Cam Atkinson netted two goals as the Columbus Blue Jackets matched the second-longest winning streak in NHL history on Saturday with their 15th consecutive victory, a 4-2 triumph over the Minnesota Wild.
Atkinson, a 27-year-old American right wing who tops Columbus scorers, struck for his 16th and 17th goals of the season as the league-leading Blue Jackets stretched their streak to two wins shy of the league record by snapping Minnesota’s own 12-game winning run.
“I’m happy for the guys,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “I’m proud of our team and the way they’ve handled themselves through all this.”
Photo: AP
It was the first time two NHL teams on double-digit winning streaks had faced each other and the first time two clubs had such long streaks concurrently. Both joined the NHL in 2000 as expansion teams.
Columbus matched the 15-game winning streaks of the 1981-1982 New York Islanders and 2012-2013 Pittsburgh Penguins, and are two wins shy of the record 17-game run belonging to the Penguins from March and April of 1993.
“It’s pretty hard to fathom,” Columbus standout Brandon Saad said. “We all know where we’re at and we want to take over. We’re continuing one game at a time. We’ve got some tough tests ahead of us in our home building, but this is definitely fun.”
If they beat Edmonton at home tomorrow, the Blue Jackets could equal the record on Thursday in Washington and break the mark on Saturday at home to the New York Rangers.
Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for his 13th consecutive Blue Jackets victory.
Atkinson opened the scoring midway into the first period and the Blue Jackets seized a 3-0 edge 3 minutes, 44 seconds into the second period when Atkinson netted his second goal only 15 seconds after teammate Jack Johnson scored his second of the season.
Minnesota’s Mikael Granlund put the Wild on the scoreboard with a power-play goal 5:58 into the second period, but Seth Jones answered for the Blue Jackets with 2:25 remaining in the period.
Jason Zucker scored on a backhand-shot 24 seconds into the third period to pull the Wild within two goals.
Columbus boast the NHL’s best attack with 3.44 goals a game, while the Wild owned the toughest defensive unit, allowing only two goals a game.
The Blue Jackets last lost in a shootout in Florida on Nov. 26. Minnesota had not lost since Dec. 2 in overtime against Calgary.
“We are all ticked off and everything, but if we sit back and look at the whole picture, what Columbus is doing is really amazing, but what we did was pretty good too,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Columbus, who have had only two winning seasons and have never won a playoff series, have the NHL’s best record with 26 wins, five regulation losses and four overtime defeats for 56 points.
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