LOS ANGELES—The Columbus Blue Jackets inched closer to NHL history Tuesday, notching their 16th consecutive victory 3-1 over the Edmonton Oilers.
Cam Atkinson and William Karlsson scored power-play goals and Nick Foligno added a third-period goal in the win, which put the Blue Jackets one victory away from tying the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins for most successive NHL victories.
Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves and extended his win streak to 14 games.
The Blue Jackets struck first when Atkinson scored 1:12 into the first power play of the night after Jesse Puljujarvi was called for holding on Jack Johnson.
Atkinson collected a feed from Zach Werenski in the high slot and rebounded the puck in off an Oilers defenseman with 7:28 left in the opening period.
Edmonton equalized 5:39 into the second when Patrick Maroon fed Oscar Klefbom, who was entering the zone with speed. Klefbom fired from high between the circles for his sixth goal of the season.
Less than five minutes later, 1:49 into the Jackets’ second power play of the night, Brandon Saad sent a cross-zone pass to Karlsson, whose shot from the right circle found the net.
The goal marked Karlsson’s first career power-play goal. Karlsson was filling in on the second power play unit for Brandon Dubinsky, who fought Maroon earlier and was serving the resulting penalty.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals within two minutes of the third period Monday to break a 1-1 tie and lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the NHL’s Winter Classic outdoor game.
Tarasenko’s first goal at 12:05 in the third came as his attempt at a backhanded centering pass deflected off the skate of Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson and into the net.
The Russian right winger’s next goal, at 13:58, was more straightforward—a wrist shot past Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford for his 18th goal of the season.
“Well, he’s a hungry offensive player,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “He’s a guy that sniffs out weaknesses, or he sniffs out coverage issues and he jumps on it.
“And when he’s engaged like he was today and like he’s been for most part of this year, he’s dangerous because he’s one shift away from breaking the thing right open.”
Tarasenko had two superb chances earlier in the third, but was denied by Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford on a breakaway before hitting the post while the Blues were on a power play.
It was the fifth outdoor game for the Blackhawks, the most of any team in the NHL in the showpiece events first conceived as a nod to the game’s pond-hockey roots.
“I thought we played great today,” Hitchcock said. “I thought we ground on them hard. I thought we did a great job getting pucks deep. I thought we really managed the game well. I thought we played a really smart, sound hockey game, and quite frankly, deserved to win.”
The contest at a mist-shrouded Busch Stadium, before a capacity crowd of 46,556, was the first outdoor game for the Blues.
