Blackhawks nip Blue Jackets
Published 11:43 pm Saturday, April 5, 2014
COLUMBUS (AP) — Ben Smith tapped in a rebound with 3.7 seconds left on a wild scrum to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.
With time running out, Duncan Keith threw the puck on net and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky blocked it with his arm but it popped out of his reach. While he and two teammates scrambled to get to the loose puck, Smith got a stick on it and pushed it into the net.
Jeremy Morin, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa also had goals for Chicago, and Keith had three assists. Antti Raanta had 24 saves.
Derek MacKenzie, Ryan Johansen and Artem Anisimov scored for Columbus, in the middle of a fight for the playoffs and in dire need of points. Bobrovsky had 34 saves.
The reigning Stanley Cup champions had already locked up their sixth straight playoff appearance while the Blue Jackets had a lot riding on the outcome. Columbus, with 85 points to start the night, held a tenuous grasp of the second wild-card spot in the East, a point behind Detroit which held the first wild card.
Columbus fell to 0-10-3 in its last 13 meetings with the Blackhawks.
Even though it was the second game of a back-to-back for both teams, it was a spirited game. Columbus won for the first time ever in Philadelphia, 2-0, on Bobrovsky’s 37-save shutout Thursday night and Chicago ended a three-game losing skid with a 3-2 shootout win at home over Minnesota.