Blue Jackets defeat Avalanche in OT

COLUMBUS -- Seth Jones scored 59 seconds into overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 5-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.
Jones, who also had two assists, scored on a one-timer from in front off a pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois.
"At that point, we're just looking for two points no matter how we get them," Jones said.

WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
Thomas Vanek scored twice, and Joonas Korpisalo made 23 saves for the Blue Jackets (35-28-5), who have won three straight. Columbus leads the Florida Panthers by two points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
The Blue Jackets trail the New Jersey Devils by one point for the first wild card.
Carl Soderberg scored two goals, and Semyon Varlamov made 39 saves for the Avalanche (35-24-8), who have lost three straight (0-0-3). Colorado trails the Los Angeles Kings by one point for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.
"Great start then it was very average," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "For me, it was a big game, a couple of points on the line. We were a little slow, a little lackadaisical. We got outworked in some areas tonight."
Gabriel Landeskog scored at 13:26 of the third period to make it 4-3 with a one-timer on the power play before Soderberg tied it 4-4 at 16:42 with a shot from the left circle.

"We came back strong and hoped for more," Soderberg said.
Tyson Barrie gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 6:55 of the first period. Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella challenged for goaltender interference, but the call was upheld after a video review.
Soderberg scored 12 seconds later to make it 2-0.
Boone Jenner scored at 7:49 to make it 2-1 with a wrist shot from the left circle following a turnover by Barrie, who collided with teammate Nikita Zadorov in front of the net. Alex Wennberg got the puck and passed to Jenner, who beat Varlamov glove side.
"When they scored back-to-back like that, you obviously want to score as quickly as you can," Jenner said. "That got us back in the game."
Vanek scored his first goal with Columbus at 1:19 of the second period to tie it 2-2. Vanek was acquired by the Blue Jackets in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 26.

"Thomas [Vanek] is one of the better players in our League getting to the net. That's where he plays a lot of his game," Tortorella said.
Zach Werenski gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 12:36 before Vanek extended the lead to 4-2 at 15:52.
"We responded really good again," Korpisalo said. "The second period was really good for us. We just trust our game. We've got some really good scoring power right now."

Goal of the game

Jones' goal 59 seconds into overtime.

Save of the game

Korpisalo's save on Alex Kerfoot with 11:12 left in the second period.

Highlight of the game

Soderberg's goal at 16:42 of the third period.

They said it

"We'll take a point. I don't think we deserved a point tonight. [Semyon Varlamov] made some big saves down the stretch when we were pressing." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
"Being down 2-0, the way we were playing, we didn't deserve it. We kept on playing. Scoring our first goal before they got to three was very important." - Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"You can tell in the locker room everyone is excited for these last 15 games. We come back home and we're very confident there." -- Avalanche forward Carl Soderberg

Need to know

Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon had an assist on Landeskog's power-play goal and has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in a seven-game point streak. He has 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists) in the past 23 games. … Barrie has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak. …Avalanche forward Sven Andrighetto (upper body) returned after missing 28 games. … Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was the backup because of an illness. … Dubois has six points (goal, five assists) in the past three games.

What's next

Avalanche: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, FS-O, FS-D+, NHL.TV)