With Curtis Sanford hampered by a sore back and out of the lineup indefinitely, the Blue Jackets have turned to beleaguered goaltender Steve Mason as their starter.
No one will say it, but the implications are clear: this might be Mason’s last, best chance to get his NHL career back on track and salvage his job in Columbus.
With more outings like last night in Xcel Energy Center, anything is possible.
Mason, decked out in new gear from toe to chest, had 34 saves and helped the Blue Jackets survive a hard-working, but messy affair with a 3-1 win before 18,958.
“It’s just been a tough year on every single front,” Mason said. “From not winning, not playing a lot, not playing up to my expectations. Obviously the team as a whole, we haven’t played up to expectations.
“There were a lot of emotions going on out there. It just felt really, really good to go out there and have fun.”
Mason earned his first win since Dec. 29 and his second road win (2-10-0) of the season.
Another player who has struggled this season, winger R.J. Umberger, led the Blue Jackets on the other end of the ice. Umberger had his first two-goal game of the season, and now has nine goals this season.
“My first one (late in the first period) squeaked through (Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom),” Umberger said. “That hasn’t happened much for me this season, and it kind of got me going.
“It’s been hard to get those bounces, but you have to create them. You have to keep working hard and believing that eventually they’re going to go your way.”
Umberger’s second goal came with 19.4 seconds left in the second period to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead.
The third period was no beauty for Columbus. The Wild took the first 12 shots on goal and finished with a 15-1 advantage in the period. The Blue Jackets didn’t make Backstrom work until Jeff Carter redirected a puck from five feet away with 4:09 remaining.
“I was told a long time ago to never apologize for a win,” Blue Jackets interim coach Todd Richards said. “So, I’m not going to apologize.”
Defenseman James Wisniewski, playing in his first game since suffering a broken ankle on Dec. 29, scored an empty-net goal from 150 feet away.
He was trying to clear the puck out of the zone, as the Wild was pressing hard with Backstrom pulled for an extra skater. But the puck jumped upon landing in the neutral zone and reached the Wild net before Jason Spurgeon could track it down.
“We’ve been on the receiving end of outplaying teams and losing all season,” Wisniewski said. “We didn’t really play our best. They carried the game.
“Mase pretty much won us that game single-handedly. It feels good to get a road win when we played hard but didn’t feel our best. I feel like we deserved it.”
As Mason peeled off his new gear — chest protector, glove, blocker, pants and pads — he joked that he was “like a new robot out there.”
The Blue Jackets will take a repeat performance today against Anaheim.
“Nobody on this team has had a rougher season,” Umberger said of his road roommate. “He’s a guy who can be so good. You want to see his confidence get to where it can be. You have to think he’s riding high after tonight.”
aportzline@dispatch.com
