Bobrovsky continues to roll in Blue Jackets' win

The Phoenix Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets got together Saturday, and that could mean just one thing: a one-goal game.

Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu scored in the shootout, and Sergei Bobrovsky did not let any puck get behind him in Columbus' 1-0 win at Nationwide Arena.

"If they don't score a goal, you're gonna win, simple as that," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "To me, I'm real happy with the shutout, but we needed to be better in some areas. You could see our tank was on empty, but we found a way."

The Blue Jackets have won six of eight games and extended their franchise-record points streak to 10 games (6-0-4). They will have two days off between games for the first time since March 1.

"This is fun, to be on a roll like this, to see the team sacrifice to do things were doing," forward R.J. Umberger said.

Bobrovsky stopped Mikkel Boedker and Steve Sullivan to complete his second shutout of the season. The Blue Jackets goalie made 39 saves in regulation and overtime after games in which he made 37 and 39 respectively, allowing one goal in each shootout loss.

Bobrvosky has stopped 239 out of 245 shots (.976 save percentage) in his past eight games.

"Another night of Bob just being Bob," Umberger said. "He was great ... he's giving us a lot of confidence. It's fun to watch him right now."

Mike Smith made 23 saves to get his fourth shutout but could not stop Columbus' first two shootout participants. On Feb. 9, Smith defeated the San Jose Sharks 1-0 in a shootout.

"[The Blue Jackets] play a very similar game and style as we do," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "Their goaltender's played very well for the past month, and [Smith] played very well tonight, so that's pretty much what you got, a stalemate until it got to the shootout."

Columbus allowed five goals in each of two losses to Phoenix earlier this season, part of a slow start that bottomed out at 5-12-2.

"I think our team has definitely improved dramatically," Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson said. "I think we're a different team since then."

Now, the Blue Jackets trail the Coyotes by two points in a logjam of five Western Conference teams with 28-30 points.

The Blue Jackets and Coyotes entered having played a combined 31 one-goal games and added to that total with this result.

Columbus has played 20 one-goal games and is 8-6-6. Nine of its past 10 have gone past regulation, with five wins and four losses.

"A lot of hockey," Umberger said. "It's been competitive; we're playing to the end, down to the wire. We're playing a committed game, that's good; it's good for us to keep battling like that and finding ways [to win]."

Phoenix has been in 13 one-goal games and is 6-3-4.

"Our effort through the 65 minutes was very strong," Tippett said. "We put that many shots on net; you just need to get a little luck around the net there."

In a scheduling quirk, the Coyotes play back-to-back games at the Los Angeles Kings on Monday and Tuesday after flying from their easternmost game.

"We knew it was going to be like this," Tippet said. "We've planned for this, so hopefully the days that we've taken as rest days instead of practice pay off now."

Material from team media was used in this report.