Blue Jackets defenseman Adam Foote scored the game-winner 36 seconds into overtime to give the Jackets (3-6) a 3-2 victory and hand over previously unbeaten Nashville (8-1) his first loss of the year. It looked like the Jackets were living up to their old ways when they allowed the game-tying goal with just 19 seconds remaining in the third period to give Nashville a tie. But unlike in the past, when Columbus folded, this time he displayed the grit and glory the team has been talking about all season to earn the hard-fought victory.
“We played desperate hockey tonight. We’re a club that had been struggling and we needed to win,” Jackets head coach Gerard Gallant said. “To beat them in our building tonight, we needed all our guys to play hard. We needed to win for us. We didn’t care if they were 15-0, 2-0, 2-10, we needed a win for ourselves tonight.”
Columbus scored first at 5:28 into the second period on a backhand by Trevor Letowski. Luke Richardson spotted Tyler Wright behind the net. Wright blocked a check and was able to pass the puck to Letowski, who proceeded to hit the puck to give the Jackets a 1-0 lead.
“We had the puck trapped and I went into a cycle,” Letowski said on his third goal of the season. “The disk was there by chance. It was a pretty easy ending.”
Signed free agent Paul Kariya scored five minutes later to give Nashville a 1-1 tie.
At 16:33 in the third period, center Mark Hartigan scored a power play goal to put the Jackets up 2-1. He was assisted on the goal by Manny Malholtra and Brian Berard. His goal roused his team and the crowd of 15,110. “You saw my reaction,” he said. “I felt like it was a pretty big goal to score the go-ahead goal with three minutes left against a team that’s 8-0. To do something like that for the team right now, it felt pretty good.”
Just as the fans were putting on their coats and heading for the gate, Adam Hall scored a power play goal for Nashville with just 19 seconds left in the contest to give the Predators a 2-2 tie. Blue Jackets fans have been here before…it’s time to take off your coat and see the inevitable.
Things looked bleak for the Jackets at the start of OT when David Vyborny was whistled for getting hooked on a highly questionable call. This gave Nashville the advantage and they tried to capitalize on it until the puck found its way from Suchy to Foote.
Foote headed out onto the ice with Marchant on his wing. As he slowed down and was deciding the weather to pass or shoot, Nashville goaltender Tomas Vokoun made a move to Marchant’s side and left a small hole that Foote’s shot found.
“I wanted to give it to (Marchant) earlier, but the defender slid, so when he slid, I tried to show the pass, which caused the goalkeeper to swipe. So I tried to sneak it in there and got lucky.” Foote said.
When Foote scored his goal, you thought the Jackets had just won the Stanley Cup as all the players ran across the ice to celebrate victory.
“He (Foote) had an explosion in the zone and then I didn’t even see where he came in. We just saw the red light come on. It looked like Sakic running down the wing,” Letwoski said.
Nashville’s eight-game unbeaten streak tied them for the second-longest in NHL history and two games behind the 1993 Toronto Maple Leafs. That year, the Leafs began the season riding a 10-game winning streak.
“When certain things are over, you have to get back on the horse and start over,” Predators coach Barry Trotz said. “It’s over, it’s a good chapter.” Let’s do something now for the next 73 games. The next 73 games are just as important as the first nine.”
Martin Prusek, filling in for the injured Marc Denis, played in his first regular season game for the Jackets recording 22 saves to earn their first win of the year.
Columbus outshot Nashville 34-24 and faces the Minnesota Wild at home on Friday before traveling to Minnesota for a game on Saturday.