Korpisalo makes 30 saves, boosts Blue Jackets to win against Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves, and the Columbus Blue Jackets ended a five-game winless streak with a 3-2 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Thursday.

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and had an assist, Gustav Nyquist had a goal and two assists, and Emil Bemstrom scored his first NHL goal for the Blue Jackets (6-7-3), who had lost two straight and were 0-4-1 in their previous five.
Korpisalo stopped Michael Grabner on two shorthanded breakaways.
"I saw him coming there twice, but I'm just trying to help the team get points," Korpisalo said. "That's my part, I've got to save those two. I felt comfortable from the start and I felt it all the way through the game."
WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Coyotes highlights]
Carl Soderberg and Jakob Chychrun scored for the Coyotes (9-5-2), who lost their second game in a row after winning eight of 10. Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves.
"We're giving points away. We had [the] Calgary [Flames] up 3-1 in the third (in a 4-3 overtime loss on Tuesday), and this one, we're up 2-1," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "It wasn't what Columbus was doing, it was us shooting ourselves in the foot. … Too many dumb penalties. And we have to have guys step up."
Bjorkstrand gave Columbus the 3-2 lead at 10:12 of the third when a bouncing puck went between Coyotes defenseman Kyle Capobianco's legs, and Bjorkstrand put a shot inside the left post.
"This was a huge game, and we needed this win," Bjorkstrand said. "It's nice to win and it's nice to get a few goals. That was important for us."

Nyquist made it 1-0 14 seconds into the game by tipping in a shot from the point following Pierre-Luc Dubois' face-off win. It was the quickest the Blue Jackets have scored to begin a game this season.
"If he can keep leading the way, we'll follow him," Bjorkstrand said.
After scoring, Nyquist had an assist on Columbus' final two goals.
"After that first one, after our start there, we kind of lost our energy," Nyquist said. "But [Korpisalo] kept us in the game, and throughout the game he made some big saves."
Soderberg tied it 1-1 off a long rebound of Lawson Crouse's shot from the right point at 11:24 of the first.
Chychrun gave Arizona a 2-1 lead, taking Grabner's cross-ice pass and faking a slap shot from the left point before putting a wrist shot past Korpisalo at 12:04 of the second.
Bemstrom tied it 2-2, going behind the net to follow up his own missed shot and banking the puck off Kuemper's back on the power play at 17:36.
"I don't really care how it went [in]. That's a game-changer, to get it to 2-2," Bemstrom said of his first NHL goal. "Then [Bjorkstrom] gets the game-winner. It's a great start to the road trip."

Arizona was on the power play for the final 1:48 and had a two-man advantage with Kuemper pulled for the extra attacker. The Coyotes were 0-for-3 on the power play.
"We need some guys to step it up. That [power play] was not good, and we have some good players out there," Tocchet said. "Somebody's got to take the puck in the middle and shoot the puck. We haven't been good on the 6-on-5 since I've been here, and it's starting to really bother me."

They said it

"The first five or six minutes were good, but the rest of the first period, I don't know what was going on. We ended up playing better in the second and found a way to win. Our penalty kill has been good lately, and we did the job." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"I didn't even know they had a five-game [winless] streak, this is a game where we were looking for a bounce back. We aren't happy with ourselves. It's disappointing, but we've got to have a short memory." -- Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun

Need to know

The Blue Jackets won in regulation for the first time in 10 games dating to a 3-2 victory against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 16. … Columbus is 11-3-0 in its past 14 games against Arizona and has won five in a row at Gila River Arena. … The Blue Jackets are 6-0-0 when they score the first goal. … Grabner's assist was his 100th in the NHL. … The Coyotes played without defenseman Jason Demers (lower-body injury).

What's next

Blue Jackets: At the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-A Plus, FS-N, NHL.TV)