Football and baseball may get the most recognition for being “games of inches,” but hockey can be no different. Thursday night it was just a few inches that made the difference between a tie game late in the third period and a Columbus Blue Jackets win over the Avalanche in Colorado.
Trailing 3-2, Colorado’s Blake Comeau deflected a shot from John Mitchell through the legs Sergei Bobrovsky for what appeared to be the game-tying goal. Instead, the goal was waived off for high sticking. Review showed that Comeau’s stick was just a few inches above the crossbar, nullifying the play. Columbus would hold to to win in regulation.
Bobrovsky faced just 20 shots on the night, two which found the back of the net in the second period off the sticks of Comeau and Samuel Henley, who scored in his first NHL game on a bomb of a shot. Comeau’s goal came on a power play when Andreas Martinsen drew an instigation penalty from Nick Foligno.
Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves on 40 shots, including a barrage in the third period that included three overlapping penalty including a five-on-three. Boone Jenner scored the game winner in the third, scrapping in front of the Colorado net off a nifty pass from Cam Atkinson.
Colorado has now lost four in a row, all at home, and slid into a tie for last place in the conference (and the NHL) with Arizona. They conclude their longest home stand of the season on Saturday night against Dallas.
