GLENDALE, Ariz. — Brandon Saad, Alexander Wennberg and Cam Atkinson each had a goal and two assists on Thursday night, leading an offensive outburst that sparked the Blue Jackets to a 7-5 win over the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena.
Matt Calvert, Nick Foligno, David Clarkson and Brandon Dubinsky also scored for the Blue Jackets, who had won only one of their previous nine games (1-5-3).
Saad’s three-point game was his first with the Blue Jackets. He also had a plus-3 rating.
The Blue Jackets won despite missing starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (groin), No. 1 center Ryan Johansen (healthy scratch) and their top defensive pair, Jack Johnson (upper body) and David Savard (lower body), from their lineup.
The Jackets withstood a wild second-period that included six goals and three lead changes by the clubs, but it ended with them leading 5-4.
Goaltender Curtis McElhinney had 27 saves for his first win of the season.
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead only 58 seconds into the game when Saad found wide open space and scored from the slot.
It was 2-0 less than two minutes later, when Calvert scored from almost the same spot at 2:26.
The Coyotes pulled to 2-1 later in the first, when former Jacket Antoine Vermette pounced on a Dubinsky turnover and scored.
The second period was pure mayhem.
The Coyotes scored two goals in the span of 20 seconds to take a 3-2 lead at 8:25, but the Blue Jackets responded less than a minute later with two goals in the span of 1:13 to regain the lead.
Wennberg ended an 18-game goal dry spell with a tap-in off a Saad feed at 9:10, and Atkinson scored on a slapper off the rush to make it 4-3 at 10:23.
Atkinson’s goal, his 10th of the season, chased Coyotes starter Anders Lindback, who made only six saves on 10 shots.
Saad made a brilliant play late in the second period, giving the Blue Jackets the lead for good.
Hustling on the backcheck, Saad stripped the puck off the stick of Coyotes captain Shane Doan, then spun to feed Foligno for a breakaway goal at 17:11.
Clarkson’s goal, his first of the season at 2:19 of the third, gave the Blue Jackets a 6-4 lead and set a season high in goals for Columbus.
McElhinney overcame a scare with 4:36 remaining, when he was plowed by Coyotes rookie Max Domi, lost his helmet and smacked the back of his head hard on the ice. He remained in the game.
Dubinsky scored an empty-net goal in the final minute.
| Columbus | 2 | 3 | 2 | — | 7 |
| Arizona | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 5 |
FIRST PERIOD: Scoring — 1, Columbus, Saad 11 (Wennberg, Hartnell), :58. 2, Columbus, Calvert 5 (Atkinson, Connauton), 2:26. 3, Arizona, Vermette 4, 8:51. Penalty — Dahlbeck, Ari (boarding), 11:59.
SECOND: Scoring — 4, Arizona, Tikhonov 1 (Martinook, Stone), 8:15 (pp). 5, Arizona, Rieder 7 (Vermette, Ekman-Larsson), 8:25. 6, Columbus, Wennberg 2 (Saad), 9:10. 7, Columbus, Atkinson 10 (McElhinney), 10:23. 8, Arizona, Martinook 4 (Doan), 12:21. 9, Columbus, Foligno 5 (Saad), 17:11. Penalties — Hartnell, Clm (holding), 6:21; Boll, Clm, major (fighting), 13:58; Prout, Clm (roughing), 13:58; Scott, Ari, major (fighting), 13:58.
THIRD: Scoring — 10, Columbus, Clarkson 1 (Hartnell, Jenner), 2:19. 11, Arizona, Rieder 8 (Grossmann, Boedker), 3:19. 12, Columbus, Dubinsky 6 (Wennberg, Atkinson), 19:10 (en). Penalty — Tyutin, Clm (holding), 10:05.
Shots on goal: Columbus 7-7-7—21. Arizona 6-12-14—32. Power plays: Columbus 0 of 1; Arizona 1 of 3. Goalies: Columbus, McElhinney 1-5-2 (32 shots-27 saves). Arizona, Lindback (10-6), Domingue 0-1-0 (10:23 second, 10-8). A: 11,120. T: 2:32.