Postgame Hat Trick: Bobrovsky shines for Blue Jackets

Well, that was something, wasn't it?
In one of the weirder games you'll ever see in Nationwide Arena, Columbus got two goals from defensemen, the best performance of the year from its goaltender, and turned a number of narratives on their heads while earning a 3-0 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.
It was big in that it tied Columbus with Carolina for fourth in the Metropolitan Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference, making it a crucial intradivision victory.

It also allowed the Jackets to earn some confidence. Struggles at home? Not on this night, as the Jackets have now taken three in a row at Nationwide.
"The atmosphere in the building was unbelievable," goalie Sergei Bobrovksy said after his heroics on 5th Line Appreciation Night. "We had huge support from the fans, so thanks a lot to them for that support. It's great that we get the W tonight."
Unable to start quickly? Columbus had a 2-0 lead by the first media timeout, an advantage that allowed the team to play from ahead and steal a win when the opposite scenario had played out at times of late.
Here are three observations from the victory, Columbus' 40th of the season.
1. No. 1 cop:Bobrovsky's game has been steadily improving throughout the year, but we hadn't seen anything like the performance he turned in Friday night. Facing a barrage of shots by the Hurricanes, the Russian netminder turned aside a season-high 46 shots while earning his sixth shutout of the season.
"Unbelievable," Seth Jones said.
On this night, he did it all. Stopping breakaways? Had a few of those one-on-one situations and got the job done. Handling shot after shot? His 22 saves in the second period were the second-most he's made in a frame all season. Seeing the puck? It looked like he had a bead on it all night. Reaction saves? Carolina had a few chances out front and still couldn't score. Scrambling saves? Well, there was that too.

Asked after the game if he prefers seeing as much rubber as he did -- not to mention 83 total shot attempts by the Canes, with 18 blocked and 19 more going wide -- Bobrovsky said yes with a caveat.
"I like lots of shots. I like not many shots. It depends what the game dictates," he said. "As long as you're able to see the puck and control the rebounds. Most important is to see the puck. If you can see the puck, you can control the rebounds and control the game."
That's just what Bobrovsky did, a continuation of some strong play of late. Since earning a home shutout Feb. 12 vs. Washington, Bobrovsky has a .921 save percentage and a 2.19 goals-against average.
"He's been good for a while," head coach John Tortorella said. "He was seeing pucks through traffic tonight, especially the second period. The third period, I thought we checked better. The second period you could see we lost ourselves. Once they gained momentum, we lost ourselves and Bob stood in there for us."
2. Tables turned:There have been a number of games recently -- a home loss to Winnipeg, shutout setbacks on Long Island and vs. Pittsburgh -- in which Columbus felt its play deserved a result yet the team left empty-handed.
Well, here was the return. On a night when Columbus took a 2-0 lead early -- and really, it should have been 3-0, had a Ryan Dzingel drive toward an open net not hit two different players in front before careening away -- the team had to hold on from there.
Columbus didn't even have an offensive zone faceoff at 5-on-5 in the last two periods, but don't expect an apology from the team.
"That's why I'm not going to kick us," Nick Foligno said, referencing the recent games where Columbus left with zero points after playing a strong game. "I think we know we can play better, and we will, but we found a way to get the win. We will take this and we will run with it because it's two huge points. Right now it's about that."
Added Tortorella: "You get two points in this league, you get out of here and feel good bur yourselves knowing that there's things you need to work on. That's the way we're going to approach this."
3. Rocking like a Hurricane: Carolina has been as hot as anyone in the National Hockey League -- short of the otherworldly franchise down in Tampa Bay -- since Jan. 1, and the Hurricanes showed just how far they've come in this one.
Down 2-0 early, there was no give-up in the Canes, who threw the kitchen sink at the Jackets.
"They're a man-on-man team, so they really force you to play a one-on-one game," Foligno said. "Battles, that's all it is against this team. They just come hard and they have good sticks. In the first period I thought we outcompeted them. The second period, they took their game to us. Good thing we had that lead and Bob in net because they are a team that starts playing downhill, kind of like how we get going."
The second period was pure domination, but Columbus was able to survive it. One issue was that the connection between the defensemen and forwards broke down for the Blue Jackets, as the team's defensemen often had the puck in their own zone but no one to pass it to, forcing the them to simply play the puck up the wall where it was often either intercepted by Carolina or went the length of the rink for an icing call.
"They're relentless," defenseman Adam McQuaid said. "They close quick all over the ice, support one another where they need to support one another."
"As good and as quick as they play, it mounts on you," Tortorella said. "You can see it after a few minutes of icings, we just iced the puck too much. At times I think we could have made plays, but we just did way too much flipping of the puck."