Mike Smith makes 58 saves, Coyotes lose in shootout

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Mike Smith set an Arizona Coyotes record with 58 saves, but Alex Wennberg tied the game with 2:16 left and Cam Atkinson and Sam Gagner scored in the shootout to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 3-2 win at Gila River Arena on Saturday.
The Blue Jackets' top-ranked power play unit was 0-for-5 and failed to score with more than a minute of 5-on-3 time with nine minutes left in the third period. But Columbus kept pushing, kept shooting and tied the game when Wennberg put a Brandon Saad feed past Smith.

WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Coyotes highlights
Shane Doan scored his 399th goal and Radim Vrbata also scored for the Coyotes (8-11-4). They were outshot 60-34 but led most of the game thanks to Smith, who wasn't in any mood to discuss records after the game.
"Frustrated would be a good word, but I think it's even worse than that right now," said Smith, who has made at least 40 saves in three of the past four games, a total of 168 saves over that span. "At some point you'd like to see your team move forward and take steps in the right direction to have your chance to win hockey games. It seems like once we take one step forward, we're taking a couple back and it's tough to play like that in this League and expect to win games."
Boone Jenner had a goal for the Blue Jackets (14-5-4), who extended their point streak to five games. They are 12-2-3 in the past 17 games.
"I don't think we dipped at all there. We just basically took over," Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "It's one of the big changes in the personality of our team over last year. Last year if we don't get that done, maybe we sit on it for four or five shifts and maybe have a goal scored against us and lose 3-1. Now they have a belief and we're going to keep on working at it."

Blue Jackets goalie Curtis McElhinney made 32 saves to get his first win of the season. He made saves against Anthony Duclair and Vrbata, the NHL's all-time shootout leader with 42 goals, in the shootout.
"I didn't think we were finally going to break through on [Smith], but we stuck with it," McElhinney said. "For me, the most important part was making sure I made the one or two timely saves when I needed them."
Jenner gave Columbus the lead 13 seconds into the game when he took a pass from Jack Johnson and beat Smith just inside the right post.
Arizona had 18 shots in the second period and took the lead. With the teams skating 4-on-3, Vrbata beat McElhinney at 1:03 of the second period before Doan camped himself in front of the net and deflected Michael Stone's shot at 10:01.
But the Blue Jackets pressured the entire third period, putting 23 shots on Smith and tying it 2-2 on their 49th shot. Nick Foligno ran down a Wennberg shot and nudged it to Saad, who found Wennberg in the slot for a backhand shot between Smith's pads at 17:44.

Goal of the game

Off the opening faceoff, David Savard hit Johnson with a nice stretch pass and Jackson found Jenner in the slot to give Columbus a quick lead.

Save of the game

Saad had nine shots, but Smith stopped them all, including a pad save on a breakaway in the second period.

Unsung moment of the game

The Coyotes have killed 35 of 37 power plays at home (94.6 percent), including a 5-on-3 for 1:25 in the third period Saturday. Former Blue Jackets defenseman Kevin Connuaton made a key block during the sequence.

Highlight of the game

Each goalie made back-to-back breakaway saves in overtime. McElhinney denied Shane Doan at one end before Smith returned the favor against Wennberg.

They said it

"He was phenomenal tonight. Unbelievable, especially in the overtime to keep his team alive was something else. We were trading saves in the overtime. He was making them, so I had to hold up my end too." -- Blue Jackets goalie Curtis McElhinney
"We're just not doing enough with the puck to allow us to sustain anything. When you do that and play the whole game in your end, you're going to get lots of shots." -- Coyotes coach Dave Tippett

Need to know

Smith broke his own franchise record of 54 saves. That also came against Columbus on April 12, 2012. … The Blue Jackets set a franchise record with 60 shots on goal.

What's next

Blue Jackets:Host the Arizona Coyotes on Monday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-A, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday (7 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-O, NHL.TV)