VANCOUVER - This time the Vancouver Canucks completed the comeback.
The Canucks overcame a 4-1, third-period deficit with three consecutive power-play goals in 5:17, then Elias Pettersson scored his second of the night with 59 seconds left in overtime, to give Vancouver a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in a thrilling NHL game Saturday night.
Brock Boeser snapped a six-game goal drought by scoring three times, including two on the power play in the third period, and assisted on Pettersson鈥檚 winning goal.
The Canucks had battled back from two, two-goal deficits in the third period Wednesday night but lost 4-3 in overtime to St. Louis.
鈥淥bviously we don鈥檛 want to keep putting ourselves in those positions but just the fact we didn鈥檛 give up and came back and got two points there is huge for our team,鈥 said Boeser.
鈥淚 shows a lot about the guys in the room, how we didn鈥檛 give up. We took it shift by shift and kept drawing penalties and then made it count. It鈥檚 definitely a positive.鈥
Boeser has 30 goals in 49 games this year. His previous best was 29 goals as a rookie in 2017-2018.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it hit me yet,鈥 said Boeser. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 more that we won that game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just sticking with it and a lot of hard work after some ups and downs. I couldn鈥檛 have done it without my teammates.鈥漃ettersson鈥檚 winning goal came when he knocked a pass from Boeser behind Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.
A Pettersson giveaway allowed the Blue Jackets to open the scoring on a short-handed goal in the second period.
鈥淚t shows the strength we have,鈥 said Pettersson, who also scored on the power play in the third period. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not happy with the second period. We鈥檙e a good team but we gave them a lot of chances. I鈥檓 happy with the way we got back in the game.鈥
It was the fourth time in franchise history the Canucks had overcome a three-goal, third-period deficit. The last time was Feb. 18, 2003.
Pettersson also added an assist for Vancouver, which has points in 11 straight games (9-0-2).
J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes each had three assists, while Pius Suter had two assists.
After missing the playoffs seven times in the last eight years, Vancouver heads into the NHL All-Star break with a 32-11-5 record and leads the Pacific Division with 71 points.
Alexandre Texier had a short-handed goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets (15-23-10). Kirill Marchenko, on the power play, Sean Kuraly and Jake Bean also scored for Columbus which is (3-4-2) in their last nine games but sit last in the Metropolitan Division.
Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko stopped 26 shots. Merzlikins made 28 saves for Columbus.
Vancouver defenceman Tyler Myers was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct at 11:55 of the third period for elbowing Kuraly.
Vancouver killed the penalty, allowing only one shot on goal.
鈥淭hat was huge,鈥 said Pettersson. 鈥淭he guys battled hard. Demko made a good save, guys sacrificed their body. It shows heart from all the players.鈥
A frustrated Texier called the loss a 鈥渓earning experience.鈥
鈥淲e hate losing,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 tough when you鈥檙e up by three and this happens. You have to stay positive, move on and work. Get better and try and learn from this.鈥
Coach Vincent Pascal said little mistakes cost his team.
鈥淭he penalties were the result of us not executing,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e just need to keep it simple, find a simple game. We tried to make plays we didn鈥檛 have. Things like that led to trouble.鈥
Trailing 4-1, Vancouver started its comeback just 70 seconds into the third period.
Miller found Pettersson open in the faceoff circle. Pettersson patiently waited then fired a hard shot that beat a sprawling Merzlikins.
Boeser made it 4-3 at 3:24 on another power play, redirecting a Suter tip of a Hughes鈥 shot.
Boeser earned the hat trick with another power-play goal at 6:28, jamming home the loose puck on a shot by Pettersson.
NOTES
With his fifth shutout of the season Monday against Chicago, Demko became the fastest goalie in Canucks history to record 25 wins, reaching the mark in 34 games, five fewer than Ryan Miller in 2014-15. 鈥 Pius Suter scored three, third-period goals in Vancouver鈥檚 4-3 overtime loss to St. Louis Wednesday to become the sixth player in franchise history to record a third-period hat trick. 鈥 The Canucks celebrated Lunar New Year by wearing warm-up jerseys featuring a dragon integrated into the skate logo 鈥. Merzlikins started for the fourth time in five games for Columbus. 鈥 The Blue Jackets placed defenceman Adam Boqvist (upper body) on injured reserve and recalled defenceman Nick Blankenburg from Cleveland of the AHL.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Head out on a five-game road trip after the All-Star break, beginning Feb. 6 in Carolina.
Blue Jackets: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Sunday.
This report by 好色tvwas first published Jan. 27, 2024.
