Elias Pettersson scored twice and Bo Horvat collected a career-high four assists as the host Vancouver Canucks scored three times in the first period en route to Friday’s 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Quinn Hughes, Ilya Mikheyev and Dakota Joshua also scored for the Canucks, while Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller each collected two assists. Goaltender Collin Delia made 24 saves.
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Kirill Marchenko scored twice for the Blue Jackets, who received a 29-save performance from Joonas Korpisalo.
The Canucks received a much-needed strong start when Pettersson scored a short-handed goal 85 seconds into the clash. A Columbus turnover inside the Canucks zone resulted in a rush the other way, and Horvat sent a pass that led to Pettersson’s forehand deke.
Marchenko tied the score during the same power play when he deflected the point shot at the 2:08 mark, but the Canucks dominated the rest of the game.
Hughes scored the go-ahead goal on a power play at 13:21, unloading a slap shot from the point that found the target for his fifth goal of the season.
Mikheyev made it 3-1 game with 45 seconds remaining in the opening frame by netting his 13th of the season. His shot missed the net, but it bounced off the end boards and bounded off Korpisalo’s foot and into the net for his 100th NHL point.
Joshua’s eighth goal of the season before the midway point of the third period — he tried to thread a pass but the puck banked off a defender and into the net — made it a 4-1 affair.
Then Pettersson scored his first power-play goal of the season when he one-timed a shot from the right face-off dot at 12:52 of the final period for his 21st goal of the season.
Marchenko added another power-play goal, giving him 13 goals on the season, with 3:08 remaining to round out the scoring.
Earlier on Friday, the Blue Jackets announced forward Gustav Nyquist is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury suffered in Wednesday’s game at Edmonton. Nyquist is a potential trade chip for the rebuilding team.
After the game, the Canucks announced that Mikheyev will have season-ending knee surgery for an issue that’s bothered him since the preseason.
–Field Level Media
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