The Columbus Blue Jackets needed a better start on Thursday. Instead, the Vancouver Canucks crashed the cannon party at Nationwide Arena and left with a 3-0 victory over the Blue Jackets. The loss is the Blue Jackets’ second straight at home, and they have been outscored 8-1 over the two games. The Canucks have split their first two games of their road trip.
Daniel Sedin opened the scoring and added an assist, while brother Henrik got two assists of his own. Loui Eriksson and Jayson Megna each scored goals for the Canucks, who ensured a split of the season series with the Blue Jackets for the fourth straight season.
First Period
The Blue Jackets talked before the game about starting fast. Although it was a good plan going on, the execution of the plan was not successful. The early portion of the game was dominated by numerous icing calls. Both teams tried getting their feet under them. After the first 10 minutes, both teams started getting chances.
Late in the period, the Blue Jackets’ top-ranked power play got a chance after Troy Stecher held Sam Gagner. But the Blue Jackets couldn’t even get a shot on their power play. It gave the Canucks confidence going into the locker room. Both teams finished the period with nine shots.
Second Period
The Blue Jackets got the worst possible start just 44 seconds into the second. Markus Granlund sent a shot to Sergei Bobrovsky, on which the goalie left a juicy rebound. A crashing Daniel Sedin beat Seth Jones to the puck and made the score 1-0. From there, the air went out of the building. There was no energy found anywhere.
Just over eight minutes later, Loui Eriksson scored about as easy a power-play goal as anyone can get. Daniel Sedin found Eriksson wide open across the crease. All Eriksson had to do was direct the puck into the open side. It was 2-0. It felt more like 5-0.
The Blue Jackets were able to get shots, but not many of the high-quality variety. Ryan Miller saw everything. There also wasn’t much traffic in his crease. The second period finished 2-0. The shots were 14-8 Jackets in the period and 23-17 Jackets for the game.
Third Period
The Blue Jackets had 20 minutes to make a game of it. But they just couldn’t get any momentum on this night. A sign of the night was when the Blue Jackets got a power play thanks to a delay of game penalty, only to have Brandon Saad end it on a tripping penalty.
Just two seconds after Saad left the box, Jayson Megna raced past Ryan Murray and made it 3-0 on a breakaway goal. That was the final blow on this Thursday.
The Blue Jackets had a 10-7 shots advantage in the third, but Miller continued his dominance at Nationwide Arena. He has now stopped 128 of the last 131 shots the Blue Jackets have thrown at him in Columbus. Miller was the story, but the Blue Jackets did themselves no favors. The final shot count was 33-24 Blue Jackets.
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Scoring Summary
FIRST PERIOD
No scoring.
SECOND PERIOD
VAN – Daniel Sedin (12) assisted by Markus Granlund and Henrik Sedin
VAN – Loui Eriksson (11) assisted by Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin
THIRD PERIOD
VAN – Jayson Megna (4) assisted by Troy Stecher and Alexander Edler
THW Three Stars
First: Ryan Miller (33-save shutout)
Second: Daniel Sedin (goal, assist)
Third: Henrik Sedin (2 assists)
NEXT UP:
Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets
Nationwide Arena, 5:00 PM EST on Saturday, Feb. 11
TV Broadcast Channels: Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Go and Fox Sports Detroit
2016-17 Meeting: Blue Jackets defeated Red Wings 4-1 on Dec. 9 and 3-2 (OT) on Feb. 7
Vancouver Canucks at Boston Bruins
TD Garden, 10:00 AM PST on Saturday, Feb. 11
TV Broadcast Channels: Sportsnet Pacific and NESN
2016-17 Meeting: First meeting of the season.