Denver, CO – R.J. Umberger forced overtime with a late goal in regulation and Nick Foligno's tally with 29 seconds remaining gave the Columbus Blue Jackets a much-needed two points in a 4-3 comeback win over the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center.
Blake Comeau and Mark Letestu also scored in regulation for the Blue Jackets, who pulled even with the Detroit Red Wings for the eighth seed in the Western Conference thanks to their fourth consecutive victory.
Columbus' Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 shots, including a breakaway stop in overtime, while Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 26 saves in defeat.
Cody McLeod scored two goals and Stefan Elliott also lit the lamp for the Avs, who have dropped seven of their last nine.
"We worked hard tonight, we just couldn't get it done," McLeod said.
Elliott's power play goal on a wrister from between the circles with 2:02 left in regulation gave Colorado a 3-2 lead that lasted all of 35 seconds.
Ryan Johansen sent a slow-moving outlet pass that snuck behind the defense and onto the stick of Umberger, who beat Giguere with a backhand to all but assure the Blue Jackets of at least one point.
They got two when Fedor Tyutin forced a turnover in the defensive zone and sent Foligno on a 2-on-1 break with Umberger. Foligno skated down the right side and found the back of the net with a wrister to send the visitors home happy.
"I saw R.J. was covered, so in that instance I just wanted to get a shot on net, and I took a chance," recalled Foligno.
McLeod broke a scoreless tie when he banged home a rebound with 9:03 remaining in the middle stanza.
Columbus caught a break less than two minutes later when the puck caromed off a referee near the boards and back to Vinny Prospal, whose cross-ice pass to Letestu resulted in the tying goal with 7:25 on the clock.
Comeau snapped in a go-ahead goal into the right corner off Derek MacKenzie's pass from behind the net 2:32 into the third, but McLeod redirected Tyson Barrie's odd-angle shot to even things again at the 5:21 mark.
Game Notes
Comeau scored his first goal with Columbus in his fourth game since being acquired in a trade with Calgary ... The Blue Jackets are aiming to make the playoffs for just the second time since joining the league as an expansion club in 2000-01.
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