“We always try to get the momentum and have a good start,” forward Kristian Huselius said. “Obviously, we didn’t have the best start today but we played well for two periods. I thought, and coach told us, to stick with it and that’s what we did and we got a point.”

The Blue Jackets responded well the rest of the game.

Columbus spent the last two-and-a-half periods being denied goals on good scoring opportunities by Coyotes’ goalie Jason LaBarbera.

Blue Jackets captain had the answer 8:19 into the third. After defenseman Fedor Tyutin muffed a shot during a power-play, the puck made its way to captain Rick Nash who buried the puck past LaBarbera.

Nash’s goal sparked a flurry of opportunities throughout the rest of the game. The best of which came one minute into overtime when Nash had a two-on-one opportunity that he handed off to Huselius who was stoned by the pad of LaBarbera.

Phoenix would go on to outscore Columbus in the four rounds of the shootout 2-1 with shootout goals by Shane Doan and Robert Lang. Columbus’ only shootout notch came from Nash as he beat LaBarbera’s glove side.

“I just got beat five-hole, and I was trying to be patient and I waited a little too long,” Garon said about Lang’s game-winner.

“Shootouts are emotional losses for young teams and it unnerves you,” Hitchcock said. “Young teams (carry losses) with them. We need to win a shootout, an overtime game or a game late. We haven’t been rewarded through this stretch, for a lot of good play.”

One bright spot has been the play of Nash recently. Nash had five shots on goal and has scored in back-to-back games. Nash is the only player to score in the last two games.

“It is quite a fine line,” Nash said about the difference between scoring chances and goals. “Things aren’t bouncing in the way they were at the start of the season.  We have to make sure we outwork the goalies.”

The Blue Jackets go on a four game holiday road trip starting with the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.