It won't always be pretty.
Saturday night's game at TD Garden was anything but that – and while the Blue Jackets emerged with only a single point in a 2-1 overtime loss, it's a crucial point to put in the bank as the regular season winds down.
On the surface, it looked like a "schedule loss": the tail end of a back-to-back, on the road in a tough building, your backup goaltender between the pipes against a Bruins team that's been on quite a tear in the second half. But you know what? That's why they play the games, and we just sit behind a computer.
Let's break down three key things from the OT defeat.
Well Done, Korpi
Joonas Korpisalo's situation could be best described as tenuous, given that Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen added veteran depth in Keith Kinkaid at the trade deadline. And though Kinkaid has yet to play a game for Columbus, Korpisalo has seen Sergei Bobrovsky get the lion's share of playing time as the team chases a playoff spot. John Tortorella needed Korpisalo on Saturday night, and the young man delivered.
Korpisalo made 31 saves in the losing effort, but many of those stops were timely and kept the Blue Jackets in the game. This was either a 1-0 or 1-1 game for the entirety of regulation and ice was hard to come by, and when called upon, Korpisalo did his thing. He may not get much work the rest of the way because of Bobrovsky's level, but he stood in and did a solid job on Saturday.
Patience & Precision
The Bruins can be an infuriating team to play against.
They don't give you much. You have to wait, wait, and sometimes wait even more before something opens up. And their special teams are outstanding. So when the Blue Jackets had chances on Saturday night, they took them – Matt Duchene's game-tying goal evidence of that. Just a little space and a little room was all he needed to beat Jaroslav Halak and help the Blue Jackets secure a valuable point.
But defensively, the Blue Jackets were also impressive. They didn't beat themselves and they had to kill a late penalty, which they did with aplomb.
Take It To The Bank
You just didn't know how this game would play out, but if you told the Blue Jackets they would get three of four points this weekend against Carolina and Boston, they would most likely have signed on to that idea. Entering Sunday's slate of games, the Blue Jackets (coupled with Montreal's home-ice loss to Chicago) sit three points ahead of the Canadiens. Even in a loss, there's a silver lining as every point becomes critical down the stretch.
