Vancouver is now averaging 2.8 goals and is scoring on 14.6 percent of their power plays; the team is in great need of a win.
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The Blue Jackets practiced without centers Ryan Johansen and Alexander Wennberg. Jenner went high to give the CBJ a 1-0 lead.
The Canucks went 0-for-6 on the power play Sunday – including a five-minute major – and are 0-for-13 over their last four games after starting the season 7-for-35.TV: 7 p.m. ET, SNET Pacific (Vancouver), FSN OH (Columbus)ABOUT THE CANUCKS (6-4-5): Defenseman Chris Tanev did not play Sunday because of an upper-body injury and remains day-to-day, leaving Vancouver without two of its top defenseman as Luca Sbisa missed the last four games with a foot injury and doesn’t appear close to returning. “If you’re looking for a reason why we were still in it, it’s Markstrom”, RW Jannik Hansen said. Dorsett returned late in the first wearing a visor.
– The seams began to show late in the period. The Blue Jackets got both their first-period goals on the power play and they didn’t waste any time. Jack Johnson finished a cross-crease pass from Jenner to tie the game with 16 seconds before the horn. His second, the team’s second. 2-2. Markstrom made the original save and Boone Jenner scored on the rebound.
We can’t blame Sbisa’s absence for the sudden demise of the power play, but that has been even worse. That’s a great sign for the rest of the game. Working, forechecking, creating chance after chance.
Markstrom even made an ill-advised pass across the slot early in the the third period – right to Nick Foligno – and dove across the open net to just get his stick on the shot headed inside the post. It was tough. I just enjoyed every second of it tonight. At times, there was nearly an anger that was evident, that Tortorella was able to keep in-check. No goals despite a slew of shots and a fair amount of sustained pressure. Bob also made a strong stop on a Bo Horvat shorthanded fly-by.
Derek Dorsett was stuck by a skate above his right eye in the first period, required stitches, and then returned on an effective fourth line with Jared McCann and Adam Cracknell. Markstrom gaffed a pass to Columbus and stopped the puck microns before a wide-open shot crossed the line. He covered the puck soon after and Willie Desjardins called timeout. “I am not as anxious about our PK, but our power play wasn’t good”.
Columbus held leads of 1-0 and 3-2 in the game, but the Canucks closed it out with three unanswered goals in the third period.
Let’s be clear: the Sedins scored three goals, but Tortorella was referring to Henrik Sedin’s goal that tied it 3-3 only two minutes after Atkinson’s shorthanded goal gave Columbus the lead.
It wasn’t “storm to the other team’s room” John Tortorella, but you could hear the tension building in the voice of the Columbus Blue Jackets head coach after his team dropped a 5-3 decision to the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday.
– One nice moment: an official taking out Alex Burrows with a well-placed puck screen. But just over two minutes later, Henrik Sedin and Sutter scored in a span of 4:47 to put the Canucks ahead for good. Just like that, the score was (and ended) 5-3 in favor of the visitors.
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– Columbus throws 45 shots at a guy making his first start since March and come up short by two goals. Brandon Dubinsky logged 19:04 and Vancouver’s pregame coverage suggested he’s stepped into the de facto captain role and that might be squeezing Foligno. The teams split the last two season series 1-1-0 with each winning on the road in 2014-15.3.
