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Jan 22, 2017; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Cam Atkinson (13) shoots on Ottawa Senators goalie Mike Condon (1) in overtime at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Jan. 22, 2017.Marc DesRosiers

These being the dog days of January, even the hockey gods have to look for something to amuse themselves.And so, on the very week that a statue is erected in St. Paul, Minn., to Herb Brooks, they set John Tortorella and Guy Boucher against each other on a slow Sunday evening in Ottawa.

What fun! Final score 7-6 Columbus Blue Jackets over the Ottawa Senators in overtime – but numbers are only part of the story.

Brooks, of course, is the late-but-legendary hockey coach who led the Americans to their "Miracle on Ice" victory in the 1980 Olympic Games. He was also a lifelong critic of over-coaching and over-analyzing this children's game that is, essentially, a test as to which team can put a three-inch rubber disc the most times into the other team's net.

"Give the game back to the players!" Brooks used to bellow.

Tortorella, head coach of the Blue Jackets, and Boucher, who holds the same job with the Senators, are the extremes among the NHL's micromanaging coaches, two men who would, if they could, reduce the NHL game to life-size table-top hockey, complete with handles and levers.

That said, this matchup featured two of the more surprising teams in the NHL this season. Both missed the playoffs last year. Yet, the Blue Jackets (32-10-4) have been at or near the top of the standings through the halfway mark and the Senators (25-15-5) appear to have finally convinced fickle Ottawa to fill some more seats at Canadian Tire Centre, though Sunday's attendance (16,702) was still well short of a sellout.

Both Tortorella and Boucher have had to be given credit, even if some of it comes begrudgingly. Some still hold to the old line, repeated on national television just last fall by no less than Don Cherry: "Show me a good goalie and I'll show you a good coach."

Both the Senators and the Blue Jackets have been blessed this year with outstanding goaltending. Columbus netminder Sergei Bobrovsky has the highest win percentage in the league. He has won 28 of his 37 games, has a 1.97 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.

Ottawa had steady, dependable Craig Anderson in net to begin the year and Anderson, once again, has impressive statistics (12-6-1 in 19 games with a .924 save percentage), but he has been largely lost to the team since his wife, Nicholle, began cancer treatments in the United States.

Fortunately, backup Mike Condon has been excellent in standing in for Anderson. Condon, who brought a 13-7-3 record into the game, was starting his 22nd consecutive match. Tortorella decided to sit out Bobrovsky this game and, instead, play little-used backup Joonas Korpisalo.

It was not a goaltenders' duel.

Ottawa scored on its first shot, 52 seconds into the game, when Zack Smith made a cat-like swipe from behind the net to clip the puck in behind Korpisalo, who had failed to track a Cody Ceci point shot as it bounced off the boards and then the back of his net.

Moments later, actually 34 seconds, Columbus tied the game on the power play, when captain Nick Foligno neatly tipped an Alexander Wennberg pass in behind Condon.

Smith scored his second of the game, and 11th of the season, when he tipped a long Ceci shot past Korpisalo. Columbus tied the game again when a floating wrist shot from defenceman Scott Harrington – his first goal of the year – eluded a screened Condon.

At this point, four goals had been scored on a total of nine shots.

The Blue Jackets went ahead less than a minute into the second period when Zach Werenski picked up a rebound to Condon's right and ripped it into the Ottawa net for a power-play goal.

The weak goaltending and the flurry of goals had the effect of creating a little welcome chaos. The Blue Jackets were astonishingly inept in their own end, the Senators at times befuddled in theirs.

Boucher pointed out the obvious: "It was a game of mistakes."

Ottawa again tied the game when little Jean-Gabriel Pageau outmuscled the Columbus defence in the corner, passed quickly out to Mike Hoffman, who ripped a one-timer past Korpisalo.

Shortly after, Ottawa went up 4-3 when Korpisalo made a good save off Derick Brassard but could not prevent Mark Stone from picking up the rebound and firing it into the nearly empty Columbus net.

With only 17 seconds left in the period, Hoffman made it 5-3 for Ottawa when he scored again on a hard wrist shot after another smart play by Pageau. It was Hoffman's team-leading 17th of the season.

"It's never good when you're up two going into the third – and you lose," a disappointed Condon said.

The third period started off all Blue Jackets. Barely two minutes in and the game was tied 5-5 on a breakaway by Lukas Sedlak and a tipped point shot by Matt Calvert.

Columbus went ahead when Cam Atkinson, the team's leading scorer, picked up the puck in the left circle and fired a weak shot that deflected and soared like a ball of tape into the trash can behind Condon.

"I made a mistake," Condon shrugged.

Ottawa tied the game 6-6 on a power play when Kyle Turris scored on a one-timer, tying Hoffman for the team lead with his 17th.

Atkinson quickly settled matters in overtime when he found himself on a clear breakaway after Ottawa's Erik Karlsson missed the net and the puck rebounded to centre ice.

It was all enough to make a control freak … freak out.

"What are you going to ask me about that masterpiece?" Tortorella asked when it was over.

How about – how soon can we do it again?

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