Columbus Blue Jackets win 3-1 against Colorado Avalanche to keep play-off hopes alive
One of the important games of Friday was the Columbus Blue Jackets playing host to the Colorado Avalanche at the Nationwide Arena. Both teams wanted a win desperately to keep hopes of a play-off spot alive. A decent crowd turned out to witness the 824th
game of the season with each team playing their 55th game.
Columbus Blue Jackets were trailing 1-0 at the end of the first period but they managed to come up with a strong performance in the remaining part of the game and won it 3-1 in the end. Captain of Blue Jackets Rick Nash was named the player of the game with
his equalizing goal and assist in the winning goal.
Blue Jackets made a decent and quick start to the game as they had the advantage of playing on home ice. However, their offence was not given any space and with a strong defence the Avalanched managed to match the Blue Jackets early on.
However, with the passage of time in the period Avalanche got better and better and neared the goal further with each attack. Despite have early scoring chances, the Avalanche couldn’t find a way past the goal keeper early on. It took some time but the first
goal of the game was finally scored in the 16th minute.
The goal was scored by Phillipe Dupuis from a well placed flick shot which put the Avalanche in the lead. The period was dominated by Avalanche after this as they fired shots on goal came up with some extravagant passing and got past the opposing defence
with every attack they made.
However, the only flaw in their game at this momentum was the fact that they couldn’t find the back of the net. The period ended with Colorado Avalanche leading 1-0 as they made 12 goal attempts in the period while Columbus Blue Jackets made 6 goal attempts.
The second period was an offensive battle right from the start with both teams coming up with regular attacks and shots on goal. There were shots from everywhere on ice regularly and it was only a matter of time when a goal would be scored.
It didn’t take long as Blue Jackets after constructing a superb attack scored in the 8th minute to level the scores. The goal was scored by Captain Rick Nash from a quick fired and well placed shot. Both teams continued to attack and Blue Jackets
much to the delight of the fans got into the lead with another goal in the 15th minute scored by Derrick Brassard.
The period ended with the Blue Jackets leading 2-1 going into the break. During the period Blue Jackets made 14 goal attempts while Avalanche made 13 goal attempts.
The final period saw both the teams reluctant to attack early on. However, with their impressive play they often got scoring chances but weren’t successful in finding the back of the net.
However, Blue Jackets scored the only goal of the period in the final minute through Derek MacKenzie to seal the win 3-1 for the Columbus Blue Jackets. This puts them four points behind the final play-off position and they look in good shape to make it into
the play-offs if they continue on the same roads.
Tags: