Atkinson's late goal gets Blue Jackets past Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson said it took him a while to get going in his return from a broken foot at Gila River Arena on Thursday. He got up to speed at a good time.
Atkinson broke a tie at 16:57 of the third period, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 38 saves in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes.

Atkinson missed the previous 11 games after he was injured during a 2-1 shootout win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 23. He took a pass from Alex Wennberg at the right side of the net and redirected it past Antti Raanta.
\[WATCH: All Blue Jacktes vs. Coyotes highlights\]
"It was a chance for me to hit the reset button," said Atkinson, who hadn't scored since he had two against the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 24. "I didn't really want to remember the first half [of the season] because it wasn't great. Start fresh and start off on a good note."
Wennberg had a goal and an assist for Columbus (27-19-3), which is 2-3-0 in its past five games. Bobrovsky made 29 saves over the final two periods.
"We had it going our way the first half of the second period and then we got stubborn through the neutral zone," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "That's when I think we gave up eight scoring chances based on six turnovers by ourselves. [Bobrovsky] made some key saves."
Brendan Perlini scored for Arizona (12-29-9), which had a five-game point streak end.

Wennberg gave Columbus a 1-0 lead on a power play at 1:19 of the third period when he redirected Seth Jones' shot from the point past Raanta. Jones has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in his past 16 games. He has points in 13 of those 16.
Perlini tied it on a power play at 7:39 of the third period when he collected a loose puck to the left of Bobrovsky for his 14th goal of the season.
Tortorella challenged for goalie interference, but the goal was upheld.
Perlini has scored a goal in four straight games, tying the longest streak of his career (Nov. 20-25). Perlini has 28 goals in his first 100 games, the most in Coyotes history. Peter Mueller had 27 (2007-08).
"Somebody had told me that before the game," Perlini said. "To me, it doesn't really matter about any of that stuff. I just play the game for fun and to win. It was a pretty solid game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough."
The Coyotes have earned a point in seven of nine games in January (3-2-4).
"I like this month," he said. "I like the way they've been practicing and playing. This is a tough loss. I think we deserved better, but we have three days of practice so we can't let it slide."

Goal of the game

Atkinson's goal at 16:57 of the third period.

Save of the game

Bobrovsky's save against Christian Dvorak at 14:55 of second period.

Highlight of the game

Wennberg's goal at 1:19 of the third period.

They said it

"For us, it's good to bounce back from the Vegas trip (a 6-3 loss on Tuesday). It's a great win. We'll rest a couple days and be back at it." -- Blue Jackets forward Alexander Wennberg
"I think we played good enough to win this game, but luck wasn't on our side today." -- Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta

Need to know

Coyotes center Brad Richardson left the game in the first period because of an upper-body injury, and defenseman Jason Demers (upper body) left in the third period. … Blue Jackets forward Marcus Foligno has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past seven games. … Coyotes defenseman Alex Goligoski missed the game with an undisclosed illness. It was the fourth game Goligoski has missed in the past six seasons. … With an assist on Perlini's goal, Dvorak has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past eight games. … Raanta is 3-2-3 with 16 goals allowed in his past eight starts.

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-N, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Host the Dallas Stars on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-SW, NHL.TV)