Canucks bust out vs. Blue Jackets
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Canucks didn't do anything differently on Friday night than they had done through a five-game losing skid, Vancouver coach John Tortorella said.
They just scored as many goals as they had in those five previous games combined, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 at Rogers Arena.
"We played the same way we've been playing, we forechecked, we pressured," Tortorella said. "Pucks just went in this time."
They went in and they went in fast -- three goals in a span of 2:10 in the second period.
"That happened so quick," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "We'd had a couple of opportunities to take the lead.
"They do a really god job of forcing and pressing you, and against a good team like that it's tough to come back."
Columbus got the start they wanted, with left winger Matt Calvert beating Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo at 2:47 of the opening period.
It was the first game back for Calvert after missing 20 following abdominal surgery.
It was also the first shot of the game for Columbus and Luongo has a history of letting those in.
With 16 seconds left in the opening frame, and the Canucks outshooting the Blue Jackets 13-4 but down 1-0, left winger Daniel Sedin scored on the short-side of Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky from a tight angle to tie the game.
It was Sedin's first goal in eight games and it buoyed the spirits of a team struggling to score as they headed into the dressing room after 20 minutes.
"We had to start winning some games," he said. "It was tough giving up that goal at the start to them and our first goal was key for us.
"I'm fine not scoring if we're winning games," he added.
Canucks right winger Zack Kassian got the second-period outburst going when he beat Bobrovsky between his right arm and body with a wrist shot at 12:05 of the second.
Center Henrik Sedin, with his first of two, and defenseman Alex Edler added goals to make it 4-1 at 14:15.
Right winger Jannik Hansen and center Jeremy Welsh added goals for the Canucks in the third, with Blue Jackets center Artem Anisimov chipping in a Columbus goal in garbage time.
"Scoring a lot of goals was a big relief for us," Kassian said.
For Welsh, a fourth-line center who came to the Canucks this season in a trade with Carolina, it was his first NHL goal and second NHL point in his 35-game career so far.
"It feels really good," said Walsh, who played college hockey at Union College in New York state. "I got to the point where I quit worrying about not scoring and was lucky to bang one in tonight."
The Canucks don't get much time to savor the win -- the Chicago Blackhawks, bitter rivals, are the guests on Saturday night.
"They (the Canucks) should feel good about themselves," Tortorella said. "They know what's coming tomorrow, they'll be ready to play."
The Canucks league-leading penalty kill, at 88.9 percent, stymied the Blue Jackets, going 5-for-5. Their anemic power play, however, was 0-for-4 as Vancouver languishes in 29th place in the NHL with the man advantage.
NOTES: The Blue Jackets recorded their first penalty-free road game in their last outing at Calgary, since they began play as an expansion team in 2000, 486 road games ago. ... All three games last season between Vancouver and Columbus went beyond regulation time. The Canucks won two shootouts, the Blue Jackets won in overtime. ... The Canucks are now 12-0-1 when they score more than two goals. They are 0-8-3 when they score two or fewer. ... Canucks LW David Booth, who has another year left at $4.25 million a season, was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row.
