Kent Johnson OT winner lifts Blue Jackets past Rangers
TLDR: Kent Johnson buried a one-timer 3:26 into overtime to give Columbus a 1-0 win over the Rangers, a night after the Blue Jackets got embarrassed 7-3 by Florida.
One night the Blue Jackets give up 7 to the Panthers, the next they don't allow a single goal. Hockey is weird.
Needing a win after their humbling 7-3 loss to the Florida Panthers, the #CBJ went Milwaukee Brewers in a 1-0 overtime win over #NYR on Saturday. "We wanted to be gamers tonight and we were." t.co/JC3j90npwX
The Milwaukee Brewers line is the joke here: the Blue Jackets won this one ugly, and Hedger likened it to a low-scoring baseball grind. That's about right. According to the NHL.com recap, there was almost nothing between the 2 teams for 60 minutes. Jet Greaves stopped all 29 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season and the 5th of his career, in 77 NHL starts. At the other end Dylan Garand made 28 saves for New York, and Columbus held the Rangers to 10 even-strength scoring chances. The building had to wait until overtime to see a goal.
Then Zach Werenski found Johnson with a cross-ice pass, and Johnson hammered a one-timer from above the right circle. Charlie Coyle got the 2nd assist. "'Z' was so smart, found me there, and perfect weight on the pass, like right in the wheelhouse," Johnson said afterward, per NHL.com. The win gets Columbus to 3-3-0, and the Rangers fall to 6-3-1.
The goal itself is nice. What matters is who scored it. Johnson has goals in 3 straight games and 4 goals through 6 games. Last season he needed 76 games to score 7.
#CBJ F Kent Johnson ended last season with just seven goals and 15 assists in 76 games, beaten down from a trying season. He's now rebounding impressively after a summer of strength training retooled his body and confidence. Read more here -> t.co/QsiqxcIYNJ
That 7-goal, 15-assist season left Johnson looking like a guy who might not have a spot in Columbus. At 6 feet and roughly 170 pounds he got pushed around all year, and The Hockey Writers reported that the coaching staff wasn't happy watching him get muscled off the puck. So he spent the summer on strength work instead of speed and showed up to camp with the weight back and more muscle on him. Six games is a small sample, but a skilled winger who can actually hold onto the puck is a very different player, and so far that's who has shown up.
Johnson wasn't the only thing Rick Bowness liked. The Blue Jackets coach singled out a depth line that gave him exactly the kind of night he wanted after the Florida mess.
#CBJ coach Rick Bowness was pleased with "the Del Bel Belluz" line — Danton Heinen, Luca Del Bel Belluz, and Ryan Lomberg — and will run them back out on Sunday in St. Paul. Said he "lost" the line in the third period when #CBJ were shorthanded three times early in the period.
Next up is the back half of the weekend: Sunday in St. Paul, with that Heinen-Del Bel Belluz-Lomberg line staying together. The bigger question is whether Johnson keeps this going. If he does, his summer in the weight room is the best thing to happen to this Columbus season so far.