Well that game did not turn out as you might have expected.
The Blue Jackets fell into a quick, 2-0 hole to the Florida Panthers. Missing their two best players in Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panain, plus most of the team being under the weather, this early deficit felt like it might just hold up.
The Blue Jackets, however, would not let that be the case. They stormed back for three goals in the second and another four in the third to take the game 7-3. And just like that, it went from bad to being a game that we may look back on as being the turning point in the season.
14
The number of players who recorded a point in tonight’s game. The only players who failed to score tonight were Oliver Bjorkstrand, Lukas Sedlak, Scott Harrington and believe it or not Seth Jones.
This was a complete team win. Not one player took over the game – instead it was too many chefs and they were all cooking. It’s remarkable that the Blue Jackerts were able to do what they did with the team's most potent offensive weapon out sick, but there's more to this team than the Breadman.
.930
The save percentage of Joonas Korpisalo. When those first two goals went in, there was very much a “here we go again” sort of feeling. Korpisalo, despite picking up five wins this season, has only topped .900 on the save percentage side once this season. This was by far his best performance of the year and it came in a game in which Sergei Bobrovsky had to miss. He shook off the rough start and shut the door giving the Blue Jackets an opportunity to score all those goals.
91
The jersey number of Anthony Duclair. After having his will to compete questioned by John Tortorella, Duclair needed to have a good game. You can question Tortorella all you want but one thing is for sure, he knows his players and knows how to motivate them. Whether that’s calling them out in the media or scratching a player, whatever he does, the players respond to it.
Duclair played 15:00, assisted on the then go-ahead goal in the second period and then scored this beauty to give the Jackets a much needed insurance goal in the third period.
Anthony Duclair... hello.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/toEKBaROQm
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) November 16, 2018
