letestu replied over five minutes later with his second of the game. It was a power play goal set up by Fedor Tyutin and Brandon Dubinsky. Letestu’s shot from the left point got past Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick, who was screened in front by Marian Gaborik.
The Jackets took a 3-1 lead into the third thanks to a three-point effort from Letestu and 26 saves from Vezina front runner Sergei Bobrovsky. The former Flyer was strong again finishing with 32 stops. He needed the support thanks to a great third from the Sharks. Needing a point to wrap up a playoff berth, San Jose pushed hard. They rallied from two down against one of the stingiest teams. Columbus hasn’t lost all year when leading after two.
Andrew Desjardins wouldn’t be denied on the Sharks’ second goal. Having already been robbed by Bobrovsky, this time a tremendous individual effort resulted in the teal cutting it to one. Matt Irwin moved a puck into the neutral zone, which a hustling Desjardins chipped by Dalton Prout at the Columbus blueline. He then faked out a sliding Jack Johnson and used a Joe Thornton screen to beat Bobrovsky for his second.
Urged on by a great crowd, the Sharks controlled the tempo. They knotted it on a power play. With Johnson in the box for interference on Joe Pavelski, Thornton started it by keeping the puck in at the right point. Trapping two Jackets, it gave them a three-on-two down low. Scott Gomez threaded the needle to Pavelski, whose wrist shot beat Bobrovsky to tie it with 5:03 left.
Suddenly, the Jackets needed to turn it up. If they didn’t come out with a win, there would only be two more opportunities with the Red Wings having two games at hand. They never panicked. Instead, it was a Pavelski turnover that led to Johansen’s winner. Pressed by R.J. Umberger in his zone, he coughed up the puck. Umberger’s takeaway led to Johansen cutting in on Antti Niemi and firing top shelf for his third goal in the last seven games.
”I was licking my chops,” Johansen said. ”That was for sure. I just found a hole there. It was nice to be in the middle of the ice, it’s a great shooting area. I was just lucky to beat Niemi on the shot. I felt like it was good scoring chance right away. This is the biggest goal I’ve scored in my career so far. It’s a great feeling.”
‘It feels like a little bit of destiny with this team,” Umberger pointed out. ”We’re just a very confident team. We feel like we are underdogs every night. We’re proving people wrong. This team believes a lot and it just feels like our destiny that we’re to make the playoffs. We want to make it more than anything.”
Notes: Combined with the Wild losing at home 4-1 to the Flames, the Blue Jackets are tied in points (51) with seventh Minnesota, who has three games left. … The Stars gained a point in their overtime loss at the Kings. Jeff Carter scored the winner with 52 seconds left. Dallas is tied with Detroit in points (48) but have three remaining. … St. Louis fell to Colorado 5-3. They sit sixth with 54 points, trailing San Jose by one. … Western teams that already clinched include Chicago, Anaheim, Vancouver and Los Angeles. … Including Phoenix (46 points) who basically needs to win out and get help, here’s a closer look at the race.
WILD WILD WEST
GP Pts ROW Games Remaining
5.Sharks 45 55 16 4/23 vs Dal 4/24 @ Phx 4/27 @ LAK
6.Blues 45 54 21 4/23 vs Col 4/25 vs Cgy 4/27 vs Chi
7.Wild 45 51 20 4/23 vs LAK 4/26 vs Edm 4/27 @Col
8.Blue Jackets 46 51 17 4/25 @ Dal 4/27 vs Nsh
9.Red Wings 44 48 18 4/22 vs Phx 4/24 vs LAK 4/25 vs Nsh 4/27 @Dal
10.Stars 45 48 20 4/23 @ SJS 4/25 vs CBJ 4/27 vs Det
11.Coyotes 44 46 15 4/22 @ Det 4/24 vs SJS 4/26 vs Col 4/27 @ Ana
hasan4978
Derek
Battle Of Hudson 
At this point the West is more interesting to me than the East, at least until the playoffs start. I'm probably checking out for the most part the next few weeks (at least as far as writing stuff) now that I've finished my Devils postmortem.
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They have a lot of tough decisions to make. It looks like a roster in transition.
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