Jackets top Oilers, extend streak to 16
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It seems no one can beat the Columbus Blue Jackets these days.
The Blue Jackets rattled off their 16th consecutive victory with a 3-1 result against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
Cam Atkinson and William Karlsson scored power-play goals and a third-period goal from Nick Foligno paced the offense.
The victory pulled Columbus within a win of tying the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins for the most consecutive wins.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves and extended his win streak to 14 games.
Cam Talbot faced 32 shots in the loss and turned away 30 or more for the 16th time this season fopr the Oilers.
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's team-leading 18th goal of the season came off a feed from Zach Werenski in the high slot. Atkinson shot from left of goal and rebounded the puck in off an Oilers defenseman with 7:28 left in the opening period.
With the primary assist, Werenski (6-19-25) tied Derrick Brassard for seventh in total points by a Blue Jackets rookie.
Edmonton tied the game 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. Karlsson's shot from the right circle did not fail and gave the Jackets a 2-1 lead.
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.
Seth Jones' secondary assist was his 100th NHL career point and extended his point scoring streak to four games.
NOTES: Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky was named NHL first star of the month for December. He is the first Columbus player to receive such honors. He started 12 of 14 games for the Jackets in the month and went 12-0-0 with a .939 save percentage. ... Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who entered Tuesday's game tied for points leader in the league (14-29-43), was elected Pacific Division captain for the 2017 NHL All-Star Game through a fan-voting process. ... Edmonton scratches were C Anton Lander and D Eric Gryba. ... Blue Jackets LW Markus Hannikainen, D Dalton Prout and D Scott Harrington were scratched. ... Oilers D Andrej Sekera returned to the lineup after missing two games due to illness.