What a finish!

"We won the hockey game" is what Ken Hitchcock is saying to his guys right now. But holy crap, he was probably planning an execution of some of his players before Raffi Torres scored the game-tying goal with 2:46 left in the game. The Jackets did not play well before this and I will admit, I was resting my eyes, expecting to wake up with the final score Florida 1 - Columbus 0. But no, I heard Jeff Rimer scream Torres' name and I jumped up. FS Ohio showed the replay and what an effort by Kristian Huselius to pass the puck to Torres, who flicked the puck over Tomas Vokoun's right-hand glove. What a HUGE goal. I had twittered (BKlay) during the second period that if the Jackets were to get the tying goal, they would win...and sure enough...

73 seconds after his first goal, Torres scores again! Now it's 2-1 Jackets. What a flip-flop of emotions for Jackets fans and for the players and coaches themselves. As Raffi Torres was celebrating, he tried a big right fist pump and instead fell over to the ice. What a harassment Torres is going to get from his teammates from now on, but it will all be in love, because Torres saved the game. "This is exactly what Scott (Howson) said he is...Huselius made an unbelievable pass...I was really happy for him" That is what Hitchcock said during his post-game conference.

Antoine Vermette preserved the victory 14 seconds after the Torres goal. The goal came after Tomas Vokoun had vacated his net. The Jackets now have 82 points on the season (franchise record) and re-opened some space between them and the Oilers, who has snuck up to 79 points in the last few games. Again, what a huge win for the Blue Jackets. This is the second-most memorable come-from-behind victory that I have witnessed as a Blue Jacket fan, the last coming tw0 years ago on January 5, 2007 against the Anaheim Ducks when the Jackets came back from a 3-0 deficit. Rusty Klesla scored twice as well as Freddy Modin and Manny Malhotra with the four goals coming within 8:42 of each other. That was a clutch game as this one was as well.

One final note. As Jim Day said on Twitter (JimDayTV), "Let us not forget Steve Mason tonight, he allowed the team to stay within a goal without much help" How true, Jim Day. Even though the Panthers didn't get a shot on goal until 12 minutes into the first period, they at one point in the third, had more than the Jackets. Steve Mason kept the Blue Jackets in the game and allowed them to get those three goals to win the game. He now has 30 wins on the season...Calder anyone? Vezina anyone?

BK out!