*Photo from Jackets Cannon*
It may have taken a while, but trading for Patrik Laine is finally paying off for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Laine scored two goals, Brendan Gaunce scored, and the Blue Jackets defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-3 overtime win on Tuesday night in Columbus.
Laine has been on a serious heater lately. He has a 10 game point streak going, with goals aplenty coming in that time. He's finally looking like the goal scoring dynamo the Jackets wanted when they got him last season, after a bit of a rocky start to his tenure in Columbus. It's the second longest point streak in his career, short of 15 that he had with the Winnipeg Jets.
Recently, Laine's energy has been rubbing off the whole team as well. The Jackets have now won 3 straight games, and have also won 6 of their last 7 games. Columbus captain Boone Jenner has a 4 game point streak in this recent success, and Zach Werenski is close to becoming the highest scoring D-Man in Jackets history.
Columbus head coach Brad Larsen said that "I thought the whole group, they were giving it. We lost ourselves a bit in the second, but I thought in the third we gathered ourselves. We get an early goal, which helps. It's a good hockey team we played. They come at you."
The lone goal of the first period came from Toronto's Michael Bunting, giving the Leafs a 1-0 lead 12:50 into the game. Laine picked up his first goal of the night 6:13 into the second period, his 17th goal of the season. Auston Matthews then gave the Leafs a 2-1 lead on his 35th goal of the season, coming 15:23 into the second period.
Adam Boqvist scored on the power play 1:05 into the 3rd period, his 10th goal of the season, tying the game 2-2 early on. Gaunce then scored his 3rd goal of the season 7:13 into the 3rd, putting the Jackets ahead 3-2. The Maple Leafs were able to tie it on Jason Spezza's 10th goal of the season. That forced OT, when Laine scored just 20 seconds into the extra period to send Columbus home happy.
Laine said of his OT goal that "I knew Jake wasn't going to shoot his backhand from the blue line, so I was assuming he was going to give it to me. He made a great play, drove them back and gave me some room. I was able to get my shot off, and happy it went in."
Making his second straight start and second in 4 years was Jean-Francois Berube of the Blue Jackets, thrust into the starting role with Columbus's top 3 goalies all out with injuries. Berube continued to make the most of his chance, saving 39 of the 42 shots he faced, good for a .929 save percentage. He also picked up his first NHL point, assisting on Boqvist's goal in the 3rd period.
Taking the loss in what has been a bit of a tailspin for the Maple Leafs was Jack Campbell, who sputtered in net once again. Campbell turned aside 26 of 30 shots he faced from Columbus, good for just a .867 save percentage. His record dropped to 23-8-4 with the loss.
Both teams get back in action on Thursday, with the Maple Leafs hosting the Minnesota Wild. Campbell is expected to start that game. The Blue Jackets hit the road for a matchup against the Florida Panthers, with Berube in line to start.
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