*Photo from the Globe and Mail*
The Columbus Blue Jackets were not at the top of their game. They just couldn't find the muscle. Until the 3rd period that is. Adam Boqvist scored, Jack Roslovic scored, and the Blue Jackets defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Friday night.
Things just weren't going the Blue Jackets way to start. Sure, they had goals, but it was tied after two periods. Something had to change. Well it did, because the Blue Jackets pulled ahead in the 3rd period to win their 3rd straight game, and win 5 of their last 6 games, increasing their record to 12-6-0, good for 4th place in the Metropolitan Division.
Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen said of the win that "Some of these nights, you're not even mad. You can tell that they just don't have it, and we're gonna have games like that, but the one thing I said was, 'Let's just try to find a way to win this. Let's try to piece together 20 minutes and see what happens.'"
Gustav Nyquist got the Blue Jackets scoring started 13:54 into the game, scoring a shorthanded goal to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead, his 4th goal of the season. With 29 seconds remaining in the period, Vasily Podkolzin gave the Canucks life, scoring his 4th goal of the season to tie the game 1-1 after one period.
In the second period, the Jackets once again took the lead, with Boqvist scoring 6:19 into the second to make it 2-1 Columbus, his second goal of the season, assisted by Gavin Bayreuther and Cole Sillinger. With 1:18 left in the second period, the Canucks scored late again, with Tyler Motte scoring his first goal of the season to tie the game 2-2 after two periods.
Once the 3rd period started was when the Blue Jackets pulled away for good. It started with Roslovic, who scored his 3rd goal of the season 6:06 into the 3rd, giving Columbus a 3-2 lead on assists by Jakub Voracek and Vladislav Gavrikov. With 1:35 remaining, Max Domi iced the win for the Blue Jackets, scoring on the empty net to make it a 4-2 game.
Right after posting a 36 save shutout in his last start, Elvis Merzlikins impressed again for the Blue Jackets, getting the win in this one. Merzlikins saved 39 of the 41 shots the Canucks sent his way, posting a .951 save percentage. His record improves to 9-3-0 in 12 starts for Columbus this season.
Merzlikins still thought he could've done better, saying that "I don't know if I can too hard on myself, but today's game, yes there was good stuff, there was good things. But again, there was bad goals. On the first one, that was a really good shot. Second one again was tipped. I understand this is the NHL. There are the best players in the world. There are the best shooters in the world here, but I still want to save that puck. I want to save that thing."
For the Canucks, they continued their free fall with yet another loss. They fall to 6-13-2 overall this season, 7th place in the Pacific Division, after such high expectations to start the year. In addition to that, they've lost 3 straight games and are 2-8-1 in their last 11 games. They had some rotten luck, as after the first period, they had outshot Columbus 13-4, but still saw a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes.
Despite Thatcher Demko putting together a good start in net, where he saved 17 of 20 shots for a .850 save percentage, he wasn't good enough to bail out the Canucks again. His record fell to 6-10-1 with the loss, continuing a rough season.
Canucks head coach Travis Green said of the loss that "I thought it was one of our better games of the year. We were on our game. Our details were sharp. I give them a lot of credit. They played a tough game and they're going to have to bounce back. It's tough to lose when you play well, especially when things are going the way they are."
The Blue Jackets play the second half of a back to back on Saturday night against the St.Louis Blues, with Joonas Korpisalo getting the start for the Jackets. The Canucks get back in action when they face the Boston Bruins on Sunday, with Demko likely to start again.
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