Is Kent Johnson One Of The Best Ever At The Shootout? He's Getting There!

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson is having a bounce-back year, and it was desperately needed. He's on pace for 42 goals and 84 points. Will he finish with those numbers? It's possible. 

But this short piece is about how Kent Johnson has turned into an assassin in shootouts, and could quite possibly be one of the best to ever do it. 

With last night's shootout winner against the Stars, Kent Johnson is now third all time in shootout %. He now sits at 63.2%, which is 1.1% behind Blues forward Mason McTavish. Another former CBJ, Petteri Nummelin, sits #1 all time, scoring on 8 of 10 tries. 

He was tied with former Blue Jacket Kirill Marchenko at 61.1%. Both are filthy in the shootout. He also moved into third all-time in CBJ history and sits 3 shootout goals away from Cam Atkinson for second place. Rick Nash is the all-time leader with 26 shootout goals. 

In 19 attempts, Johnson has scored 12 times, with a whopping 50% of those being the game-deciding goal. In last night's game, Johnson ended up going third in the order because he was on the ice for the OT period a little longer than normal, so Rick Bowness moved him into the third position to give him a breather. Yeah, he didn't need it. 

As you can see in the video below, Johnson makes it look effortless, and according to Rick Bowness, he's probably the best shootout player he's ever coached. 

Johnson even provided us with the "It's Over" celebration, which NBA star Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors made popular at the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. Fitting, since Johnson "slammed" it home on Casey DeSmith. 

Johnson is definitely the best shootout shot taker in Blue Jackets history, and statistically speaking, one of the best ever in the NHL to ever do it. 

Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets are back on the road to face the Buffalo Sabres Thursday at 7 PM.

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