Kent Johnson scored the winning goal in a shootout, lifting the host Columbus Blue Jackets to a wild 7-6 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in NHL action Friday night at Nationwide Arena.
Aatu Raty (2), Linus Karlsson, Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk and Tyler Myers scored for Vancouver (34-26-13) in regulation time. Boone Jenner (2), Kirill Marchenko, Dante Fabbro, Denton Mateychuk and Mathieu Olivier tallied for Columbus (33-29-9). Elvis Merzlikins earned the win in goal, making 31 stops. Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves for Vancouver.
Earning a single point in the contest, Vancouver climbed within four points of the St. Louis Blues in the chase for the final Western Conference wildcard spot. The Canucks have a game in hand.
Columbus pulled even with the Montreal Canadiens in the battle for the final Eastern Conference wildcard position.
AATU R脛TYYYYY!!! 馃毃
鈥� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks)
The Canucks jumped to a quick 3-0 lead in the first period.
Karlsson opened the scoring on a power play with his fourth goal of the year at 8:51, converting a nice pass from Kiefer Sherwood. Brock Boeser made it 2-0 at the 10:35 mark, taking a drop pass from Quinn Hughes and rifling home a shot from the left circle. Boeser now has 24 goals on the year.
DeBrusk added his 24th of the year on the power play at 13:26, knocking home a rebound of a Boeser shot.
The Blue Jackets roared back in the second. Jenner scored just 34 seconds into the period and Marchenko fired a shot past Lankinen from the left circle at 4:54. Fabbro pulled the Jackets even at 3-3 at 8:44, floating in a point shot.
Myers restored Vancouver鈥檚 lead at 11:23 with a shorthanded marker, pushing home a feed from Sherwood.
In the third period, Raty extended Vancouver鈥檚 lead to 5-3 at the 6:42 mark when his long shot beat Merzlikins. Raty has four goals on the year and has scored in back-to-back games.
Columbus pulled back within one just 21 seconds later, when Jenner fed Mateychuk who ripped a blast past Lankinen to make it 5-4.
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The Jackets thought they had tied the game shortly after when Justin Danforth swatted a puck past Lankinen. The Canucks challenged for goaltender interference and it was ruled no goal, with the officials determining Mathieu Olivier bumped Lankinen.
Columbus then did tie things up on a power play, with Marchenko鈥檚 shot banking in off Jenner at 16:46.
The Jackets took a 6-5 lead 22 seconds later, when Olivier got a fortunate bounce in the slot and slipped a shot past Lankinen.
The topsy-turvy contest continued when Raty replied just 23 seconds after that. In a delayed penalty situation, Raty converted a nifty feed from Dakota Joshua to make it 6-6.
Both teams had several good scoring chances in overtime but the goalies held firm.
The Canucks finish off a six-game road swing Sunday (noon) in Winnipeg against the Jets.
NOTES: Vancouver was once again without injured forwards Elias 台湾MM裸聊室, Nils Hoglander and Filip Chytil鈥� Sherwood and Pius Suter had three assists apiece for Vancouver鈥� Jenner and Fabbro each had three points for the Jackets鈥� The Canucks converted both of their power-play chances, while Columbus went 1-for-4.
