COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The last game was full of firsts for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"You couldn't write a better ending," Wright said of his 16th goal of the season.

Parked in the slot, Wright directed Deron Quint's blast from the point through heavy traffic and past goaltender Steve Passmore.

"It's something that just ended up going in," Quint said. "I think it's a great end to a great season. To win it like that is great and we wouldn't have it any other way."

The Blue Jackets' 71 points tie the 1993-94 Anaheim Mighty Ducks for the second-highest points total by an expansion franchise since the NHL doubled in size in 1967-68. The Florida Panthers had 83 points in 1993-94, and two years later made it to the Stanley Cup finals under coach Doug MacLean, now the Blue Jackets president and general manager.

Columbus (28-39-9-6) finished with more points than seven NHL teams, including two of the "Original Six" and fellow expansion member Minnesota. By beating Chicago for the first time after four losses, the Blue Jackets tied the Blackhawks for fourth place in the Central Division.

"We've had so many games go the other way, it was nice for our guys to get that great finale," Blue Jackets coach Dave King said. "We got that beautiful overtime goal. It seemed like it was never going to cross the line."

In addition, Ron Tugnutt (22-25-5) became the winningest expansion goaltender in NHL history. Cesare Maniago (Minnesota North Stars, 1967-68) and John Vanbiesbrouck (Panthers, 1993-94) had 21 wins.

"This is a special night," Tugnutt said. "We definitely wanted to get at least a point tonight to get to 70. Winning it in overtime was definitely a bonus."

Quint and Jamie Heward each had a goal and an assist and Ray Whitney had two assists for Columbus, which won its last four home games to set a franchise record.

Chicago, which lost its fourth in a row, ended the year with an 11-game winless streak (0-9-1-1) and didn't win after March 15.

"They came out strong," Chicago coach Denis Savard said. "We used some of our best players to kill power plays. ... It's very difficult to win in that situation."

Just 34 seconds in, Blake Sloan – picked up on waivers last month from Dallas – scored his first goal in a Columbus uniform when he netted the rebound of Petteri Nummelin's wraparound attempt.

The Blue Jackets then scored their first 4-on-3 goal of the season when Heward's one-timer from the top of the circle beat Passmore high on the stick side. The goal was Heward's 11th of the season and tied him with the injured Geoff Sanderson for the Columbus lead in power-play goals with nine.

Columbus was 0-for-18 with a man advantage against Chicago this season before Heward's goal.

The Blue Jackets took a 3-1 lead early in the second on another power-play goal. Quint cut through the slot from the right corner and flipped the puck past Passmore for his seventh goal.

The Blackhawks, who outscored the Blue Jackets 15-5 in the four previous meetings, cut the lead to 2-1 when Tony Amonte jammed in a pass through the crease from Eric Daze. The goal was Amonte's 35th – and fifth this season against Columbus.

After Quint's goal, Daze tallied his 33rd goal on a hard shot from the top of the left circle that clanged off the near post.

The Blackhawks dominated play at the beginning of the third, putting 10 consecutive shots on Tugnutt. They finally broke through for the tying goal – just nine seconds into a power play – with 12:54 left in regulation when Steve Sullivan picked up his 34th goal off a nifty cross-ice pass through the crease from Michael Nylander.

Game notes
The game was Columbus' 15th sellout in a row and 21st in its last 24 games at Nationwide Arena. ... The Blackhawks finished 11-7-0-2 in their division and 18-33-8-3 against everybody else. ... Blue Jackets owner John H. McConnell took out a full-page newspaper ad on Sunday thanking fans for their support.

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