The Blue Jackets 50th win proved to be elusive--but on their seventh and final attempt at it, the Jackets go it, beating Toronto 3-2 in the regular season finale. How important the win was depends on who you ask. For coach John Tortorella, snapping the six-game skid before opening the playoffs at Pittsburgh Wednesday was inconsequential.
"Even if we lose tonight, I'm not worried about the team, I'm really not," Tortorella said. "I trust the team. This is new to them...clinching a playoff spot with 11 games left. Did I handle it right as a coach? I don't know. I haven't really been in that situation much either so no matter what happened tonight I still would feel that we would be ready to play (against Pittsburgh) Wednesday."
While Tortorella wasn't overly concerned with the outcome of Sunday's game, he did acknowledge that the individual play of some key Blue Jackets was important. In particular, forward Cam Atkinson, who was benched in Saturday's loss at Philadelphia but came up big in the season finale, scoring the game winning shorthanded goal. Atkinson feels getting the win, and going into the playoffs on a positive note, was important.
"It's crucial (to be) feeling good at the end of the season going into the playoffs...there's confidence," Atkinson said. "I think we played with arrogance tonight. Every line contributed...it feels good going into (Pittsburgh)."
The series opener Wednesday night will start at 7:30 p.m. and game two, also in Pittsburgh is Friday at 7 p.m. The first home game for the Jackets is game three, Easter Sunday night at 6 pm.
You can check out Coach Tortorella's post game comments, as well as Atkinson's thoughts below.