A rare weekday matinee game saw the return of Kuraly as well as Elvis’ first start of the calendar year after a week of off-ice drama. Yet again, the Jackets faced a hot team in the Canucks. Could the home team end Vancouver’s five game win streak?
This was also the Hockey is for Everyone game.
1st Period
Vancouver dominated possession from the puck drop, causing the Jackets fits when trying to exit their own zone, and tallied three quick shots on net. Two and a half minutes in, Roslovic went off for tripping. The Canucks recorded four shots on the man advantage, but Kuraly helped lead a successful kill.
Shortly after the power play ended, the Canucks got a double-deflection goal to make it 1-0. The point shot went off of the sticks of both Fantilli and Peeke and then just over Elvis’ glove.
VAN Goal 1-0: Miller (Zadorov, Pettersson) 5:21
Only seconds later, Chinakhov tied the game. A failed Vancouver exit ended up on Gaudreau’s stick, and a slick behind-the-back pass found Chinakhov right in front of the net.
Sillinger didn’t earn an assist on the play, but his effort on the forecheck is what caused the Canucks to cough up the puck.
CBJ Goal 1-1: Chinakhov (Gaudreau) 5:55
The tying goal lit a fire under the home team. They managed some offensive zone time before Gaudreau drew a hooking penalty to give the Jackets their first power play. The Jackets managed several good looks, including a great individual effort by Voronkov, but they weren’t able to get any of those chances on net.
Once again, the Jackets left the slot wide open while the puck was in the corner. This happens time and time again, and either the players have a complete inability to learn, or the coaches haven’t done anything to fix the problem. I’m going with the latter.
VAN Goal 2-1: Garland (Blueger) 14:54
The above picture is just before the goal. For some reason, Peeke is in the corner with the forwards, while Provorov is behind the net. Johnson isn’t covering the backside while there are three teammates in the corner. It’s hard to put into words how poorly coached this team is defensively.
There were good moments for the Jackets in the first period, but the start and finish were both horrible. The Canucks are a very good finishing team, and you can’t afford to give them time and space. They got one goal off a lucky bounce, but the second was a complete defensive breakdown.
2nd Period
Sillinger missed a prime chance at the beginning of the period. He was all alone in front of the net but panicked and didn’t give himself enough time to pick and spot and elevate the puck.
The Jackets got their second power play opportunity when Miller went off for high-sticking. This time they converted. Boqvist and Gaudreau passed it back and forth before Boqvist took the point shot. Voronkov, camped in front of the net, managed to put the puck home with a beautiful deflection.
CBJ PP Goal 2-2: Voronkov (Boqvist, Gaudreau) 3:28
A minute later, Gaudreau had a goalie-less net for the lead, but the puck went off of Chinakhov and wide.
Bean took a completely unnecessary hooking penalty to give the Canucks a power play. Pettersson got one by Elvis on his glove side. Elvis probably wants that one back, but Pettersson is a very good shooter and had way too much time to line that shot up.
VAN PP Goal 3-2: Pettersson (Miller, Hughes) 7:35
Speaking of dumb penalties. Severson took the puck into the corner and received a hard, clean hit. He turned around to retaliate and accidentally high-sticked the Canuck in the head. That’s poor discipline from a veteran player. Luckily, the penalty was killed off without incident.
An interference penalty gave the Jackets an opportunity to tie the game before the end of the period. The first unit had several good chances but couldn’t bury one. With one second left in the power play, Fantilli drew a tripping penalty to extend the man advantage. No goal on that one either, but the Jackets still had 30 seconds of power play left for the third period.
Casey DeSmith was the difference in the game through two periods. The Jackets were creating chances, but DeSmith’s rebound control was solid and the Canuck defense did a great job of keeping Columbus out of the crease. Two-thirds of the way through, the Jackets led in scoring chances 30-24 and expected goals 3.31-2.00.
3rd Period
The Canucks killed off the brief power play to start the period. The rest of the first half wasn’t very eventful.
Eventually, the Jackets tied the game. Voronkov found a tiny opening from behind the net for his second goal of the game. Credit to Roslovic for winning the puck battle behind the net.
CBJ Goal 3-3: Voronkov (Roslovic) 10:57
Chinakhov nearly broke the tie shortly after on a 2-on-1. DeSmith was able to stuff the attempt.
Most of the rest of the period was spent in the neutral zone or behind the nets. On to overtime.
OT
Sillinger won the initial faceoff against veteran J.T. Miller and then went off for Chinakhov.
The Jackets took a too many men penalty two minutes in. They have to be more disciplined than that.
Fortunately, Sillinger made a short-handed drive at the net and was tripped up. There could have been two penalties called on Vancouver in the sequence, but four-on-four was the result.
No goals on either power play.
Sillinger nearly scored with five seconds left, but the game was still tied when the final buzzer sounded.
Shootout
Gaudreau denied.
Kuzmenko denied.
Chinakhov denied.
Miller denied.
Johnson denied.
Pettersson denied.
MARCHENKO SCORED WITH THE TEXIER POKE.
Suter denied.
Jackets win!
Don’t miss Texier’s reaction on the bench after the goal.
Team Leaders
Goals: Voronkov (2)
Points: Voronkov, Gaudreau (2)
CF%: Voronkov (65.22)
xGF%: Gudbranson (75.88)
Shot attempts: Sillinger (7)
Shots on net: Sillinger, Chinakhov (4)
Final Thoughts
The Jackets outplayed the Canucks for most of the game. Aside from a double-deflection goal and a poorly defended second goal against, it was a step in the right direction after two bad regulation losses.
Johnny Gaudreau was the best player on the ice in this game. That’s great to see.
Elvis wasn’t great, but he wasn’t bad either. He gave up 3 goals on 2.87 expected, including the double-deflection he had no chance at saving. His strong effort in the shootout shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Gudbranson and Bean deserve stick taps for their performance. Bean had one bad penalty that led to a goal against, but overall, that defensive pair was very good.
The Fantilli line struggled both offensively and defensively. Their ice time suffered as a result.
Up Next
There’s one more home game before a five-game road trip. The Devils are in town on Friday for a 7:00 PM ET puck drop.