Columbus Blue Jackets keep Florida Panthers playoff clinching hopes at bay with 4-1 win -NHL Update
Columbus was on a roll Friday night, March 30, 2012, against Southeast Division leaders, Florida, as Blue Jackets dominated the contest and kept the competitors hopes of clinching a playoff spot at bay by routing Panthers, 4-1, at the sold-out Nationwide
Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Playing their second straight matchup in two nights in different parts of the country, Florida was definitely feeling the effects of being fatigued. Panthers were in Montreal against Canadiens on Tuesday, followed by a matchup against Minnesota Wild on Thursday
and now against Columbus the following day.
"We looked tired for one," Florida coach, Kevin Dineen, said. "We looked tight and certainly there were some coaching mistakes that happened that obviously get hung on me. That's the state of things right now."
Emergency backup goalie, Allen York, was in the net once again for Columbus and performed brilliantly by blocking 30 of 31 shots while his competitor in the Florida net, Jose Theodore, fell short on three of 28 attempts.
York was definitely hoping for a shutout to make his name even more valuable for Blue Jackets than it is right now, but it was Tomas Kopecky who killed those hopes with a tip in.
"Once it went in I was thinking, 'Let's win the game,' " York said."A shutout would be nice but I'm not playing for shutouts, I'm playing for wins."
R.J. Umberger scored the first and his 16th of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season in the opening minutes of the inaugural period. Nikita Nikitin followed up with the extension shot on the power play, capitalising on one
of five such opportunities given throughout.
"Their guys out there are battling for jobs next year, for pride," Panthers defenseman, Erik Gudbranson, said. "They're taking it seriously. No matter where you are in the standings you want to play well."
Nikita Nikitin and Umberger added two more in the third period with a minor break in by Kopecky, securing the match and taking the two points.
Blue Jackets are on a two-game winning streak now and are hoping for a third consecutive against St. Louis Blues on the road on Saturday.
Panthers have one more against Detroit Red Wings on Sunday before heading home, with each and every upcoming game being extremely crucial to their standings in the Eastern Conference.
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