Columbus Blue Jackets eliminate Colorado Avalanche with huge 5-2 win -NHL Update
Columbus could not handle the fact that the team they were up against still had a chance to make it into the playoffs, giving Blue Jackets more reason to win as they officially eliminated Colorado Avalanche from the postseason race with a huge 5-2 victory,
Thursday night, April 5, 2012, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.
Colorado was coming out of 4-1 win against fellow playoff contenders, Calgary Flames, and had five days to rest but the long weekend just did not work well for them going up against the lowest ranked team in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Avalanche was back in the playoffs post All-Star break weekend but a recent slump just took them down to the point of no return.
"It's disappointing not to reach one our goals, which at the start of the year was to get into the playoffs and give yourself a chance to win a Stanley Cup," Colorado coach, Joe Sacco, said. "That's what you work for all summer long, what you work for all
year long. I thought we made a real solid push down the stretch, especially from the All-Star break on. I thought our guys played really hard. But it's tough when you get to game 81 and you lose like we did tonight. I feel bad for the players. They worked
real hard. It (stinks) to come up short."
Cam Atkinson scored the opening goal of the night for his third of the 2011-2012 NHL regular season followed by the equaliser from David Jones. Columbus captain, Rick Nash, broke the tie with his 28th at 17:29 into the opener after which Blue
Jackets continued to dominate.
Paul Stastny levelled the score yet again on the power play with Darryl Boyce out with a double minor but Nash was right behind him with another tie-breaker on an added man advantage of their own.
Cam Atkinson extended the lead at 11:51 into the second while adding his second of the night with 1:04 remaining in regulation to secure the lead.
Blue Jackets will be playing against New York Islanders at home on Saturday while Colorado Avalanche host Nashville Predators for the season finale on the same day.
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