SUNRISE, Fla. — Seth Jones scored 18 seconds into overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Saturday.
Pierre-Luc Dubois set up Jones for the one-timer with a pass from his knees after Columbus won the face-off to begin overtime.
“I’m just trying to read the play,” Jones said. “I’m using my offensive awareness to get into the right spot. Me and [Dubois] and [Artemi Panarin] have some pretty good chemistry. I know those guys are going to make plays and I’m just a guy who gets open.”
[WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Panthers highlights]
Anthony Duclair, Josh Anderson and Brandon Dubinsky scored for the Blue Jackets (24-14-3), who completed a second consecutive three-game season series sweep of the Panthers and have won seven of their past nine (7-2-0). Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves one night after he was pulled after giving up three goals on 16 shots in a 4-2 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Mike Hoffman and Aaron Ekblad scored for the Panthers (17-16-7), who have lost two in a row. Keith Yandle had two assists, the first for his 500th point, and James Reimer made 31 saves.
Video: Clutch Performance: Jones seals Blue Jackets’ victory
Jones scored his seventh regular-season overtime goal since 2013-14, tying Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Arizona Coyotes for most among NHL defensemen.
Jones has two overtime goals this season; the first came at 10 seconds at the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 6.
“He’s a defenseman, but he seems to have that forward approach where he can sniff offensive situations and find open space and read off the players he’s on the ice with,” Dubois said. “He’s a D, but he can find those opportunities like a forward.”
Ekblad sent the game to overtime when he scored on a backhand with 2:13 left in the third period, tying it 3-3.
“We had more than one chance to win that game,” Ekblad said. “We fought our way back into overtime, but it’s not enough. Every point is important. Not satisfied with that one point, but it’s good to have it.”
Video: CBJ@FLA: Duclair beats Reimer on breakaway
The game was tied entering the third period before Dubinsky gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead at 6:58 during 4-on-4 play. He ended a 12-game goal drought after he stole the puck from Florida defenseman Mike Matheson in the Columbus zone and skated it on a 2-on-1.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been on the scoresheet, so obviously it feels really good,” Dubinsky said. “But just happy with the way we answered after a pretty subpar game the other night. I thought we played a good game tonight.”
Duclair made it 1-0 at 1:37 of the first period on a breakaway before Huberdeau tied it 1-1 at 13:19 after getting a no-look backhand pass from Aleksander Barkov at the side of the net.
Hoffman gave Florida a 2-1 lead with 1:51 remaining with a slap shot to the short side after a turnover in the neutral zone. The goal was his 20th of the season; it is the fifth straight season he’s scored at least that many.
“[Hoffman] does what he does,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. “He scores goals. It’s too bad we didn’t get the win on his 20th. It could have been worse, I guess. We were a few minutes away from not getting anything. We had a lot of fight in us in the third, just shot ourselves in the foot a little bit at certain points of the game. That’s the story of the night.”
Anderson, playing in his 200th NHL game, made it 2-2 with 2:56 left in the second period when he batted in a rebound out of the air.
“We looked like a different hockey team to start the game than last game,” Jones said. “We had a lot of energy. We played straight ahead, we played north. We were fast. We were getting a lot of pucks on net. We were down 2-1 after the first, but we had a pretty good period. We played a pretty good overall game as well.”
Video: CBJ@FLA: Dubinksy scores on the rush to take lead
They said it
“I’ve had a tough stretch of games here lately. Individually I haven’t been at the top of my game for about a week. It’s nice to see one go in. It doesn’t mean by any means I played fantastic, but it’s nice to see them go in.” — Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones
Video: EA Sports Overtime Winner: Jones scores in 18 seconds
“We had a lot of fight. We had a lot of great parts in the game, a lot of great pushes, but the one big mistake keeps haunting us. We’ve got to get better at that.” — Panthers coach Bob Boughner
Need to know
Duclair’s goal was his first since Nov. 15. … Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar played in his 100th NHL game. … Defenseman Chris Wideman played 11:53 in his first game for Florida since being traded from the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
What’s next
Blue Jackets: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Panthers: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ATTSN-PT, FS-F, NHL.TV)
from A Viral Update http://bit.ly/2GXtE7Z
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